18B American Pale Ale
Dusty Zombies IV
Grain bill
| Gladfield Ale Malt | 4.7 kg | 71.2% |
| Gladfield Vienna Malt | 1.9 kg | 28.8% |
Adjuncts
| Whirlfloc | 1 g @ 10 min |
| Yeast Nutrient | 4 g @ 10 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 60 min | 20 min | 10 min | WP 75°C | DH#1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Citra | 20g | 10g | 20g | 20g | 60g |
| Krush | · | 20g | 10g | 40g | 60g |
Yeast
| LalBrew Pomona | 2 packets |
Water additions
| Calcium Chloride | 2 g |
| Magnesium Sulfate | 4 g |
| Calcium Sulfate | 6 g |
Tasting notes
2025-12-20
Fermentation profile
Gravity
Temperature
About This Beer
V4 of the Dusty Zombies series — Citra + Krush, the pairing that restores the “undead” character. After V2 and V3 returned to single-hop Citra (recovering the Citra signature from the original Zombie Dust), V4 introduces Krush alongside Citra. The pairing brings more tropical passionfruit aromatics while retaining the dank “sweaty socks” undead character that defines the line.
The grain bill (Gladfield Ale Malt + Vienna) carries forward unchanged from the original Zombie Dust template. The hop schedule loads across all four stages: kettle, whirlpool, and a dual dry hop.
Two Pomona-specific process choices reinforce the thiol-driven aromatic character:
- Cold long whirlpool — 20 minutes held at 75 °C drives biotransformation of thiol precursors during the kettle hops
- Dry hop during active fermentation — added during Pomona’s active phase to capture more thiol release
OG sits higher than a typical pale ale at 1.071, producing something closer to IPA territory in strength with an aggressive hop-forward character.
Brew Day
Mash in at 66°C for 60 minutes, mash out at 78°C, sparge 15L at 78°C. Pre-boil 29L, 60-minute boil. Citra and Krush distributed across boil additions at 60, 20, and 10 minutes. After heat off, whirlpool held at 75°C for 20 minutes with Citra and Krush whirlpool additions. Post-boil 25L, 23L into the FermZilla. OG 1.071 on the BrewZilla 35L Gen 4.
Fermentation
Two packets of Pomona pitched at 18°C. Primary at 18°C, raised gradually through 18.5°C to 20.5°C by day 5. Dry hop — 60g Citra and 60g Krush — went in on day 6. Clearing the collection jar mid-ferment to remove trub helped settle the beer before the dry hop addition. Crashed to 4°C by day 10. Kegged on 23 December via closed transfer.
The Result
Sampled on 20 December, eight days after brew day: clean and bright with strong Citra and Krush expression. The high OG fills out the body without heaviness. Target carbonation 2.4 vol CO₂.
The Citra + Krush combination settles the hop-pairing question for the series — Citra carries the original Zombie Dust fruit + dank “undead” signature, and Krush layers in tropical passionfruit aromatics on top.
Lineage
- Zombie Dust (Feb 2023) — original Three Floyds clone; 150 g Citra; the start of the line
- Dusty Zombies V1 (Oct 2023) — Citra out, Superdelic + Nectaron in; lost undead character
- Owen’s V1 (Oct 2023) — parallel V1
- Dusty Zombies II (May 2024) — return to single-hop Citra; Verdant yeast
- Dusty Zombies III (Nov 2024) — continued all-Citra; first Pomona
- This brew — Dusty Zombies IV (Dec 2025) — Citra + Krush; the pairing that restores the undead character
- Owen’s V2 (Mar 2026) — mirrors this V4 (Citra + Krush, BRY-97)