18B American Pale Ale
Dusty Zombies Pale Ale (October 2023)
ABV6.0% OG1.056 FG1.010Grain bill
| Gladfield Ale Malt | 4.8 kg | 75% |
| Gladfield Vienna Malt | 1.6 kg | 25% |
Adjuncts
| Whirlfloc | half tablet @ 10 min |
| Yeast nutrient | half tsp @ 10 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 60 min | 15 min | WP | DH#1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sequoia | 25g | · | · | · |
| Nectaron | · | 20g | 30g | 50g |
| Superdelic | · | 20g | 30g | 50g |
Yeast
| Lallemand Verdant IPA | 2 packets |
Water additions
| Calcium Chloride | half tsp in mash |
| Calcium Sulphate | 1 tsp in mash |
About This Beer
Owen’s V1 of the Dusty Zombies series, brewed three weeks after Matt’s V1 and mirroring its hop departure: Citra out, Superdelic and Nectaron in for flavour and aroma. Sequoia does the bittering where Matt used Moutere.
The shared grain bill traces back to Matt’s Zombie Dust clone of Three Floyds’ single-hop Citra pale ale. Ale plus Vienna proved itself in the original and carries unchanged through the whole series across both brewers.
Departing from Citra
The defining choice is to skip Citra entirely. The original is built around showcasing Citra’s grapefruit and tropical signature, so this is a NZ-localised take on a US single-hop classic. Nectaron brings passionfruit and peach, Superdelic intense tropical and sweet candy citrus, and together they occupy similar fruit territory with a distinctly NZ signature. Sequoia was bred not to compete with aroma hops, which is why it bitters.
The two are split symmetrically, both at 100 g and both on the same schedule at 15 minutes, whirlpool and dry hop.
Per Matt’s tasting verdict on his own V1, the NZ tropical pairing lost the pleasantly undead character of Citra’s fruit and dank sweaty-socks combination. Both brewers eventually go back to Citra.
Vienna sits at 25% of the grist, which is high but legitimate. It is a sub-base malt and can run to 100%.
Fermentation
Two packets of Verdant IPA at 19°C for two weeks, the same strain as Hazy IPA IV three months earlier. Dry hop on day 5 from pitch, 50 g each of Nectaron and Superdelic.
Verdant attenuated predictably at 82%.
The gravity
OG landed thirteen points under what the recipe was drawn up for. Three things together: a 1.5 L pre-boil shortfall, the high Vienna fraction extracting less efficiently than a straight Ale base, and a grain bill undersized for the target in the first place. The 1.5 L shortfall then runs consistently through every stage from pre-boil onward.
Cross-checked on two instruments, hydrometer at 1.056 and the RAPT Pill at 1.0548, agreeing within a point. First time the Pill and glass have been read side by side here.
Lineage
- Zombie Dust (Feb 2023): Matt’s original Three Floyds clone, 150 g Citra only
- Dusty Zombies V1 (Oct 2023): Matt’s first renamed iteration; Moutere, Superdelic, Nectaron
- This brew, Owen’s V1: Sequoia, Superdelic, Nectaron
- Dusty Zombies II (May 2024): Matt returns to all-Citra
- Dusty Zombies III (Nov 2024): all-Citra, switches to Pomona
- Dusty Zombies IV (Dec 2025): Citra and Krush; restores the tropical and dank balance
- Owen’s Dusty Zombies (Mar 2026): Owen’s V2; Citra, Krush, BRY-97