Heady Topper Clone Recipe (Extract Version) – Recipe from Oct 2013 BYO Magazine

9.9 lbs light liquid malt extract (LME)

1 lb light dried malt extract (DME)

1 lb dextrose

.375 lb Crystal 20 malt

0.5 oz Columbus hops (bittering) – 60 min in boil

1 oz Simcoe hops (flavoring) – 30 min in boil

1 oz Cascade hops (finishing) – at end of boil

½ oz Apollo hops (finishing) – at end of boil

1 oz Simcoe hops (finishing) – at end of boil

1 oz Centennial hops (finishing) – at end of boil

½ oz Columbus hops (finishing) – at end of boil

Primary dry hop (for 7 days) – 1 oz Chinook, 1 oz Apollo, 1 oz Simcoe

Secondary dry hop (for 5 days) – 1.25 oz Centennial, 1.25 oz Simcoe

VT Ale Yeast w Starter

Targets: OG: 1.076, EG: 1.014, ABV: 8%

Due to the large amounts of hops used in the recipe, shoot for 5.5 gal in your primary fermenter. Make sure you use a blow off tube or have enough head room in your primary fermenter.

Abbreviated instructions:

  1. Steep grains in 2.5 gallons of 145-160 degree water for 30 min. After 30 min, remove grains and bring water to boil
  2. Remove kettle from heat & add one of the cans of LME and the bag of DME. Keep kettle off burner & stir until the malt extract is completely dissolved. Don’t add the remaining extract at this point.
  3. Put kettle back on heat and bring to a boil. BE CAREFUL FOR BOIL OVERS. Once boiling, place the bittering hops into a muslin bag and add them to the kettle.
  4. After 30 min of boiling place the flavoring hops into a muslin bag and add them to the kettle & continue boiling
  5. After 40 min of boiling, remove the kettle from the heat & add the remaining LME. Keep the kettle off the heat and stir until the extract is completely dissolved the return to heat and bring back to boil.
  6. After 45 min of boiling, add ½ tsp of irish moss or 1 whirlfloc tablet to help clarify your beer (optional)
  7. After 50 min of boiling, add the dextrose to the kettle.
  8. After 60 min of boiling place the finishing hops in 2 muslin bags (2 oz/bag) and add them to the kettle & turn off the heat. Put lid on the pot & let the kettle rest for 30 min before cooling. If you have the ability to whirlpool the wort now would be the time. After 30 min of resting, cool the pot as quickly as possible. Remove the hop bags from the pot (should be 4 bags in the kettle)
  9. Pour 2 gal of cold water into your sanitized fermenter, add the cooled wort and top up with additional water to get to 5.5 gal total. Aerate the wort by vigorous stirring with a sanitized spoon/paddle or rocking the fermenter. Make sure the wort is below 80 degrees before adding yeast. PRIOR TO ADDING YEAST TAKE YOUR OG READING.
  10. Allow to ferment at 65-70 degrees for 7-10 days.
  11. After the beer is done fermenting add the Primary Dry Hops to the fermenter (you can use a sanitized muslin bag or just put the hops directly into the fermenter)
  12. After 7 days of dry hopping it will be time to rack (transfer) the beer into the secondary fermenter. Put the secondary dry hops into the secondary fermenter (you can use the muslin bag or add hops directly to the secondary fermenter) and rack/transfer the beer from the primary fermenter to the secondary fermenter. After 5 days in the secondary fermenter the beer will be ready to keg or bottle as usual.

Total amount of hops (11 oz):

Simcoe – 4.25 oz

Cascade – 1 oz

Apollo – 1.5 oz

Centennial – 2.25 oz

Columbus – 1 oz

Chinook – 1 oz

Price for the kit at Fancy Camper is around $90.