Hi, Biermuncher (and anyone else who wants to chime in!)
First off...sorry for the essay; bare with me if you will!
Wanted to ask you a question about this particular recipe (your SNPA clone). A little bit about me...I've been brewing for a little over 2 years. I've been doing all grain for about 8 months. I'm just getting to the point where my gravities are coming out where I want them...so that's good. I use a yeast starter and I use a son-of-a-fermentation chiller with a digital temperature probe to maintain fermentation temps. I force carb my beer and serve it on tap...and sometimes bottle a few as travellers (beer gun or just straight from the tap if I'm feeling lazy!).
I've used 3 of your recipes so far (either exactly as you laid them out, or as a base for customizations): Centennial Blonde, Blue Balls, and OktoberFAST. All of them have been awesome...and I thank you for that!
So...here's my question. The Sierra Nevada clone has really become my Everest. By this I mean that it has become a seemingly insurmountable challenge--and a source of great frustration. I've tried to clone this relatively simple beer about 6 times total (half of them have been extract + PM; the other half all-grain). In my 2 most recent attempts, I used a recipe that I got from BYO magazine...and in the latest of said attempts, I hit the OG right where I wanted. FG was a little bit lower than expected but I suspect that this was because of lower mash temps than planned (152, rather than 154). I didn't do a mashout for this last batch...just fly sparged with about 180-185 degree water (yes, this is higher than the 170 degree goal, but I'm trying to account for potential heat loss).
Anyway, each of these attempts has come out relatively similar...it's decent and for the most part drinkable, but it just tastes like homebrew. The most recent has a little more bitterness than SNPA, but no where NEAR as nice of a malt aroma or taste. There is a certain caramel sweetness that you get on the nose with an actual SNPA...and this is very much absent from my cloning attempts--Not even CLOSE. Mine also taste more 'dirty'. Hard to explain...I've dry hopped with whole cascades using a mesh bag in the secondary.
I have not yet tried your recipe but yours looks pretty similar to the ones I have tried. In a nutshell, I'm coming to you for some advice because I've brewed your other beers with fantastic results. So, I trust your opinion when it comes to taste, etc. And specifically because you seem to think your recipe for SNPA is pretty good!
Can you think of anything off the top of your head that I'm doing WRONG? Or maybe just some additional insight?
I want to make it clear that my goal isn't necessarily to clone SNPA perfectly per se...but rather to perfect my techniques. SNPA just happens to be a beer that I enjoy thoroughly. Lemme know when you get a chance...thanks, man!
Here's my recipe and some of the results (I use BeerSmith):
10 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 94.21 %
10.1 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.79 %
0.18 oz Magnum [14.40 %] (60 min) Hops 8.2 IBU
0.70 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (60 min) Hops 18.2 IBU
0.75 oz Cascade [7.00 %] (Dry Hop 3 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Cascade [7.50 %] (15 min) Hops 11.8 IBU
0.75 oz Cascade [7.50 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs California Ale (White Labs #WLP001) [Starter 35 ml] Yeast-Ale
Est Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.055 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.007 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.57 %
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6.26 %
Bitterness: 38.3 IBU
Calories: 241 cal/pint
Est Color: 7.5 SRM