Trough Lolly's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone

[Chris]

Doesn't look bad at all. Might have to give it a go.

[sathid]

Thanks for that mate.

I must have gotten confused. I used the colour converter on the AHB website, and it said that 140 lovibond was 231EBC. The dark malt was 220-260EBC so I figured it was a close match
Is there a coser grain bill you could make from the grains on the craftbrewer website? (rather order them all at the same place.)

So IPA's are hoppier than APA's?

Cheers for the input everyone,

Troy

G'day Sathid - Ahhh, I see, I'm with you now!!! I think the combination of all Marris Otter and Dark Crystal will result in a darker APA, but that doesn't mean it's no good! The 140 Lovibond Crystal is a light crystal that I find nicely complements the Marris Otter. As for colour, I'm just going on memory and to my eyes, it's a slightly darker than normal pale ale with a hint of orange in it - almost IPA'ish...

Cheers,
TL

[Trough Lolly]

((snip))
Is there a coser grain bill you could make from the grains on the craftbrewer website? (rather order them all at the same place.)

No probs Troy,
If I was ordering from Ross to make an AG SNPA clone, I'd buy;

• 2 kilos of Bairds Marris Otter
  1 kilo of Bairds Golden Promise
  1 kilo of Weyermann Munich I
  1 kilo of Weyermann pale wheat (and use 300g for this batch)
  1 kilo of Bairds Crystal malt pale (and use 200g for this batch)
  
  1 x 90g pack of Chinook, Amarillo and Cascade pellets (you could use Amarillo in lieu of the cascade addition if you only want to buy 2 packs of hops...) - that should give you enough hops for another few batches!
  
  1 x twin pack of CraftBrewer American Ale yeast.

That should see you right! You could grab some polyclar VT if chill haze is an issue, but that's an optional extra. Obviously, the above order may not be the most economical method (better to buy your grain in 25kg sacks), but at least you know you have all the ingredients you need at the one place and the quality's good...

Cheers,
TL

[sathid]

thanks mate

I'm going to try the american ale II yeast from Gryphons (since I'm in perth)
and I think I might try some simcoe in there somewhere, possibly either replacing, or partially replacing the chinook. Just for fun .

I do have some cascade and chinook already, but they have been in my fridge for about a year, so something fresh will be the order of the day I think

[sathid]

Well, this went on yesterday. Volume was a bit high so I've ended up with a starting gravity of only 1.038. So it might be a midstrength SNPA. lol

I used a makeshift hopsock, and I'm a bit worried about the hops being underutilised during the boil. Would dry hopping with the three types of hops I've used be worth it? Or will there not be enough malt flavour to balance them out?

[Trough Lolly]

Can you sneak a sample taster? The lower than expected gravity boil would probably improve the hop extraction efficiency so you might have a well bittered wort anyway. That said, a tasting sample may tell you something too - just ignore the sweetness if it's a sample taken early on during primary fermentation.

Dry hopping won't improve bitterness but should contribute to flavour and aroma in the final product. If the sample shows you're light on for hops, a dry hop addition of amarillo is fine - so too is cascade, but don't get too heavy handed. I find large dry hop additions of cascade give an undesireable grassiness to the flavour profile.

If you can, dry hop in secondary - the vigorous fermentation in primary knocks out a lot of the aroma profile so you get a better result if you can dry hop the beer in secondary before you bottle / keg the beer.

Cheers,
TL

[sathid]

Cheers mate,

I'll draw off a taster tomorrow

[sathid]

I've drawn off a sample.

Smells citrusy, very tart. Reminds me of the coopers pale or coopers sparkling. Hard to describe the aroma.

The taste is very tart, but it is very cloudy with the yeast still. So it's in the fridge. Gravity is presently 1.100. lol. I'm guessing once the yeast has flocculated this will drop to a reasonable level.

One thing that bothers me, is that I've realised the caramalt I used was FAR to light. ~50EBC. Looks like I've made a wiessen.

Oh well, hopefully it tastes nice. I can fix it for next time.

[sathid]

Scratch that gravity.

Sitting on ~1.016

[sathid]

very nutty. Should have stuck to wyeast american ale I, rather than II.

[Trough Lolly]

Threw another batch of this together yesterday, in anticipation of forthcoming Xmas festivities! Dropped the Marris Otter and used BB Pale malt instead - ran out of crystal and used Caramunich I instead! Got a bit heavy handed with the Chinook (20g at 12.4% for 60 mins!!) so this may turn into a hopheavy APA...
The BB Pale malt is somewhat lighter (almost pilsener'ish) than MO and I also noticed a cloudier wort in the kettle with the BB Pale and some stalk particles in the mashtun . My efficiency was also a few points lower despite using the exact same procedure each time - although I must admit that the sparge was relatively cool - around 72C.
It's bubbling away with US-05 onboard - I cut back on the malt and had an OG of 1.043 so this should be an easy drinker by the time I tap the keg around Xmas dinner time!

Cheers,
TL

[sathid]

It's now down to 1.012, and tastes quite watery with a very nutty finish. I'd like to dry hop, but I'm worried that it will overpower the beer because of the lack of malt.

Would there be any use in making up a basic concentrated wort from DME and sticking it in when I rack into the secondary?

edit: I've obviously had an issue with hop utilisation (poor boil perhaps) so there is bugger all bitterness. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

[brew.exe]

You can add some isohop, to increase the bitterness. Haven't used it myself but I think you only need a couple of drops.

[Kevnlis]

It's now down to 1.012, and tastes quite watery with a very nutty finish. I'd like to dry hop, but I'm worried that it will overpower the beer because of the lack of malt.

Would there be any use in making up a basic concentrated wort from DME and sticking it in when I rack into the secondary?

edit: I've obviously had an issue with hop utilisation (poor boil perhaps) so there is bugger all bitterness. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Hey Sathid, I think you made a similar post over at AHB?

Your best bet is to brew another beer that is overly bitter and combine the two IMHO.

[sathid]

Yep, replies are usually a little quicker there, so covering both bases

I might have to do that. Going to need another keg I think

Cheers,

Troy

[Kevnlis]

Just combine the two batches to a 50L if you can.

[Trough Lolly]

Yep, that'll work - combining batches. In fact, I like to do that when I have two kegs on the go in my smallish keg fridge - I've done a half 'n half with stout and amber ale - it's fun and tastes good! One more bonus when you use kegs not bottles!!

Cheers,
TL

[Trough Lolly]

It's now down to 1.012, and tastes quite watery with a very nutty finish. I'd like to dry hop, but I'm worried that it will overpower the beer because of the lack of malt.

Would there be any use in making up a basic concentrated wort from DME and sticking it in when I rack into the secondary?

edit: I've obviously had an issue with hop utilisation (poor boil perhaps) so there is bugger all bitterness. Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Sathid, I've been looking at your feedback on this batch and despite the less than ideal outcome, you've got the expected results from the yeast strain you used. If you have the time and inclination, keep some of the slurry / harvest the yeast as you could make an amber ale next time around and with that yeast you'll end up with a pretty decent replica of a Fat Tire clone if you like amber ales....anyway, it's a thought and I hate seeing good yeast going to waste!!

Cheers,
TL the tightarse brewer!!

[sathid]

Yeah I had noticed it would give a nutty flavour. Would probably be ok with the bitterness right.

Thanks for the help guys. I might do a slightly smaller batch, as my kettle struggled with such a large volume.

[Trough Lolly]

No probs - the nutty flavour profile would be nice amongst an amber ale with a good dose of Willamette hops....hence the Fat Tire clone suggestion.

Cheers,
TL