Bum wrote:And the Golden Ale (clone) recipe is basically a bog-standard APA homebrew recipe. Both beers (GA clone and SW original) are pretending to be something that they are not (or, more correctly, both are pretending to not be something that they actually are).
Make the GA a bit less chewy and you've fundamentally got pretty much the same beer.
I've not tasted Earle's S&W clone but i have had the S&W beer, tastes very grassy to me with no malt. Nothing like a golden ale. No disrespect to Earle, I'm sure his version is very good.
The GA is not an APA, never has been. It's an english style pale ale with american hops, what you sometimes see marketed as an english summer ale where the beers are lighter in colour than a bitter and with more hop character.
Far too much malt for an APA and not enough hops. It's a well balanced beer where the malt and hops are in unison. I've not had the pleasure of tasting APAs in the USA and until recently the authentic APAs we received in this country were poorly handled. Thankfully we now see them on tap in good craft focused pubs. I have, however, lived in the UK and drank my weight in english bitters. The GA is far more english than american which is what i wanted when creating it (the AG version(s)). APAs are far more hop driven with the malt an after thought (if you can even taste it). English ales are malt driven. The GA is balanced between the 2.
The GA recipe started out life as a JSGA clone which is not an APA. It evolved over time, as recipes tend to do. More malt, less hops these days.
I recently posted my thoughts on the GA, sort of a commentary on the evolution of it over the course of the 5-6 years it has been around. It started life on this forum, the first HB forum i joined way back when. I should re-post it here given this is where it all began.
I have a keg of the original AG recipe on tap and the current version i brew ccing.
On topic - apologies to Oliver, I am yet to send a beer but will endeavour to do so ASAP. It could be interesting to send you 2, the original GA brewed the way i intended it to be (and only on tap due to surplus from a camping trip i didn't make) and the version i brew these days - english base malt, rye, vienna, homegrown victoria hops and WY1272.