Sierra nevada torpedo clone

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This recipe is still one of my favorites (as originally posted). I finally bought a turkey fryer and so full boils are now all I do, and it's amazing how much better the flavor is with a full boil. I have reduced my fermentation time a bit (21-28 days total, start to finish), only because all of my fermenters are full, and I keep making more. I just tried an all grain version of this last week (for that, I just substituted 11 lb of 2-row for the DME, all else the same), so we'll see how that turns out. It's still a good brew.

Now to work on my SN Porter. Any thoughts on that one?
 
gfd622 said:
This recipe is still one of my favorites (as originally posted). I finally bought a turkey fryer and so full boils are now all I do, and it's amazing how much better the flavor is with a full boil. I have reduced my fermentation time a bit (21-28 days total, start to finish), only because all of my fermenters are full, and I keep making more. I just tried an all grain version of this last week (for that, I just substituted 11 lb of 2-row for the DME, all else the same), so we'll see how that turns out. It's still a good brew.

Now to work on my SN Porter. Any thoughts on that one?

Start a new thread called Sierra Nevada Porter, and I will work on a version of it also.
 
Start a new thread called Sierra Nevada Porter, and I will work on a version of it also.

I will have to check the BYO magazine - I think they might have a clone in that as well. Based on how close the torpedo clone was, I bet the porter is spot on too.
 
I could have sworn when listening to the BN interview with Sierra Nevada, that this is an all Citra beer.

brewed and tasted side by side the BYO clone recipe was dead on. I don't think it is possible that this could be an all citra brew. The flavors are too complex for a single hop IMO.

Their website even states the different hops used (check this out): http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/torpedo.html



alcohol content 7.2% by volume
yeast Ale Yeast
beginning gravity 17.3 Plato
bittering hops Magnum
ending gravity 4.2 Plato
finishing hops Magnum & Crystal
bitterness units 65
dry hopping Magnum, Crystal & Citra
malts Two-row Pale, & Crystal
 
Has anyone played around with adding the DME late in the boil, or adding , say, half at the start and the rest near the end? I'm new to late extract additions and was curious if it would have any effect.

When I do my IPA's I usually add half my DME at first boil and then I add the rest at about 20 minutes. It helps on keeping a lighter color. More of a "west coast" IPA
 
A few pictures of my results with the BYO recipe. These were my first pulls off the keg. You can see the hop matter in the glass and that it hasn't cleared just yet. My favorite time to grab an IPA - Thick with yeast and hop lupulin. Simply fantastic

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This is really a great recipe. By far my best homebrew! It's crazy how fast I drank this batch. My local homebrew shop didn't have all the hops the OP listed so I went with this for the hop profile:

1.5oz Yakima Magnum (60')
1 oz Mt. Hood (5')
1 oz Yakima Magnum (5')
0.5 oz Yakima Magnum (dry hop)
1 oz Centennial (dry hop)

I accidentally let it ferment at about 90 degrees (went out of town and forgot to turn on AC) and it still turned out fine!

2d7u3ic.jpg
 
A few pictures of my results with the BYO recipe. These were my first pulls off the keg. You can see the hop matter in the glass and that it hasn't cleared just yet. My favorite time to grab an IPA - Thick with yeast and hop lupulin. Simply fantastic

I love Torpedo.. I need to brew this.

CidahMastah your clone looks identical to my memory of Torpedo. Awesome.
 
I love Torpedo.. I need to brew this.

CidahMastah your clone looks identical to my memory of Torpedo. Awesome.

That clone is dead on. I also tried the BYO clone of for SN Pale - dead on as well. Great, great brews.

You won't be disappointed in this one!
 
Has anyone played around with adding the DME late in the boil, or adding , say, half at the start and the rest near the end? I'm new to late extract additions and was curious if it would have any effect.

It would definitely change the bitterness of the finished beer--e.g. that 1.5 oz of Magnum would make it super bitter
 
Been folowing this thread for awhile thought I'd throw my $.02 in on this recipe. I brewed this on 9/11/11. Purchased ingredients from LHBS.
9.5 # Briess Golden LME (most added late in the boil)
.75 # Crystal 60L (steep for 45 minutes @ 152*)
1 oz magnum,liberty,magnum @ 45,5,5 min
1tsp irish moss @ 15 min
1 oz magnum,liberty,citra dry hopped
WLP001
OG was a little off @ 1.060 (maybe sample was watered down due to inadequate mixing on my part?)
Dry hopped on 9/21
Bottled on 10/1
FG @ 1.010

Beer smelled wonderful and I even tried a small sample and it to was great tasting even flat! Can't wait for this to carb up and share with my friends!
 
Originally Posted by jmf143 View Post
Has anyone played around with adding the DME late in the boil, or adding , say, half at the start and the rest near the end? I'm new to late extract additions and was curious if it would have any effect.


any bittering changes would be negligible, if noticeable at all. I did late additions when I did this recipe in extract and it was great. Now I do all grain only and it turns out even better IMO
 
Very cool - glad you liked how it turned out. Well, just so you know I have a clone recipe that I was considering trying from BYO magazine (looks similar but some subtle but possibly key differences). I will post the recipe below. Sounds like the brew you did is worth trying, but I may run with this recipe first if I can get my brother to buy haha!

Looking forward to your side by side when you get to it. Enjoy the keg! I rocked a porter keg this holiday real quick, so I hear ya.:tank:

I am an extract guy for now, but they have the partial mash and AG version too.

1lb 5oz. pale malt
11 oz carmel 60L
5lbs Light DME (early)
2lbs 6oz light LME (late addition - final 15 minutes)
1.2 oz of 14% 17AAu Magnum Hops (60)
1 oz Magnum (5)
1 oz crystal hops (dry hop)
.67 oz (19 grams) magnum hops (dry hop)
.67 oz (19 grams) crystal hops (dry hop)
.67 oz (19 grams) Citra hops (dry hop)

yeast recc is WLP001 or Wyeast 1056 or fermentis US-o5

Says to get the hops right you need to boil 4 gallons of wort. 3qts of water at 152F for 45 mins (grain steep) and add water to make 4 gallons. Boil is for 90 minutes and add water if water volume drops below 3.5 gals. Dry hop 10 days to 2 weeks.

I probably won't start this one for a bit, I have two fermenting and one on deck, plan to start an arrogant bastard clone tonight. But when I do get to this in the next few weeks I will post back. When I do I plan to do the recipe exactly as above (4 gallons), not a full boil.

I am definitely going to brew this. CidahMastah, is this extract version of the recipe the most recent? Has there been any minor tweaks/changes? I read through the entire thread and didn't see any. Thanks!
 
I am definitely going to brew this. CidahMastah, is this extract version of the recipe the most recent? Has there been any minor tweaks/changes? I read through the entire thread and didn't see any. Thanks!

that is the one. I did late additions as well. The AG version rocks as well
 
CidahMash it seems like you are pretty knowledgeable about this clone recipe. I just ordered the hops and plan to to brew the BYO extract recipe in the next week or so. I ordered the hops all in pellet form and was wondering if I should put them in a hop bag for the boil. I usually do but I thought that maybe I wouldn't this time because I am aiming to produce a pretty bitter beer.
Also, same question for dry hopping should I put the pellets in a bag or just drop them in the carboy? This will be my sixth brew and the first time I have dry hopped so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
CidahMash it seems like you are pretty knowledgeable about this clone recipe. I just ordered the hops and plan to to brew the BYO extract recipe in the next week or so. I ordered the hops all in pellet form and was wondering if I should put them in a hop bag for the boil. I usually do but I thought that maybe I wouldn't this time because I am aiming to produce a pretty bitter beer.
Also, same question for dry hopping should I put the pellets in a bag or just drop them in the carboy? This will be my sixth brew and the first time I have dry hopped so any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

I always do free boils (no hop bag). I tried using hopbags in the past and don't like them, especially if you happen to have whole leaf hops vs. pellets it can get really crowded. All that said I never strain out my hops, unless they are whole leaf, from the wort. So when it goes to the fermenter it is hop matter and all. It does not hurt the beer at all. So it is a preference, but I like a free boil, ferment with all the fixins - especially with an IPA.

I would also suggest, control your bittering by how much hops make it into the kettle, not restricting contact to the wort via a hop bag. This will make your brewing more consistent.

For dry hopping I would toss the pellets or whatever into a muslin sack (the kind you can throw away). You can fish it out later and limit the amount of hop matter floating from the dry hopping in the finished brew. I dry hop 7-10 days and pull it out. However lately I have been just leaving the hops in the keg through the life of the keg and it has worked great. If you bottle, obviously you are stuf with the option of pulling the hops out.
 
Alright thanks for your response I'm going to do the free boil and then use a muslin sack for the dry hopping. At least this way most of the hop matter wont get siphoned into my bottling bucket. Can't wait to get the ingredients and get this batch going!
 
Alright thanks for your response I'm going to do the free boil and then use a muslin sack for the dry hopping. At least this way most of the hop matter wont get siphoned into my bottling bucket. Can't wait to get the ingredients and get this batch going!

if you are autosiphoning out chilled wort or have a ball valve you can always leave behind some of the hop trub, but my point was - don't sweat it if you get a lot in the fermenter ;)

You will really enjoy the BYO clone!
 
This was a fantastic brew. Cidah and I switched our brews and tasted it. I did this one and he the byo. Both are fantastic!
 
Figured I would post an update about the extract BYO clone that I just brewed up on 10/25. Everything went well on brew day except my grains got up to 162 at one point so I just added some more water to bring it back to the mid 150's. Every time I open the cooler to check on it (which is way too often) it smells great and you can definitely smell the hops. OG was 1.070, probably going to primary for three weeks and then dry hop for an additional week. Cant wait for the finished product! (picture is from my phone so it isn't great but figured I would post it anyways)

IIPA.jpg
 
Getting ready to brew tomorrow my SN torpedo clone. Here is the BIAB 1.75 gallon recipe:

4 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 88.9 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 11.1 %
0.40 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 60.0 IBUs
0.20 oz Crystal [3.50 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min Hop 4 0.0 IBUs
0.20 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Aroma Steep 5.0 min Hop 5 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) [50.28 ml] Yeast 6 -
0.10 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 5 Days Hop 7 0.0 IBUs
0.10 oz Crystal [3.50 %] - Dry Hop 5 Days Hop 8 0.0 IBUs
0.10 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 9 0.0 IBUs

Est Original Gravity: 1.065 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.4 %
Bitterness: 60.0 IBUs
Est Color: 11.9 SRM

Wish me luck. :mug:
 
Hey all

I'm rather new at this brewing thing, though I have a little over 100 gallons under my belt (and around my waistline). Tonight was a great night in terms of success, so thought I'd share that here.

I brew a lot of IPA's and Sierra Nevada ales, as SWMBO really likes those types. My specialty is 60' and simple sierra nevada pale ale, but lately I've explored a few new recipes simply by doing small variations on my ingredients. I don't use software or any of that, I simply modify my base and hops schedule according to labels and best guess.

Tonight I gave the SWMBO a blind taste test - my sierra nevada torpedo ale vs the real thing. Poured both into glasses, the color and clarity was perfect. Head was good on both. After tasting, my brew won the contest, and needless to say the SWMBO wants more. I made a Sierra Nevada porter at the same time which I really like as well.

Here is the recipe I used for this:

Sierra Nevada Torpedo extract clone:

1/2 lb crystal 60L
1/2 lb 2-row pale ale
7 lb light DME (I buy bulk 55 lb from midwest)

Additions and Hops schedule:
1.5 oz magnum (60')
1 tsp irish moss (15')
1 oz crystal (5')
1 oz magnum (5')

0.5 oz magnum (dry)
0.5 oz crystal (dry)
0.5 oz citra (dry) - note, I had to buy 6 oz of this hops - so it's stored in the freezer)

Yeast is Safeals S04 (blue packet - I like dry yeast, it's easy)

I brewed it for 15 days in primary, 2 months in secondary. FG was 1.008

It's a great beer - nice flavor - good alcohol content.

This home brewing thing is great

Dave

Brewing this right now...
 
New to the site, but not so new to extract brewing. This thread caught my attention because the Torpedo is a beer that I accidentally replicated when I first got started brewing. I was using MrBeer stuff at the time- if I remember correctly it was the West Coast Pale Ale hme, half of their booster pack, half cup clover honey. After primary fermentation was complete I tossed in .5 oz centennials and a 2 or 3 inch sprig of rosemary. Let that sit for about a week and you'll find yourself bottling the SN Torpedo. I primed with honey, too, bottle primed! What a pain that was- glad I learned about batch priming! Some time later my girlfriend was handed a beer at a party and her eyes got huge. She immediately handed it to me to taste and lo and behold there was one of my very first batches in a SN bottle.
 
Very cool - glad you liked how it turned out. Well, just so you know I have a clone recipe that I was considering trying from BYO magazine (looks similar but some subtle but possibly key differences). I will post the recipe below. Sounds like the brew you did is worth trying, but I may run with this recipe first if I can get my brother to buy haha!

Looking forward to your side by side when you get to it. Enjoy the keg! I rocked a porter keg this holiday real quick, so I hear ya.:tank:

I am an extract guy for now, but they have the partial mash and AG version too.

1lb 5oz. pale malt
11 oz carmel 60L
5lbs Light DME (early)
2lbs 6oz light LME (late addition - final 15 minutes)
1.2 oz of 14% 17AAu Magnum Hops (60)
1 oz Magnum (5)
1 oz crystal hops (dry hop)
.67 oz (19 grams) magnum hops (dry hop)
.67 oz (19 grams) crystal hops (dry hop)
.67 oz (19 grams) Citra hops (dry hop)

yeast recc is WLP001 or Wyeast 1056 or fermentis US-o5

Says to get the hops right you need to boil 4 gallons of wort. 3qts of water at 152F for 45 mins (grain steep) and add water to make 4 gallons. Boil is for 90 minutes and add water if water volume drops below 3.5 gals. Dry hop 10 days to 2 weeks.

I probably won't start this one for a bit, I have two fermenting and one on deck, plan to start an arrogant bastard clone tonight. But when I do get to this in the next few weeks I will post back. When I do I plan to do the recipe exactly as above (4 gallons), not a full boil.



This looks excellent, going to add it to my short list, would love to get a batch of this before it gets too cold out, then I can see how close it is and maybe tweak a little to brew again for the spring.

I'm assuming that when you say "1 oz crystal hops (dry hop)" you actually mean at 5min, and when you say steep at 3qt you actually mean 3gal. Going to do a 4gal boil at 90 min. Expecting to lose about 3/4 gal during the boil and will top of with 1.75gal of cold spring water.

Won't be able to brew this for at least 2 weeks but will definitely keep the thread updated when I do! Thanks for all this quality info!
 
Can't let this thread die off. I brewed the AHS mini mash (no citra) yesterday. It was only 20* out. I did use some of the snow in the yard as the water source. Probably only a gallon, but enough to let me call it a Snow Torpedo. SG was 1.065 (close enough to the target of 1.072).
 
So this is what I brewed on 8 dec and tapped today.

10 gallon all grain-90 min boil

28lbs 2-row
1 1/2lbs crystal 60l
2.5oz magnum (60 min)
1 Wirloft tablet (15 min)
2oz magnum (5 min)
2oz crystal (5 min)
2 packs wyeast 1056 American ale yeast
1.4oz magnum (dry)
1.4oz crystal (dry)
1.4oz citra (dry)

Mashed in 10 gallons water at 167 degrees f
Steeped at 156 degrees f for 60 min
Fly sparged 175 degrees f for 15/20 min

Fermented 5 days. Then dry hopped in the primary for 9 days. Secondary for 8 days. Kegged and force carbed 24 hours.

O.G. 1.075 F.G. 1.016 ABV 8%
IBUs according to beer smith 66.9

This turned out amazing. By far the best IPA I've ever had. I've never had a SN torpedo but I'm going to go to the store and pick up a 6 pack just to compare the two. If u like IPAs you should definitely try this one. Enjoy.
 
I plan on doing this brew the 1st weekend of October. Made some changes with the help of a friend and beersmith. All the numbers are inline with sierra nevadas website, so we shall see how it goes.

8.0 oz Carafoam
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L
3 lbs 2.4 oz LME Pilsen Light - Boil 60.0 min
0.75 oz Magnum [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min
7 lbs DME Pilsen Light (Briess) - Boil for 20 min
1.00 oz Crystal [4.10 %] - Boil 15.0 min
1.00 oz Magnum [13.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min
0.25 tsp Super Irish Moss - Boil 10.0 mins
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient - Boil 5.0 mins
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 5.0 min
0.25 oz Crystal [4.10 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 5.0 min
0.25 oz Magnum [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 5.0 min
2.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05)
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 5-7 Days
0.50 oz Crystal [4.10 %] - Dry Hop 5-7 Days
0.50 oz Magnum [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 5-7 Days

*Steep 0.8oz carafoam, and 0.8oz crystal 60L in 155F water for 30 mins.
*Bring to boil and add 3.15lbs Pilsen LME, and 0.75oz Magnum hops.
*Boil for 40 min then add 7lbs Pilsen Light DME.
*Boil for 5 min then add 1oz Crystal hops, and 1oz Magnum hops.
*Boil for 5 min then add Super Irish Moss
*Boil for 5 min then add Yeast Nutrient.
*Boil for 5 min then remove from heat and add 0.5oz Citra hops, 0.25oz Crystal hops, 0.25oz Magnum hops, and whirlpool for 5 min.
*Cool, transfer and pitch 2 pkt US-05 American Ale Yeast.
*Dry hop with 0.5oz Citra hop, 0.5oz Magnum hop, 0.5oz Crystal hop for 7-10 days.
*Bottle and prime with 3.8oz Corn Sugar.
 
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