American Pale Ale Coldwater 420 - Special Pale Ale

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I'm trying to prep for the weekend and this is what I'm thinking for tweaking the recipe. I tried to keep the IBUs close to the original by playing w/ the ratios. I'm also going to use an english yeast cake I'm racking an ESB off of earlier that day. From my experience 420 has slight fruit/flowery undertones that seem to come from the yeast more than anything else and I think the White Labs Burton's will be interesting and may replicate that.
Hey... Inquiring minds want to know.. how did it turn out? I would LOVE to do this with extract with steeping grains.

Come on... spill the grains, I mean beans.

-ArXiX
 
I actually just kegged it Sunday. I had enough co2 to purge it but I'm out so I can't carb it. I'll let you know once I crack it open, hopefully next week.
 
this recipe started out as an extract + steeping grains recipe I got from ALABREW in its original version(s)

Can I get the name of the kit from alabrew? I'd like to start with that kit and steeping grains since I'm a newbie and I do love 420. I hope the alabrew kit is a 5 galllon version as well. :mug:
 
Can you list what steeping grains and how much extract , and hops was in that kit for the sweetwater clone that you made. Thanks :drunk::tank:
 
Hey guys,

I'm a brewer at SweetWater. Cloning beers is what got me interested in making this my profession. Isn't it fun? Some of you are closer to our recipe than others! I'm glad to see you all like our beer enough to try to replicate it. Keep up the good work!

I'm actually in the brew house right now brewing a 50 bbl batch of HG420. smells great!
 
Hey guys,

I'm a brewer at SweetWater. Cloning beers is what got me interested in making this my profession. Isn't it fun? Some of you are closer to our recipe than others! I'm glad to see you all like our beer enough to try to replicate it. Keep up the good work!

I'm actually in the brew house right now brewing a 50 bbl batch of HG420. smells great!

Yes I love my clone but I still like to buy the real thing and drink one of mine then one of yours I guess.......Hey next time I'm in ATL can I get a reall tour...I know they do tours short ones........
 
Got the ingredients to brew this from the Brewmasters Warehouse. Brewing an AG version today. This is my 1st AG brew so I cant wait to see the results.
 
Got the ingredients to brew this from the Brewmasters Warehouse. Brewing an AG version today. This is my 1st AG brew so I cant wait to see the results.

Let us know! I'm brewing a version that is close to Mutilated1's.

One of the things I remember loving about Sweetwater was the great mouthfeel. It's not sweet, but it's richer in the mouthfeel than other APAs, if I remember right. (The only time I've had it was in Februrary in Florida) So, I'm going to use some washed Denny's Favorite 50 yeast to see if I can recreate that mouthfeel.
 
I'm thinking about giving this a go! Had some 420 last night and did a search and found this recipe. Any others in the last year or so brewed this?
 
Yes, I brewed a variant of this last year and it was one of the best beers I've made so far. I've had 420 and liked it, but I've never tried them side by side to compare. My version was a partial mash (152F for 45min) with:

1 1/2 lbs. Munich
1 lb. American 2-row
1 lb. Vienna
1/2 lb. Crystal 60

and enough light liquid malt extract to bring it to an OG of around 1.050. Used Columbus hops for bittering and Cascade for flavor/aroma to about 40 IBUs Tinseth or 64 IBUs using the Rager formula! I'm not sure which one is most accurate, but it wasn't TOO hoppy or bitter.

I used Danstar Nottingham yeast and probably fermented in the mid-high 60s (I didn't write it down). Hope it goes well!
 
All grain should be basically the same recipe, except drop the LME and add enough 2-row in your mash so the OG of your wort ends up around 1.050. Good luck!
 
Yes, I brewed a variant of this last year and it was one of the best beers I've made so far. I've had 420 and liked it, but I've never tried them side by side to compare. My version was a partial mash (152F for 45min) with:

1 1/2 lbs. Munich
1 lb. American 2-row
1 lb. Vienna
1/2 lb. Crystal 60

and enough light liquid malt extract to bring it to an OG of around 1.050. Used Columbus hops for bittering and Cascade for flavor/aroma to about 40 IBUs Tinseth or 64 IBUs using the Rager formula! I'm not sure which one is most accurate, but it wasn't TOO hoppy or bitter.

I used Danstar Nottingham yeast and probably fermented in the mid-high 60s (I didn't write it down). Hope it goes well!

I am looking to brew this as my first PM brew. How much water did you mash with?
 
The method I was using recommended using 5.5 quarts for the 4 pounds of grain, or 1.375 quarts/pound. This fits nicely in a two gallon beverage cooler, which is what I use for my partial mash.

Have fun!
 
Not having the CaraAroma isn't anything to worry about - I think you really only need it if you make an extract version. If you make All-Grain it comes out better if you cut way back on the CaraAroma anyway.

Feel free to scale back the recipe some if you want to - if you're going for duplicating/cloning SweetWater 420 this recipe is a bit bigger so there is room to scale back.

If you scale back or eliminate the CaraAroma, should you replace it with an equal amount of another grain, or just eliminate it?
 
I'm brewing up an extract/steeped recipe of this today..

Has some Munich and 20L Carastan, and hopped with Cascade and Centennial, dry hopped with both of them as well. Using WY1056 as well.

Should come in around 1.052 and finish 1.014 for aroudn 5.2-ish ABV, which is reallll close to the real thing. 35 IBU's and 5.6 SRM.
 
If you scale back or eliminate the CaraAroma, should you replace it with an equal amount of another grain, or just eliminate it?

I'm interested in the answer to this one too. I would assume that eliminating it would scale it back from being such a "big" beer in comparison to the original, and maybe also tone down the ABV a bit.

Also, how did the experiment turn out for those that used the Centennial/Cascade combo? I also read somewhere else that some people thought the original used Simcoe, has anyone tried that?
 
The recipe says 80 and 60 minute boils. Which one is correct? Brewing this tonight.


Primary: Pale Ale, Cider
Bottled: Cream Ale, American Brown Ale
Planned: Huge, huge Imperial Stout
 
Hi.
I have to first hand knowledge of the beer this is trying to clone, but it looked good and I brewed up a batch. Accidentally ended up with almost 6.5 gallons... Whoops!
Anyway...
My question is, has anyone dry hopped this at all? If so, just stick with the cascade?

Thanks!
 
i'll be brewing this next weekend already brewed my ten gallons for this weekend. I lived 4 hour south of sweetwater for 20 years. love the beer and love trying to clone it. we'll be headed back down south and haft to fly out of Atlanta. will for sure be stopping by the brewery. GG for Alaska
 
I have 6 gallons of this kegged up (little over a week ago) and waiting for a taste test...can't wait.

It came in a little low in OG (wasn't quite sure of my AG efficiency) and I think I let the mash get a little too hot (~158) so it was a little less attenuable and it finished off with a FG of 1.022. ABV is pretty low but pre-carbonated taste tests show that it has that malty finish that I was going for.
 
PiratesBeardBrewery said:
I have 6 gallons of this kegged up (little over a week ago) and waiting for a taste test...can't wait.

It came in a little low in OG (wasn't quite sure of my AG efficiency) and I think I let the mash get a little too hot (~158) so it was a little less attenuable and it finished off with a FG of 1.022. ABV is pretty low but pre-carbonated taste tests show that it has that malty finish that I was going for.

Haha,
I had the opposite problem. I think I mashed to low. My favorite digital thermometer broke and all my others showed different temps from each other, so I kinda averaged it out. By my calculations....mine will be close to 7.5%!! But sample tastes good, so yeah me I guess!!
 
Coldwater 420 - Special Pale Ale

This was originally supposed to be a clone of Sweetwater Brewery's 420 Extra Special Pale Ale, however I think my version comes out a lot better and tastier. I chose the name "Coldwater" because the city tap water where I live comes from the Coldwater aquifer ( Coldwater Alabama ) which supplies much of the name brand bottled water that you buy at the store if you live around the South - very tasty spring water, and also as you can see Coldwater sounds kind of like Sweetwater...

This is a really great beer, if you like Sweetwater 420 then I think this would be a beer that you'd really enjoy. Its not an exact clone, for one thing I think my version ends up with a little more alcohol than the real Sweetwater 420 since beers in Georgia and Alabama are limited to 6% ABV, using promash I estimate mine ends up about 6.5% and I also think that the malt is more pronounced in my version.

Regardless, it makes an extremely tastey beer and its an easy recipe that you'll enjoy.

SG: 1.065
FG: 1.012
Color SRM - 7.0
Bitterness: 45 IBUs

Here is the Recipe:

Malts:
7 1/2 Pounds - Pale Malt American 2-row, ( 1.036 - 2L ) - 65.2%
1 1/2 Pounds - Light Munich Malt ( 1.033 - 10L ) - 13%
1 1/2 Pounds - Vienna Malt ( 1.035 - 4L ) - 13%
1/2 Pound - CaraAroma ( 1.036 - 25L ) - 4.3%
1/2 Pounds - Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt ( 1.033 2-L ) # .5 - 4.3%

Hops:
1 ounce Cascade ( 5.75% Alpha ) @ 60 minutes
1.5 ounce Cascade ( 5.75% Alpha ) @ 30 minutes
.5 ounce Cascade ( 5.75% Alpha ) @ 5 minutes

Yeast:
Fermentis Safale US-05

Heat 3.5-4 gallons of water to 165F, or hot enough to bring the mash to 153F. Mash at 153F for 80 minutes, then drain. Sparge with 4.5-5 gallons of water at 170F, to collect 7.5-8 gallons of wort.

Bring wort to a rolling boil and add the hops according to the schedule.

Chill wort to 70F and pitch 1 envelope US-05.

Ferment in Primary at 60-65F, for about 8 days or until gravity drops to 1.012. Rack to secondary and let it clear for another 7 days, or add 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin disolved in boiling water to the secondary and it will clear in about 2 days instead. Keg it or Bottle as usual, with 5 oz of priming sugar.

One thing to note, I make no attempt at all to strain the hops from the wort when going from the brew pot to the fermenter. I only try and filter the beer when I rack from the primary to the secondary and I rely on the gelatin in the secondary to clear the beer. So far, I'm very pleased with how clear it gets.
Apologies for being newb, if this a All-Grain recipe? It looks like an extract+steep recipe which is what I'm looking for.

Just making sure.
 
This is an all grain. You could probably convert the American 2 row to lme or dme. Not sure how much, but there is a conversion. It'll cost significantly more, and may be darker, but it can be done...
 
It is all grain, but it wouldn't be hard to make it extract. In fact, the basic recipe that I started with was extract+grains, I just converted it to all grain and brewed it over a few times to get it right.
 
Hey mutilated,
Thanks. This is excellent. My favorite homebrew so far! I dry hopped with a little less than an ounce of cascade. Very good, even though I cannot compare to original...
 
I have an extract / steeping grain recipe for this, that is extremely close. It's only darker in color, and it's because I didn't do late extract additions, could be lighter if I tried.


Turned out nicely. I'll post it when I get home this evening.
 
Despite doughing in a little hot resulting in more unfermentable sugars than I wanted, this turned out great. Mine came out darker than the original Sweetwater, but the maltiness is definitely there (which is the main quality that I was going for) and very well balanced just like Sweetwater. The head retention is phenomenal since I left the Carapils in there. Very happy with this recipe and I think this will become my house beer that I always have kegged.
photo_zpsaf3cbd70.jpg
 
This recipe sounds great. I'm going to modify the hop schedule to use up some hops that I have around.

.5 CTZ @ 60
1 Palisade @ 10
1 Calypso @ 0

I think it should be interesting. Thought about throwing in some cascade, but I like the idea of letting the palisade and calypso do their thing in this beer. Anyone with much experience from both have any recommendations? This grain bill sounds really good.
 
jaynik said:
This recipe sounds great. I'm going to modify the hop schedule to use up some hops that I have around.

.5 CTZ @ 60
1 Palisade @ 10
1 Calypso @ 0

I think it should be interesting. Thought about throwing in some cascade, but I like the idea of letting the palisade and calypso do their thing in this beer. Anyone with much experience from both have any recommendations? This grain bill sounds really good.

I made this beer, and will have to again. It is the best beer I have ever made. Make this!
But, to be honest I followed the OP recipe, except I dry hopped with a half ounce of cascade pellets. Gave it a very nice nose if I do say so myself. I have never used palisades or calypso, so I can't speak to your hops, but the grain bill wonderful. I can't imagine a well thought out hop combination not working with this.
 
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