Sweetwater IPA clone!!!

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I brewed a variation of this two weeks ago and I'm switching to secondary today or tomorrow. It was my first time attempting a non-kit beer and doing a full boil extract. Color looks good, and has a great aroma so far. I can't wait to give it a taste.

I do have one question regarding your dry hopping. Did you rack on top of the Simcoe/Goldings or did you add them closer to the end of secondary?

Thanks!
 
AVLbrewing said:
I brewed a variation of this two weeks ago and I'm switching to secondary today or tomorrow. It was my first time attempting a non-kit beer and doing a full boil extract. Color looks good, and has a great aroma so far. I can't wait to give it a taste.

I do have one question regarding your dry hopping. Did you rack on top of the Simcoe/Goldings or did you add them closer to the end of secondary?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I believe on this one I racked to secondary for a week, then added dry hops for a week, then kegged. After I drank about half the keg I started reading about dry hopping in the keg, and while it had a decent hop aroma, it wasn't the blissful smell that Sweetwater IPA on tap (very diff that bottle) has. So I went back and added a hop bag with Simcoe or Cascade whole leaf (can't remember) to the keg and that made a big diff. I think going forward with my IPAs I will just do 3 weeks in the primary, rack to keg, age/carb a couple weeks, drop in a bag full of hops. It should be perfect then. You could probably go ahead and put the hops in when you keg but I wanted to avoid the "grassy" taste that comes when you over dry-hop, although it's not supposed to be a problem as much when the beer is at serving temp.

This was one of the top 3 batches I've made yet. I have about 15 batches under my belt since June 2012, and about 6 have been all grain including this one. This beer is not cheap to make with all the hops but it was DAMN close to Sweetwater.
 
Check my thread on this one: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/sweetwater-ipa-clone-367705/

I started it as my first AG batch, you can see from the side-by-side comparison pic with the real SW IPA how close it was, and a few days after the pic I think it was even clearer than the SW. The taste was VERY close. And this commercial beer is a perfect example of how different it is on tap vs. in the bottle. On tap the hop aroma is amazingly good, not nearly as much in the bottle even after pouring to glass.
 
Thanks for the advice bd2xu. I went ahead and racked to secondary. It's been sitting there for a week and I'm ready to dry hop, and then I'll give it another 5-6 days before bottling.

My next question is did anyone go with deadheadjed's advice on dry hopping with 2oz of each goldings and simcoe? I have enough to do that I was just a little worried about potential grassy flavors. Any insight would be appreciated!

EDIT: just got done reading a few threads where people dry hop beers in excess of 1oz per gallon. I'm just going to go ahead and do the whole 4oz putting me at a 0.8oz per gallon ratio, and stick to the original plan of bottling in 5-6 days. Also these are pellet hops.
 
dedhedjed said:
Glad you like it!

Grain bill looks pretty good, though the gravity is a little high. Drop the Cascade and up the Simcoe at the end of the boil and dryhop to around 2 oz each and you've pretty much got it. You want to target 50 IBUs.
Click to expand...

Hi Jed,
Ive been coming to Atlanta for the last 6 months on business and as a homebrewer from Wisconsin tried many of the local Atlanta beers and the Sweetwater IPA became a personal favorite when I'm in town. Made a few trips to the Sweetwater brewery for tours which are great, brought a bunch of friends, had a great time in the Beer Garden.

I've tried making the IPA once so far and came up short on the great hop aroma that defines this IPA. The beer was pretty good but was just not the same. With your input I'm going to try upping the Dry Hops and changing up the Yeast. I was pretty close with my malt and hop bill but had used Irish Ale yeast and about 50% less hops than you suggest. Care to weigh in on the ferm temp or mash temp? Is it really fermented in the mid 70s?

Thanks for helping out with the notes. If I can send you any beers from Wisconsin you might like drop me a PM. Lakefront Brewery RW Stein or Fixed Gear, Capital Brewery Hopcream, Ale Asylum Hopilicious?

BBB
 
We ferment it at 19C, so that's like 66F. As for mash temp we do the main conversion rest at 149 for 30 minutes and then ramp up to 162 for 10min and then 170 to mashout. You'd be fine with a single infusion mash at 149, if you're not set up for step mashing.

Very glad you've enjoyed the beer and the brewery tours/taproom. Cheers!

You guys have me tempted to try to brew it at home to see how close I can get...
 
dedhedjed said:
We ferment it at 19C, so that's like 66F. As for mash temp we do the main conversion rest at 149 for 30 minutes and then ramp up to 162 for 10min and then 170 to mashout. You'd be fine with a single infusion mash at 149, if you're not set up for step mashing.

Very glad you've enjoyed the beer and the brewery tours/taproom. Cheers!

You guys have me tempted to try to brew it at home to see how close I can get...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. It is much appreciated. Here is the recipe Im going to try. I am going to use the Pale Base Malt instead of regular 2 Row because I just bought a 50# sack. Do you use any additions to the Atlanta water? Also do you first wort hop?

Sweetwater IPA Clone V2

Brew Type: All Grain Date: 3/30/2013
Style: American IPA Brewer: BeerBaronBob
Batch Size: 5.25 gal Assistant Brewer:
Boil Volume: 7.47 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: EagleLake BrewHaus - 15Gal Brew Pot AG
Actual Efficiency: 85.16 %
Taste Rating (50 possible points): 35.0

Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
10 lbs Pale Malt (Rahr) (4.0 SRM) Grain 83.33 %
1 lbs Munich I (Weyermann) (7.1 SRM) Grain 8.33 %
8.0 oz Crystal, Dark (Simpsons) (80.0 SRM) Grain 4.17 %
8.0 oz Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (2.0 SRM) Grain 4.17 %
0.85 oz Chinook [13.00 %] (60 min) (First Wort Hop) Hops 39.1 IBU
2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
2.00 oz Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] (Dry Hop 5 days) Hops -
0.75 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 6.6 IBU
1.00 oz Goldings, B.C. [5.00 %] (1 min) Hops 0.7 IBU
2.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] (1 min) Hops 3.6 IBU
1 Pkgs London ESB Ale (Wyeast Labs #1968) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.060 SG (1.056-1.075 SG)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.018 SG (1.010-1.018 SG)
Estimated Color: 10.3 SRM (6.0-15.0 SRM) Color [Color]
Bitterness: 50.0 IBU (40.0-70.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 15.2 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.49 % (5.50-7.50 %)
Actual Calories: 310 cal/pint


Mash Profile Name: Double Infusion, Light Body Mash Tun Weight: 8.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 12.00 lb Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Grain Temperature: 72.0 F Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F
Sparge Water: 1.35 gal Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE

Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Protein Rest Add 2.76 gal of water at 168.0 F 149.0 F 30 min
Saccrification Add 2.40 gal of water at 181.1 F 162.0 F 10 min
Mash Out Add 2.40 gal of water at 183.0 F 168.0 F 10 min


Mash Notes
Double step infusion - for light body beers requiring a protein rest. Used primarily in beers high in unmodified grains or adjuncts.
Carbonation and Storage Carbonation Type: Kegged (Forced CO2) Carbonation Volumes: 2.4 (2.2-2.7 vols)
Estimated Pressure: 8.7 PSI Kegging Temperature: 35.0 F
Pressure Used: - Age for: 2.0 Weeks
Storage Temperature: 35.0 F


Notes - (This is what I used for V1. Was not that happy with the aroma or bitterness. I may try the Atlanta water profile next.)
Target Water Profile https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f69/hopinator-114292/
Ca 87 Mg 8 SO4 60 Na 19 Cl 38 HCO3 117

Thanks BuddyBrews for starting this off!
 
Attempted this as an all-grain - missed my orig gravity, so I finished it off with some pale extract.

It turned out great. Brought it to my company pool party and it was a big hit.

By the end of the night, everyone was calling it 'The Whore' because of the amazing head!

Personally, I think because I missed the OG, the FG was a little low as well. Drier than most IPA's, but still came out very tasty.
I think I will be giving this another try next year once I get a better AG setup.
 
Thanks to all of your help I brewed an extract version of this two weeks ago. I took the gravity reading and it was at 1.012 so I transferred to a carboy and dry hopped. I had two issues. First I filled the carboy to the neck, which I resolved by syphoning beer back out of the carboy into a glass to drink.
My second issue was after I threw the dry hops in and transferred the carboy upstairs I ended up with an overflow of beer/hop threw the airlock and over the neck which of course spilled into tub. Thankfully it was in a tub.
So I sanitized the syphon again and bit the bullet and plunged it through the hoppy plug that was created in the neck. Of course I lost beer/hops doing this but I thought it was best. I emptied the liquid out an inch or two below the neck and all has been fine.
However, there is constant bubbling in the airlock. I assume this is from the extreme amount of hops that I dry hopped with. I know that each little pellet gives the CO2 that is stuck a new escape point. With the huge amount of dry hops added per the recipe on here I also assume this extra gas escaping could be very normal since the CO2 has tons of hoppy goodness to grab on to.
Has anyone else that made this recipe seen so much CO2 escaping after dryhopping?
By the way this beer was almost perfect before the dry hopping so kudos to the recipe creator!
 
How long did you wait before dry hopping? More time would have made less co2 to cause a spill.

Glad to hear the success! I also have had great success with this recipe.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
icanbenchurchat

It was in the ferm bucket for 15 days. I guess those 4 oz of hops really was a shock to the system so to speak. I'm sure it's going to be great. How long has everyone be dry hopping this? Just a week?
 
I'm on batch number two of this. This OG was 1.056 rather than 1.050 that the first batch was. I took a gravity reading yesterday (8 days after brewing) and it was at 1.012, which is where the first batch finished.
I added the 4 oz of dry hops after the gravity reading. Should be in the keg in a few days.
 
BuddyBrews said:
So has anyone nailed this clone?!! Seems to be all over the place. This last one i tried seems to be the closest. I personally can't find a better IPA here in SE!! :mug:





10.5 lbs 2 row

1.0 lbs Munich

0.5 lbs Crystal 80

0.5 lbs Wheat Malt



And this hop schedule:



1.25 oz Chinook 13% 60 min

2 oz Cascade 5.5% 15 min

1 oz US Golding 5% 1 min

1 oz Simcoe 13% 1 min

1 oz US Golding Dry Hop

1 oz Simcoe Dry Hop







OG: 1.067

IBU: 63

Color: 8 SRM
Click to expand...



I just can't do full grain right now. Does ANYONE know how to convert this to maybe a steep/extract? I want to brew this beer!

–Brad
 
Steep the munich, crystal and wheat. 2-Row can be substituted on the 1/.75/.6 ratio between grain/LME/DME. So, 10.5# here would be 7.875# of LME or 6.3# of DME. If I were doing extract, I'd use 6# DME to replace 10# of 2-row and add the 0.5# 2-row to the steeping grains. Should get you close.
 
Does anyone here have a clone of the sweetwater blue or any info on that beer I'd love to try and brew that one
 
I just put a batch of the Sweetwater IPA clone into the fermenter today. Pitched Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast. On the package, it says it's for wort up to .060 OG. I'm at .063. It also says it's for 5 gallons. I'm at 6.5 gallon.

I don't have any experience with is yeast. Will I nee to pitch additional yeast to get it to finish?
 
Depending on who you believe, some people are more old school and just pitch a pack of yeast with every batch. Most folks go by the online calculators. For your beer the online calculators like Mr. Malty and yeast calc recommend six packs of brand-new yeast or three packs in a 2 L starter on stir plate.



Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch)
Secondary: Mojave Red, Irish Stout
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen
 
But regardless of who you believe, I'd say that you are definitely under pitching. Will it turn out okay? Probably if you're fermentation temperature is good and you give it enough time. The guy who runs my local homebrew store is a beer judge and very knowledgeable in my opinion. He does not believe the online calculators and only uses one pack up to 60 like the manufactures recommended and swears his beer is awesome. He has an interest in selling more yeast than less, so for his benefit he would believe the calculators and tell you to buy a lot more, but since he doesn't and sticks with one pack, I have to think there is some stock in what he says.



Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch)
Secondary: Mojave Red, Irish Stout
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen
 
bd2xu said:
Depending on who you believe, some people are more old school and just pitch a pack of yeast with every batch. Most folks go by the online calculators. For your beer the online calculators like Mr. Malty and yeast calc recommend six packs of brand-new yeast or three packs in a 2 L starter on stir plate.
Click to expand...

CRAP!! Guess I should have researched this BEFORE.

It's my biggest OG and volume yet. Have learned a lot. Much, much more to go...
 
Sort I got that wrong! I was looking on mr malty but forgot to switch from lager to ale. It would be 3 packs without a starter or one pack in a 2.5L starter (with intermittent shaking).



Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch)
Secondary: Mojave Red, Irish Stout
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen
 
bd2xu said:
Sort I got that wrong! I was looking on mr malty but forgot to switch from lager to ale. It would be 3 packs without a starter or one pack in a 2.5L starter (with intermittent shaking).
Click to expand...

NP! After some reading and talking with my local brew shop, I understand that pitching additional yeast at this point is pretty much a waste of money. So I'll let this one ride and see where it ends up.

Depending on the results I get may swing me one way or the other whether I agree with your local brew guy or the many others that use the calculators... ;)

Regardless, I need to keep progressing and learn more about the yeasties...

:mug:
 
For what it's worth I use almost all liquid now and always make a starter. Just so much effort and love into each batch, and yeast count and health is one of the most important.



Primary: Maibock, Helles (first partigyle batch)
Secondary: Mojave Red, Irish Stout
On tap: Orange Belgian IPA, Turbo IIPA
Bottled: Dwarven Gold Ale, La Fin Du Mond clone, Hefeweizen
 
bd2xu said:
For what it's worth I use almost all liquid now and always make a starter. Just so much effort and love into each batch, and yeast count and health is one of the most important.

I agree with bd2xu on the above. I use http://www.yeastcalculator.com/ and per that calculator with one smack pack 3 weeks old you need about a 1.25 liter starter on a stir plate to get to the desired pitch rate at 5.25 gal at 1.060 OG.

On the other hand I like to use a low pitch rate for HefeWeisse. One pack or vial per batch.. no starter.

See how it goes, you can always repitch some more yeast if your FG is too high or just try your beer with a higher FG and brew again.
Click to expand...
 
icanbenchurcat said:
Attempted this as an all-grain - missed my orig gravity, so I finished it off with some pale extract.

It turned out great. Brought it to my company pool party and it was a big hit.

By the end of the night, everyone was calling it 'The Whore' because of the amazing head!

Personally, I think because I missed the OG, the FG was a little low as well. Drier than most IPA's, but still came out very tasty.
I think I will be giving this another try next year once I get a better AG setup.
Click to expand...

LOL... So at what rate did you carbonate The Whore??

One of the things I really like about the real Sweetwater IPA is the silky smooth head it gives... :eek:

I'm sure it has something to do with the stepped mashing they do.
 
My SW IPA clone is at FG so it's ready to dry hop (today makes day 12 in the fermenter). I plan to dry hop using jed's suggestions;

dedhedjed said:
Drop the Cascade and up the Simcoe at the end of the boil and dryhop to around 2 oz each and you've pretty much got it. You want to target 50 IBUs.
Click to expand...

So what is the consensus on the length of time to dry hop prior to bottling?
 
Dropped a sack full of hops into the fermenter last night. Will probably bottle on Sat or Sun...
 
jbb3 said:
LOL... So at what rate did you carbonate The Whore??



One of the things I really like about the real Sweetwater IPA is the silky smooth head it gives... :eek:



I'm sure it has something to do with the stepped mashing they do.
Click to expand...


Haha, it was a great hit at parties ;)

It was bottle carbd so I have to guess a little. It must have ended up around 3 or so vol CO2

It would have been good closer to 2.4


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
jbb3 said:
LOL... So at what rate did you carbonate The Whore??



One of the things I really like about the real Sweetwater IPA is the silky smooth head it gives... :eek:



I'm sure it has something to do with the stepped mashing they do.
Click to expand...


Haha, it was a great hit at parties ;)

It was bottle carbd so I have to guess a little. It must have ended up around 3 or so vol CO2

It would have been good closer to 2.4


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
Bottling day is here!

Been dry hoping (2oz Simcoe & 2oz Fuggles) for 7 days. Have my priming solution boiling so went out to elevate my fermenter in order to rack into the bottling bucket.

I removed the top from the fermenter and the most wonderful sweet tangerine/grapefruit aroma comes wafting out... The most wonderful smell in the world!! :ban:

I am really jazzed about this batch. :D
 
mbbransc said:
Steep the munich, crystal and wheat. 2-Row can be substituted on the 1/.75/.6 ratio between grain/LME/DME. So, 10.5# here would be 7.875# of LME or 6.3# of DME. If I were doing extract, I'd use 6# DME to replace 10# of 2-row and add the 0.5# 2-row to the steeping grains. Should get you close.
Click to expand...

I think that I'll give this a whirl with 8 pounds of LME.
 
BuddyBrews said:
So has anyone nailed this clone?!! Seems to be all over the place. This last one i tried seems to be the closest. I personally can't find a better IPA here in SE!! :mug:

10.5 lbs 2 row
1.0 lbs Munich
0.5 lbs Crystal 80
0.5 lbs Wheat Malt

And this hop schedule:

1.25 oz Chinook 13% 60 min
2 oz Cascade 5.5% 15 min
1 oz US Golding 5% 1 min
1 oz Simcoe 13% 1 min
1 oz US Golding Dry Hop
1 oz Simcoe Dry Hop

OG: 1.067
IBU: 63
Color: 8 SRM
Click to expand...

dedhedjed said:
Glad you like it!

Grain bill looks pretty good, though the gravity is a little high. Drop the Cascade and up the Simcoe at the end of the boil and dryhop to around 2 oz each and you've pretty much got it. You want to target 50 IBUs.
Click to expand...

Woo Hoo!

12 days into bottle conditioning and I am very please! :D

It's still a little green but the hoppiness is right on! Maybe even a little bit MORE than the real thing. :eek:

I could smell the hops as I was pouring the beer :rockin:

I scaled up the recipe to 6.5 gal. I reduced the 15 min hop addition to 1 oz. Dry hop amounts were increased to 2oz each as recommended by dedhedjed. I also attempted to replicate a stepped mash (also recommended by dedhedjed) with water additions which went surprisingly well. Not sure how it effected the brew but...

Now I'm going to try really hard to let it go at least another week before I start drinking them in bunches... ;)

I would like to thank BuddyBrews for posting the starting recipe and dedhedjed for chiming in with a few trade secrets.

Thank you gentlemen!

:mug:

BTW, I didn't take a before photo, but here is an after... ;)

SW IPA Empty Glass.jpg
 
Last edited:
Here is my try. Nailed it. One glass came out of the can, one out of my keg.

sweetwater clone 2.jpg
 

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