But when I do, its trying to replicate Heady Topper.
Thought this was a great talk and really made me appreciate Kimmich as a brewer and business owner…and driving 6 hours to get his beer :mrgreen:
I particularly thought the Q&A section of this was interesting, especially the dry-hopping discussion, where he says that anything more than 5 days is bad news bears.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdfySDN2mF0http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=121362
He seems rather nervous, cursing, swearing, crude jokes etc… in an attempt to posture himself towards the audience.
The talk could be a little more professional (I was a sailor once too…)
IMO, his advice isn’t anything new really.
Seems to know the characteristics of the yeast that he uses.
So this guy bases his entire income on one beer? Seems to be a fairly risky venture.
I didn’t so much mind the language. Maybe it was a bit overly intended, but I think he just wanted to keep it casual. I actually thought he was a very good speaker and tells a great story.
I’ve never had Heady Topper, and I dare say there is nowhere in the Midwest to even find it. But it sure seems like a legit beer-destination trip.
Pietro, have you had luck in cloning it? If so, care to share?
[quote=“Pietro”] especially the dry-hopping discussion, where he says that anything more than 5 days is bad news bears.
[/quote]
Yet another example of where commercial and home brewing diverge. I don’t care what he says about dry hopping for more than 5 days, it works for me and a lot of other people. If 5 days is enough for him, that’s fine. But I won’t tell him how long to dry hop and he should have the same courtesy! 
[quote=“Denny”][quote=“Pietro”] especially the dry-hopping discussion, where he says that anything more than 5 days is bad news bears.
[/quote]
Yet another example of where commercial and home brewing diverge. I don’t care what he says about dry hopping for more than 5 days, it works for me and a lot of other people. If 5 days is enough for him, that’s fine. But I won’t tell him how long to dry hop and he should have the same courtesy! [/quote]
I often wonder about this. I see commercial brewers time and again caution to not dry hop over 3-5 days. Yet home brewers often talk about dry hopping for 1 week, 2 weeks, and longer. I currently have a Munich/Cascade SMaSH that’s been kegged with dry hops for a few weeks. The first week or so was a bit harsh, but is really starting to smooth out now (3 weeks later) and I’m enjoying it.
So is it just some difference between large scale commercial brewing and small scale home brewing? Is it an old wives tale that commercial brewers hold true so they can turn beers around quicker? Maybe it’s how they are dry hopping? I’d love some more scientific info behind this theory.
one would think, but I have some friends who trade commercial beer and regularly offer the equivalent of their firstborn child for a 4pk.
from what i undersand the cans usually are not even on the shelf 12hours before they are sold out in Vermont. its a cult following beer.
he does make other beers for local accounts, and they are looking to expand - one step at a time.
personally, i don’t think its that great - its wonderful, but I find many beers i can get here just as good (bear republic apex and churchhill are two I had recently that I much prefer). the same friends I mentioned above convinced me to do a clone (from bear-flavored.com) and I gave them a keg of it. its pretty close, maybe even better than the real deal, but i still am not ga-ga over it. its quite complex, 33oz of hops in it - should be!
I too wonder about the dryhop times. I switched last year from whole cone to pellets since my new system works better with pellets and I am still experimenting with dryhop times. One thing i have learned from talking to some pros, however, is that a lot of them agitate the dryhops a lot more than homebrewers do, if they do at all.
my local, for the first 24 hours, recirculates the wort from bottom to top, then lets it sit for a few days before crashing, filtering and racking. not sure if kimmich is just using hop bags or what?
A lot of brewerys make most their income off one or two beers. I have yet to work at a brewery where ~75% of brewing is of one of our styles. It’s just meeting the demand for the consumer, not the choice of the brewer.
[quote=“Denny”][quote=“Pietro”] especially the dry-hopping discussion, where he says that anything more than 5 days is bad news bears.
[/quote]
But I won’t tell him how long to dry hop and he should have the same courtesy! [/quote]
I think he does show the same courtesy, but there is a room full of oogling grown man asking him for his opinion :?:
[quote=“Steeler D”]I didn’t so much mind the language. Maybe it was a bit overly intended, but I think he just wanted to keep it casual. I actually thought he was a very good speaker and tells a great story.
I’ve never had Heady Topper, and I dare say there is nowhere in the Midwest to even find it. But it sure seems like a legit beer-destination trip.
Pietro, have you had luck in cloning it? If so, care to share?[/quote]
Haven’t attempted the clone yet, just harvesting the yeast out of my supply I got when I went to VT. There’s a good bit of info, recipes and links to blog posts over on HBT about cloning HT.
It was a great trip. We went to Stowe and hit up Hill Farmstead in Greensboro, VT. Neither Hill or Alchemist distribute outside of a small radius encompassing Burlington and Montpelier. I thought Hill was far superior, but Heady was definitely worth picking up, and as you say, an awesome beercation that happened to be very do-able for me here in the northeast. Hill is a true Farmhouse Brewery. Shaun Hill is a a bit of a cross between Yoda, Thom Yorke, Liam Gallagher, and Pete Rose…but one who happens to regularly just own ‘best of’ awards on BA and Ratebeer.
[quote=“Pietro”]There’s a good bit of info, recipes and links to blog posts over on HBT about cloning HT.
[/quote]
the bear-flavored.com recipe is the same as the recipe they talk about on HBT, just fyi, in case you don’t want to scour 100 pages on the thread.
[quote=“blatz”][quote=“Pietro”]There’s a good bit of info, recipes and links to blog posts over on HBT about cloning HT.
[/quote]
the bear-flavored.com recipe is the same as the recipe they talk about on HBT, just fyi, in case you don’t want to scour 100 pages on the thread.[/quote]
Yes! Thats the guy I was thinking of!
[quote=“Pietro”][quote=“blatz”][quote=“Pietro”]There’s a good bit of info, recipes and links to blog posts over on HBT about cloning HT.
[/quote]
the bear-flavored.com recipe is the same as the recipe they talk about on HBT, just fyi, in case you don’t want to scour 100 pages on the thread.[/quote]
Yes! Thats the guy I was thinking of![/quote]
I mentioned it a few posts before lol
its a good recipe, my beer came out pretty close, but i think the dryhop in the clone is way off. would need to look at it again and think through what needs to be tweaked. unfortunately, I don’t have any more real Heady. and I also kind of prefer my own IIPA recipe anyhow.
[quote=“Denny”][quote=“Pietro”] especially the dry-hopping discussion, where he says that anything more than 5 days is bad news bears.
[/quote]
Yet another example of where commercial and home brewing diverge. I don’t care what he says about dry hopping for more than 5 days, it works for me and a lot of other people. If 5 days is enough for him, that’s fine. But I won’t tell him how long to dry hop and he should have the same courtesy! [/quote]
I seem to recall that the brewer on the Anchor tour said Old Foghorn was dry hopped for the whole 8 months it matures. But it was loud in that part of the tour and the post-tour tasting had 8 different beers, including said Old Foghorn, so my memory is a bit hazy 8)
