Saranac Pale Ale clone

Hey all - anyone know of a good Saranac Pale Ale clone recipe or something similar? I'm looking for a real nice session pale ale. I've always found myself going back to Saranac time and time again and I'd love to craft one similar to it. Any help or advice?

Thanks!

It's pretty basic, IIRC.

Here's the listing on FX Matt's website.

Here's the important data:

Malt: Pale, English Crystal
Hops: EK Goldings, Cascades
OG: 13.5P (1.055)
ABV: 5.5%

Doesn't give any info on IBU or SRM. But I can combine personal experience and other people's tasting notes to arrive at a reasonable fascimile, I think.

First, color. Described as 'copper', 'golden', 'amber', 'bronze', 'red'. I'd put that somewhere between 9 and 14 SRM. I remember it being somewhat deeper amber than golden.

Second, IBU. I don't remember this as being overly bitter, but I do remember citrusy American hops in the finish. I'd bitter this to no more than 40 IBU, probably around 35 (0.64 BU:GU ratio).

Now, let's come up with a grist. First, the bulk grain is going to be pale malt, more than probably US 2-row. UK Crystal is used for color and flavor. A good place to start would be 90% 2-row to 10% 60L UK Crystal. In my brewery, that'd be 9 lbs 2-row and 1 lb Crystal to get an OG of 1.055 in 5 US gallons.

Now, to bitter. FX Matt doesn't say what hops they use where. But I remember Cascades in the finish (as do the reviewers), so that's what we'll do. I wouldn't waste Goldings for bittering, so I'd sub in something else like Northern Brewer or Perle. An ounce of Perle pellets at 8% AA will give about 36 IBU in 5 US gallons; finish with a half-ounce of Cascades at flameout.

Now, to fermentation. We know - because Matt's has reported it - that Saranac Pale Ale is 5.5% ABV. As we know the OG, we can use the ABV to calculate the FG, which we can use to figure attenuation and help us choose a yeast.

OG = 1.055 FG = 1.013 = 5.5% ABV = 76% attenuation. I don't remember any fruity, estery character to the beer, so we're looking for a clean American ale yeast that will attenuate that far. Wyeast 1056 will give that profile and attenuation, as will S-05 (the dry version of 1056) and White Labs WLP001. In fact, I recommend WLP001 in this instance, properly pitched using the Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator.

How's that sound?

Bob

Thanks Bob, this will be my next project.

Out of curiosity, if I was to use a LME, what would be an appropriate selection?

The freshest pale extract you can find. That generally means one of the larger online suppliers. Briess Gold is a good choice. Many retailers sell Briess LME as their "store brand" extract syrup.

Bob

Thanks Bob! 6.6 pounds appropriate?

Probably not. Plug the extract amounts into your favorite software and figure out how much extract gets you to 1.055.

Cheers,

Bob

I hate to dredge up such old thread, but has anyone ever tried this? I was wondering how close it came to the real thing.

Anybody? ipe:

I'm thinking of trying a 1 gallon batch to see how close it will come.

I have not brewed this recipe, but was looking for Saranac's Imperial IPA (High Peak series), which I used to really like.

The only thing I noticed with that Imperial IPA, after I starting to brew my own more seriously and tasting many others, I found it to be very sweet, more than I find desirable in an (I)IPA at this point. Still a decent IIPA for certain occasions and it's priced nicely.

Although I never tasted it, I wonder if the Pale Ale also has that relative sweetness.

This is from their website: