18B American Pale Ale
Zombie Dust (clone)
Grain bill
| Gladfield Ale Malt | 4.74 kg | 75% |
| Gladfield Vienna Malt | 1.58 kg | 25% |
Adjuncts
| Whirlfloc | 1 g @ 15 min |
| Yeast nutrient | 2 g @ 15 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 75 min | 30 min | 10 min | WP 85°C |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citra | 25g | 30g | 45g | 50g |
Yeast
| Safale US-05 | 2 packets |
Tasting notes
2023-03-10
About This Beer
Zombie Dust is Matt’s local clone of Three Floyds Brewing’s cult-classic American Pale Ale of the same name — a single-hop Citra showcase. The recipe is straightforward: a two-malt grain bill of Gladfield Ale Malt + a quarter-portion of Gladfield Vienna Malt, then loaded with 150 g Citra at every addition point through the boil and whirlpool.
The defining character is Citra’s distinctive combination of fruity tropical aromas alongside a dank, almost “sweaty socks” undertone — the combination that gives the beer its pleasantly “undead” vibe the name evokes. Matt liked that the recipe achieved a fantastic finished beer with no specialty malts, just two base malts.
This batch is the origin of what becomes the Dusty Zombies series. When Matt re-brews and modifies the recipe later in 2023, he renames the line to “Dusty Zombies” — honouring the origin while signalling the recipe has moved on. The Ale + Vienna grain bill carries forward unchanged across the entire series; the hop schedule is where the variations happen.
It was also Matt’s first time using pressure fermentation deliberately as a substitute for temperature control.
Ingredients
The grain bill keeps things uncomplicated: Gladfield Ale Malt provides the bulk of the fermentable base, with Vienna Malt filling the remaining 25% to add a light toasty sweetness and push the colour into a warm golden range. The combination is a clean, slightly bready canvas suited to showcasing the hop load.
Citra runs through the entire hop schedule at 25 g (75 min), 30 g (30 min), 45 g (10 min), and 50 g in the whirlpool at 85°C for 15 minutes. Total Citra: 150 g across 25.3 L. Two packets of US-05 pitched dry for a clean, neutral fermentation base.
Brew Day
Brewed on the BrewZilla 35L Gen 4. Mash in at 66.7°C with 16.5 L, sparge at 75.6°C with 16 L. Pre-boil volume was 28 L with a 2 L top-up during the boil. The whirlpool addition went in after cooling to 85°C with a 15-minute stand. Volume into the fermenter was 25.3 L, OG hit the target exactly at 1.057.
Fermentation
Pressure-fermented at approximately 5 PSI without active temperature control. Pressure was released prior to bottling — releasing too close to the transfer stirred trub significantly; a lesson carried forward to subsequent batches.
A final gravity was not recorded for this batch.
The Result
Bottled on 2023-03-10, targeting 2.3 vol CO2. The result was a clean, well-expressed pale ale. 150 g of Citra delivered strong aroma and flavour, with citrus and tropical fruit character coming through clearly. The profile was clean despite the absence of temperature control, validating the pressure fermentation approach for this ABV range.
This batch was subsequently reworked into the Dusty Zombies series — see Dusty Zombies (October 2023) for the first iteration of the renamed line.