There isn't a ton of info available for cloning this beer. The best I've seen so far is in this thread (post #14). It'll be hard to say cloned or not cloned since I won't be able to do a side by side comparison, plus I'm shooting for a little lower IBU. Ultimately I'm just hoping for a nice drinkable DIPA that focuses on the hops. Keeping inline with the Showers theme, I'm naming my version Microburst after the intense localized thunder storms that tend to frequent Utah. I'm kind of going with my own take on this recipe, so I reduced bitterness somewhat and I'm using a different variety for the bittering hop. Here's the recipe as I'm brewing it today.
5# 11oz Rahr 2-row
3.5# Weyerman Pilsner
1.5# Golden Promise
1# 3oz Corn Sugar
28g Magnum (First Wort Hop)
56g Galaxy (1 min)
168g Galaxy (Dry Hop)
0.5 Whirlfloc
Wyeast Yeast Nutrient
US-05
Mash at 149F, 90 minute boil, ferment at 64F, dry hop after primary fermentation slows down.
For water profile I want something that will showcase the hops. I've heard very good things about Tasty's water profile, so this is what I'm shooting for today. To 10 gallons of RO water I added:
16g Gypsum (CASO4)
7g Epsom salt (MgSO4)
2g Canning salt (NaCl)
1g Calcium Chloride (CaCl2)
Brewing Notes
No issues. Mash efficiency was a bit higher than normal at about 86%. The mash smelled fantastic, then the end of the boil was even better.
Update 12/14/2015
I pulled this beer from the ferm chamber yesterday and brought it into the kitchen to finish up fermentation. It still has quite a bit of krausen on top so I'll wait for this to drop before dry hopping.
Update 12/20/2015
I dumped as much yeast as possible today then added the 6 ounces of dry hops. This beer smells amazing. And here's what 6 ounces of dry hops looks like. After I took the picture, I ever so gently stirred the hop pellets in with a sanitized butter knife. I'll let these go for about a week then plan on transferring to a keg. Throughout the week I'll periodically give a little swirl to the fermenter.
Update 1/6/2016
This beer went into the keg tonight. I tried a sample that was cold but still flat...this beer tastes pretty amazing. I think it'll be fantastic when carb'd. Cold crashing dropped out the hop debris really well. I placed a sanitized paint strainer bag into the keg and then racked into it. This is the same procedure I've used with fruit beers. After filling, just carefully lift the bag out. It really seems to cut down on the amount of debris in the keg.
Update 1/10/2016
Still not fully carb'd, but I had some friends over yesterday to bottle our group brew Whiskey Barrel Russian Imperial Stout (aka Queen Jennie's Revenge) and I had them try this beer. The consensus was this is a pretty amazing and very drinkable DIPA.
This beer went into the keg tonight. I tried a sample that was cold but still flat...this beer tastes pretty amazing. I think it'll be fantastic when carb'd. Cold crashing dropped out the hop debris really well. I placed a sanitized paint strainer bag into the keg and then racked into it. This is the same procedure I've used with fruit beers. After filling, just carefully lift the bag out. It really seems to cut down on the amount of debris in the keg.
Update 1/10/2016
Still not fully carb'd, but I had some friends over yesterday to bottle our group brew Whiskey Barrel Russian Imperial Stout (aka Queen Jennie's Revenge) and I had them try this beer. The consensus was this is a pretty amazing and very drinkable DIPA.