Victory Brewing Co.’s DirtWolf clone

Victory Brewing Co.’s DirtWolf clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.076  FG = 1.010
IBU = 75  SRM = 6  ABV = 8.7%

Ingredients
12 lbs. (5.4 kg) North American Pilsner malt
6 oz. (170 g) Carahell® malt (10 °L)
2 oz. (57 g) acidulated malt
1.66 lbs. (750 g) dextrose sugar (5 min.)
3 g CaSO₄ (50 min.)
3 AAU Mosaic® hops (50 min.) (0.21 oz./6 g at 14.1% alpha acids)
2 AAU Citra® hops (15 min.) (0.14 oz./4 g at 14% alpha acids)
2 AAU Mosaic® hops (15 min.) (0.14 oz./4 g at 14.1% alpha acids)
6.9 AAU Citra® hops (10 min.) (0.49 oz./14 g at 14% alpha acids)
2 AAU Mosaic® hops (10 min.) (0.14 oz./4 g at 14.1% alpha acids)
2.9 AAU Simcoe® hops (5 min.) (0.21 oz./6 g at 13.7% alpha acids)
5.3 AAU Azacca® hops (5 min.) (0.46 oz./13 g at 11.6% alpha acids)
5.5 AAU Citra® hops (5 min.) (0.39 oz./11 g at 14% alpha acids)
3 AAU Mosaic® hops (5 min.) (0.21 oz./6 g at 14.1% alpha acids)
0.71 oz. (20 g) Citra® hops (hopback)
0.35 oz. (10 g) Simcoe® hops (hopback)
0.95 oz. (27 g) Chinook hops (hopback)
0.71 oz. (20 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
1.4 oz. (40 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
1 g Yeastex yeast nutrient (15 min.)
1 Whirlfloc tablet (15 min.)
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale), White Labs WLP001 (California Ale), or LalBrew BRY-97 (West Coast Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step
Mash in at 122 °F (50 °C) employing a medium-thin mash. Hold at 122 °F (50 °C) for 10 minutes. Raise temperature to 149 °F (65 °C) and hold for 10 minutes. Raise temperature again to 158 °F (70 °C) and hold for 15 minutes. Raise to 170 °F (77 °C) for mash out.

Recirculate for 10 minutes, or until clear. Once the wort is running fairly clear, start wort collection. Begin sparging the grains when they are first exposed during runoff, collecting 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort.

Boil for 90 minutes, adding ingredients at times indicated. If using whole flower hops, use a big enough bag to contain them while allowing proper circulation. Otherwise, use pellet hops, because it is imperative to have proper hop/wort contact time. When boil is complete, whirlpool and let set for 20 minutes. Chill to 61 °F (16 °C) and transfer to fermenter. Pitch a healthy, large amount of yeast and oxygenate thoroughly if using liquid yeast. Pitch at 61 °F (16 °C) and allow to ferment at 64 °F (18 °C). When beer falls below 1.030 SG, raise fermentation temperature to 68 °F (20 °C) to finish fermentation. Hold there until no diacetyl is detected, usually 1–2 days. Rack to remove yeast.

Cool to 50 °F (10 °C) and add dry hops. Hold at 50 °F (10 °C) for three days then remove or rack off. Cool the beer down to 32 °F (0 °C) over 3–4 days, then hold at or below 32 °F (0 °C) for a minimum of 1 week. Force carbonate to 2.5 v/v or add priming sugar to bottle ferment for carbonation.

Extract with grains version:
Replace the Pilsner and acidulated malts with 6.75 lbs. (3.1 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract and ½ tsp. 88% lactic acid. Heat 3 gallons (11 L) of water to about 155 °F (68 °C) and steep the caramel malt in a muslin bag for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pre-boil then chill 3 gallons (11 L) of water to use later for topping up the fermenter. Once the steeping is complete, remove the bag, letting the liquid drain into the kettle.

Raise to near-boiling temperatures, remove pot from flame and stir in half of the malt extract. Return to flame and boil for 50 minutes, adding the hops according to the schedule in the ingredient list. Add the gypsum with the first hop addition, the Yeastex and Whirlfloc with 15 minutes remaining, and the remainder of the dried malt extract with 5 minutes left in the boil.

Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe, topping the fermenter up to 5 gallons (19 L) after chilling with pre-boiled water.

Tips for success:
Dextrose is added late in this recipe simply to boost gravity while keeping the beer’s color intact (as opposed to the Storm King recipe where it is added earlier to aid in additional color development).

The timing and temperature of the dry hopping step can greatly influence the dry hop character of the finished beer. To best replicate DirtWolf, dry hop at 50 °F (10 °C) for the right balance of pure dry hop grassiness (a little), the juicy tropical notes (a fair amount), and citrus (a fair amount).