Sweetwater IPA Clone

Thought I'd start a thread on my first attempt at all grain, where I tried a Sweetwater IPA clone. I live in Atlanta and this is my go to IPA, but I've tried probably 100 different IPAs and keep coming back to Sweetwater's. I kegged it two days ago (also my first attempt at kegging) and the hydro sample was crystal clear and tasted awesome. Came very close on the SG's: OG = 1.064, FG = 1.012. I primaried in a bucket for 2 weeks and dry hopped for 8 days in the primary. Looking forward to the first keg sample in about two weeks! If this turns out good it will become the "house IPA". Attaching the BeerSmith file I made based off the info I found in forums and also a PDF version.

Also, I was able to find Simcoe at my LHBS but I've heard it's hard to come by lately. Many people sub Citra for Simcoe but now I have been reading Citra is in short supply. So if this does become my house IPA I may have to find suitable substitutes.

View attachment SW IPA.bsmx

View attachment Sweetwater IPA Clone.pdf

Tapped this keg last night. Smell and color awesome, very close to Sw IPA. Still a tad green. I will buy some SE IPA this weekend and compare it. So far so good

Looks good! I'm a big fan of SW IPA. Did you happen to see a partial mash version of this while you were looking around?

If you like the SW IPA then you should try to clone Harpoon IPA. Just much smoother in my opinion.

I love Sweetwater IPA! Any updates on this, or happen to have the recipe handy you could share? Keep us posted on this one please.

Kevin1135 said:

I love Sweetwater IPA! Any updates on this, or happen to have the recipe handy you could share? Keep us posted on this one please.

Click to expand...

the recipe is posted here in this thread both in PDF and Beersmith. Let me know if you can't open for some reason and I'll post the text.

Got home from a trip last night, it had been chilling for 48 hours, IT WAS AWESOME. I think still just a tad green, maybe, but damn good and close to SW IPA. I got a 6 of SW IPA yesterday so today I will do a comparison and post some pics. Just can't think about that right now bc I am still hurting from too many pints last night. My first home kegging and I see why it's dangerous... a slippery slope!

GO DAWGS

mmcouch said:

Looks good! I'm a big fan of SW IPA. Did you happen to see a partial mash version of this while you were looking around?

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Sorry I looked but couldn't find it. I used the convert feature in BeerSmith though and here's what it did for a partial mash, see attached.

View attachment SW IPA PM Conversion.pdf

Well here is a pick of the two, pretty close. The real SW IPA is on the right. I think mine will clear up more after being in the fridge longer. Taste is close. A little more hop aroma maybe in the real one but really close.

bd2xu said:

the recipe is posted here in this thread both in PDF and Beersmith. Let me know if you can't open for some reason and I'll post the text.

Got home from a trip last night, it had been chilling for 48 hours, IT WAS AWESOME. I think still just a tad green, maybe, but damn good and close to SW IPA. I got a 6 of SW IPA yesterday so today I will do a comparison and post some pics. Just can't think about that right now bc I am still hurting from too many pints last night. My first home kegging and I see why it's dangerous... a slippery slope!

GO DAWGS

Click to expand...

Your a life saver! I was able to get the PDF finally. I actually had to go through the browser and not the app to get it to work. However, I am unable to open the beersmith file. Would you mind posting the text? I would greatly appreciate it!

Also, you picture looks pretty Damn close to the real thing! I have to say, if you didn't tell me which was yours, I wouldn't have been able to pick it out. I'm extremely excited to try this recipe! Thank you so much!!!!

Will do at halftime in a few minutes, go dawgs. I don't think I'm much of a "taster", I rarely can describe the different flavors in beer or wine, but this is really close. When I taste one after the other I can tell there's a difference but its minor. Granted the SW I'm comparing it to is bottled, SW IPA on tap is heaven, such an amazing hop aroma. My next batch I may try dry hopping in the keg which seems to be popular. I also will forego the priming sugar in the keg if I keg it and instead do the chill, 10-12 psi, wait two weeks

Haha. I understand. When we visited Savannah, we had it on tap quite frequently.. maybe a little too frequent! However, I can't get sweetwater up here where I'm from so a "close" clone is great for me. I just can't wait to try it.

We are planning another trip to Savannah in the summer, and I would love to stay in Atlanta for a couple nights as well. Maybe take a tour and some samples! I'm definitely bringing home a couple sixers to have on hand, and also share with friends. They don't believe me that it just that good!