Hair of the Dog Adam Clone

I had a bottle of this one time when we were at New Seasons. It was love at first drink. Here's the description from the side of the bottle:

 

I picked up on the figs, smoke and leather. I got this recipe off of the Mad Fermentationist's website; it calls for a 3.5 hour boil which is turning the crazy amp to 11. One last thought, I spent $8.58 on this batch and was stoked the whole ride home until I realized that the base malt was paid for when I bought my bag. Oh well. It would have come to around 15 bucks, which is pretty good seeing as how a bottle of Adam is $4.99 for 12 ounces.

Here's how mine turned out

Ingredients:
13.00 lbs. 2-Row
0.63 lbs. Crystal 60L
0.55 lbs. Peated Malt
0.44 lbs. Munich Malt
0.25 lbs. Chocolate Malt
0.15 lbs. Black Malt

Hops:

(substituting hops with great liberties here)

Called for:

1.00 oz. Galena @ 90 min.

1.13 oz. Super Styrians @ 40 min.
0.75 oz. Tettnanger Tettnang @ 10 min.

I'm going to do:

1.00 oz. Nugget @ 90 min.

1 oz. Cascade @ 40 min

0.2 oz. Hallertau plus 0.3 oz. Cluster @ 2 min. 

Yeast:

Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale starter made 24 hours prior

Water:

1.25 quarts per pound of griss

4 gallons strike @ 170

mash for 60 min @150

3.5 gallons sparge @ 180

Extra:

1/4 tsp Wyeast yeast nutrient @ 2

Notes:

1-21-2011--Efficiency was good again, I'm beginning to think this is how it's going to be. Preboil gravity was 1.060 which is a full point higher than what it was supposed to be. Boiling for 3.5 hours is a little rough. Around two hours into it, I started thinking about knocking off early.

Post boil OG is...wait for it: 1.110. I took a sip of the sample; man oh man, it was like drinking syrup. Really molassesy-smokey-and BIG. I could smell the peated malt throughout the boil. I'm not sure I would say I like the smell of the malt, but I know it'll lessen in intensity with time. I ended up collecting just over 3 gallons. I think next time I'll sparge a full 4 gallons instead of 3.5. As it is, I'll end up with seventeen 22s. I think I'll drink a couple right away, but I'm gonna let these age for a year (maybe more).

Started bubbling about4 hours after yeast was pitched. 

1-24-2011--Bubbling is a ton less active than the first two days. Gravity down to 1.028+ The Mad Fermentationist said he bottled when it got down to 1.023, so I give it another couple of days then cold crash and bottle. Tasted really big, complex, and smokey. I upped the peat malt a bit, but didn't want to overdo it. Good thing too, because the peaty flavor is really there.

1-26-2011--Gravity is down to 1.022+. When I dropped the hydrometer in to the thief, the hydrometer sunk to 1.030 but then after a couple seconds, went down to 1.022+. I'm sure it's finished, but I'm gonna wait for a week then cold crash. I need to practice patience anyhow with this beer. I plan on boxing up the bottles and waiting on it at least a year or two. 

2-1-2011--Bottled. This is the first time I've bottled and I think I hate it. Emilie capped and I filled. I put the bottles in a diaper box; twenty-nine 12 ouncers and two 22s were tucked neatly away for two years. I think I'll have the first one on my 32nd birthday. The 22s I'm saving for my boys to split with me on their 21st birthday (16 and 20 years from now). I drank the 3 or 4 ounces that were extra. Big, big peaty and smoke with a HUGE alcoholic warming at the end.

2-6-2011--Emilie and I went to Hair of the Dog tasting room last night. The food expediter for our table just happened to be one of the brewers; he also happened to be Alan Sprints the founder and head brewer. We talked about brewing practices and I told him about my clone (which he was stoked on).

2-25-2011--So...I didn't wait 2 years, but I did wait 24 days, that's pretty good right? Man, I love this beer. It's really, really strong peat flavor. I can really pick up on the leathery-chocolatey-figgy taste. Super good and super strong. I think it ended at like 11%. I'm very, very pleased. Now, no more for at least 2 years (unless it's a special occasion)