The Alchemist’s Holey Moley clone, All-Grain

5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.078 FG = 1.016
IBU = 75 SRM = 9 ABV = 8.7%

Ingredients

14 lbs. (6.4 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.7 lbs. (0.77 kg) Munich malt
13 oz. (0.36 kg) British light crystal malt (37 °L)
7 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 14% alpha acids)
5.5 AAU Cascade hops (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
7.8 AAU Cascade hops (5 min.) (1.5 oz./42 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
18 AAU Amarillo® hops (0 min.) (2 oz./56 g at 9% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) Cascade hops (dry hop)
3 oz. (85 g) Amarillo® hops (dry hop)
1 Tbsp. Polyclar
The Yeast Bay (Vermont Ale), GigaYeast GY054 (Vermont IPA), East Coast Yeast ECY29 (North East Ale) or Omega Yeast Labs (DIPA Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step

Achieve a target mash temperature of 155 °F (68 °C). Boil 60 minutes, adding the hops as instructed. After the boil, whirlpool in the kettle and let the hops rest in the hot wort for at least 30 minutes before chilling. Chill the wort rapidly to 68 °F (20 °C). Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for one week.

After the final gravity has been achieved, add a clarifying agent such as Polyclar. Allow three days for clarifying agent to work, then add the dry hops to primary fermenter. After seven days, rack beer off dry hops and yeast cake either into a keg or bottles. Purge with carbon dioxide if it is available to you.

The Alchemist’s Holey Moley clone, Extract with Grains

(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.078 FG = 1.016
IBU = 75 SRM = 9 ABV = 8.7%

Ingredients

9.9 lbs. (4.5 kg) light liquid malt extract
1.1 lbs. (0.5 kg) Munich liquid malt extract
13 oz. (0.36 kg) British light crystal malt (37 °L)
7 AAU Magnum hops (60 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 14% alpha acids)
5.5 AAU Cascade hops (30 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
7.8 AAU Cascade hops (5 min.) (1.5 oz./42 g at 5.5% alpha acids)
18 AAU Amarillo® hops (0 min.) (2 oz./56 g at 9% alpha acids)
2 oz. (56 g) Cascade hops (dry hop)
3 oz. (85 g) Amarillo® hops (dry hop)
1 Tbsp. Polyclar
The Yeast Bay (Vermont Ale), East Coast Yeast ECY29 (North East Ale) or Omega Yeast Labs (DIPA Ale) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step

Steep the crushed grains in 2 qts. (1.9 L) water for 20 minutes at 160 °F (71 °C). Rinse the grain with hot water and add water to achieve 6.5 gallons (25 L) in your kettle. Turn off the heat, add the malt extract to your kettle and stir until fully dissolved. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hops as instructed. After the boil is complete, begin a whirlpool in the kettle and let the hops rest in the hot wort for at least 30 minutes before chilling. 

Chill the wort rapidly to 68 °F (20 °C). Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C) for one week. After the final gravity has been achieved, add a clarifying agent such as Polyclar. Allow three days for the clarifying agent to work, then add dry hops to the primary fermenter. After seven days, rack the beer off of the dry hops and yeast cake either into a keg or bottles. Purge with carbon dioxide if it is available.

Tips for Success: John Kimmich says that this beer was “dry hopped extensively with Cascade and Amarillo® hops,” which makes me believe he either used a lot of dry hops in one stage or dry hopped this beer in two stages. I decided to go with the former in my clone attempt. Kimmich is a very technique-oriented brewer, so don’t be afraid to experiment with your dry hopping to try and find the best flavor profile.

Bagging your hops in a muslin brewing bag commonly used for steeping grains can make them easier to retrieve when you are ready to remove them from the beer. If you bag your dry hops, however, keep in mind that it can reduce the hops exposure to the beer. Remedy this by making sure you don’t pack the bag of hops too tightly. Be careful not to disturb the CO2 blanket on top of the beer during dry hopping. After you add the dry hops to the fermenter, re-establish the CO2 blanket by gently injecting CO2 across the top of the beer (if you have CO2 available to you in your homebrewery). If you have to open the fermenter for some reason during this period, repeat the process.

This beer’s relatively high terminal gravity led me to believe all-grain brewers should not go too low with their mash temperature. Remember when brewing any beer with a high gravity to pitch a healthy amount of active yeast cells. Beers made from underpitched worts start slower, and increase the stress on the yeast, producing more esters and fusel alcohols. Consider making a yeast starter a day ahead of your brew day to generate a healthy population of yeast before pitching. A general rule of thumb for pitching ale yeast is that you need 0.75 million cells per milliliter of wort per degree Plato. This translates to about a 1-L starter if using a stir plate and about a 2-L starter if you only swirl the starter every few hours.