SN pale ale dry hopping question...

I bought the SN pale ale clone kit from AHB. I also ordered some Amarillo pellet hops that I am planning on dry hopping with. Would this be a good idea or should I just leave them out.

The hops used in the kit are 1 oz perle for 60 mins, 1 oz cascade last 15, and .5 cascade at 0 mins.

According to Sierra Nevada the hop schedule should be
.2 Oz Magnum - 60 min
.7 Oz Perle - 60 Min
1 Oz Cascade - 15 Min
.75 Oz Cascade - 0 Min
.75 Oz Cascade Dryhop for 1 week after you transfer from primary
I have made this beer at least 10 times and this hop schedule will get you exactly the flavor of SN Pale Ale
Grains
9 lbs - Pale Malt
.7 Lbs Crystal 60
.5 lb Dextrine Malt - optional if you like a little more head
Mash at 153 60 min

No dry hopping necessary for a SN Pale Ale clone.

SNPA is dryhopped with cascades... Follow the recipe in this thread, it's the BYO Clone recipe and it's spot on

In summary:

SNPA is dry hopped (Edit: Actually, it's not)...but since you're using a different hop, you won't produce an exact clone of SNPA...so if you're trying to clone SNPA you need to use Cascades instead of Amarillo...but dry hopping with Amarillo can produce a nice effect and is perfectly fine for an APA, so if you're trying to produce something smilar to but slightly different from SNPA go for it....but you also don't HAVE to dry hop if you don't want to and you'll still have a good APA

In other words, do it if you want to. Or don't. Either way, you're not going to screw up anything.

I'm tagging this for that hop schedule.

I don't believe SNPA is dry-hopped. Use a couple of ounces at flame out, and steep for 30 minutes before cooling, and see what that does.

Amarillo is not used in SNPA. It will not hurt, but it will not taste like SNPA.

The real snpa definitely has NO dry hop

I used the same recipe without dry hopping and I thought it was identical to snpa

SNPA is dry hopped with whole cone cascade hops. A simple visit to their website will confirm that fact. According to BYO, the homebrewer should use the freshest cascade hops available for dry hopping a SNPA clone. Do the research, it's all there.

And SNPA is bittered w/ Yakima magnum and peril hops. Cascade is used for flavor and aroma only. Amarillo hops will give you good beer, they're great finishing hops. But they won't give you anything close to SNPA.

NordeastBrewer77 said:

SNPA is dry hopped with whole cone cascade hops. A simple visit to their website will confirm that fact.

Click to expand...

You should probably take your own advice first:

SN clearly notes the dry hop where relevant:
http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/torpedo.html
http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html
http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/bigfoot.html

there is clearly NO dry hop listed for pale ale:
http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/paleale.html

A fellow on another brewing forum contacted Sierra Nevada's brewmaster and got direct information and advice from him on the recipe. The beer is not dry hopped. There is a large additon of cascade hops at flameout.

See this thread for more info:

http://forum.northernbrewer.com/viewtopic.php?t=15532

The BYO clone recipe calls for a .75 oz addition of whole hops for dry hopping. That recipe is spot on if you follow it. Maybe SN doesn't dry hop, they definitely don't use the torpedo method as they do with torpedo, celebration and Bigfoot. But as far as a HOMEBREW recipe, I'll go with what BYO says (not to mention the other clone recipes I've seen)

NordeastBrewer77 said:

The BYO clone recipe calls for a .75 oz addition of whole hops for dry hopping. That recipe is spot on if you follow it. Maybe SN doesn't dry hop, they definitely don't use the torpedo method as they do with torpedo, celebration and Bigfoot. But as far as a HOMEBREW recipe, I'll go with what BYO says (not to mention the other clone recipes I've seen)

Click to expand...

I'm glad the BYO recipe works for you. There are a number of clone recipes out there for this beer, and I'm sure many of them are good -- my point is simply that you don't have to dry hop to be "spot on". IMO, dryhopping is an unnecessary complication to clone this beer.

Again, I'm not sure where you get your information, but celebration and bigfoot do NOT get torpedo hops.

I dry hop mine and it is spot on. Maybe I don't steep my 0 min Cascade addition long enough.....that's why I dry hop mine. (I usually steep for 10 minutes and then start pumping through the chiller) The first batch I made it didn't have quite enough cascade fruitiness for me so I started dry hopping it.....I think it is exactly the same now that I do it. Either way it is a great recipe and beer......it's always on tap at my house and a friend favorite. How long do you usually let your 0 min additions sit before chilling?

Try a 30 min steep before chilling. The result is differnt from dry hopping - not as "in your face" but more integrated into the whole flavor/aroma profile.

In any case, to each his own on this one. Either way, you'll make a decent APA.