Surly Furious Clone by Northern Brewer

Brew date: 10/19/2012

Starter:
Boiled 1.8L (final volume) of 1.043 SG starter wort for 15 minutes on Thursday night 10/18/2012. (Wort came from final runnings of Lakefront Fixed Gear Clone. Pitched 1 Activator smack pack of WYeast British Ale II into this starter wort first thing in the morning on Friday Oct. 19.

Mash-in:
Used 3 gallons of boiling water to pre-heat the mash tun. 4.5 gallons 165.5F strike water & 13.38 lbs of cool grain--it's 53F in Kirkwood today and the grain had been outside for a while--combined to reach 153.1F after mash in @ 2:45 p.m. Since my target temp was 153, I pretty much nailed it.

Mash temps over the hour:
153.1F @ 2:45 p.m.
152.6F @ 3:05
151.5F @ 3:20
150.6F @ 3:45

Fermentation
65 Degrees in primary.

Finishing
Racked from primary onto Surly Furious Dry-hop blend on 10/30/2012.
Racked from secondary w/dry hops to keg on 11/10/2012.

Tasting Notes
While in the Twin Cities for Thanksgiving 2012, I picked up a 4 pack of Surly Furious to compare to my home-brewed version--and to drink.

Copper color. Still a bit cloudy. I didn't use any finings. With 7+ ounces of dry hops some combination of filtering and finings would be necessary to achieve clarity.

The aroma is just about perfect. Enticing citrus notes predominate. Dry hopping did its job.

Thin body. Not quite as thin as the Fixed Gear Clone, but the same problem is evident. I attribute this issue to the precipitous drop in mash temps over the hour-long mash.

Flavor profile matches the commercial version nicely with a couple of exceptions:
1. Mine is not quite sweet enough, this defect goes hand in hand with the thin mouth feel. I have to solve my mash temperature problem if I'm ever going to produce top-notch beers.
2. It also tastes a bit grassy. This sensation is no doubt amplified by the lack of malt sweetness and body. Still, based on the last 2 dry hopped batches I have produced, this and the Fixed Gear, I'm determined never to let dry hops be in contact with the beer for more than 7 days maximum. Even shorter dry-hop periods would probably be better.