AG clone attempt: Lefthand Sawtooth ESB

I just had this beer on tap last night and it was quite tasty...very sessionable and I think I wanna take a crack at cloning it.

Got this from their website...



Based on this I came up with...

6 Gallon Batch:
8.5# Maris Otter
1# Wheat Malt
12oz Munich
8oz Crystal 60
2oz Black Patent

Mash at 154 for 60

60 min boil
.3oz Magnum @ 60
.5oz US Golding @ 30
.25oz US Golding @ 20
.25oz Williamette @ 20
.5oz Williamette @ 10
.5oz Cascade @ 5

Ferment at 67-68 degrees for a week with Nottingham yeast
OG: 1.048
FG: 1.012
ABV: 4.75%
ADF: 75%
SRM: 13.1
IBU: 27.4

Couple Problems...
1. ABV - the website says 5.3% and BA says 4.75%... So i don't know what to shoot for. To get 5.3% from 1.048 I would need a yeast with about 84% attenuation...

2. Color - I need about 3 more SRM...I could up the black patent but I don't want it to really start to contribute to the flavor of the beer. I dont recall any roasty notes when I drank it. Upping the crystal to 120 would get me closer but I don't know if thats the type of crystal/raisiny flavoring I would want in this beer.

3. The hop schedule seems a bit complex - I'm not sure if this schedule will overwhelm the malty backbone to the beer.

Any suggestions/comments are welcome!

if it is indeed an OG of 12P, then I would mash lower than 154. I would also oxygenate well and obviously pitch enough yeast. should get you there.

hop schedule is indeed complex. i've never had it, but i would think about pushing the cascade up and leaving williamette/goldings for flavor/aroma.

i wouldn't use C120. C80 maybe. there are other ways to add color aside from using darker ingredients. boil longer, for instance.

I emailed the brewer at Lefthand and got a nice, detailed response.

His comments:
" Well I can give you some info.
The grist bill consists of 17% crystal malt (15L, 40L and 75L- use twice as much 15L and 40L as 75L),
7.5% Munich malt (10L),
we add a smattering of malted wheat (2%) for head retention and an even smaller smattering of black malt for color (WELL below 1%).
Hops used are Magnum for bittering and Golding and Fuggles for flavor. Cascade is used as a finishing hop.
Mash in at 67C.
It will be difficult to reproduce this beer because we use a proprietary strain of yeast that is not available anywhere.
Its parentage is California Ale yeast but it is very different at this point. Ferment at 20C.
Good luck and tell your friend they have excellent taste in beer! (*FYI - I cloned it for a friend)
Joe Schiraldi / VP Brewing Ops"

Looking at my brewing notes, I did the following based on what I had--
80% 2-row;
a "splash" of black patent (I used 0.5 oz);
12 oz each of c-40, Munich, and c-10;
4 oz each of wheat malt and c-60.

Magnum to bitter, golding/will. For flavor and cascade for aroma.

Yeast: I used us-05.

I have never tasted the original (and my friend moved and never told me how close it was) so I can't comment on how well my first clone attempt turned out.
I also may have gotten a Brett infection along the way (per the judge) but BJCP judge said it would have scored well if I entered it as a Belgian. I entered it as an Amber ale.
Good luck !

oh very nice! Wow there's quite a bit of crystal malts in that thing... I'm not sure how well it will attenuate with that...maybe bump the mash temp down to 151/152 and use Dry English Ale yeast.

Thanks a bunch!

If remember, I will dig up 2 yr old email and post it. Im on my mobile ph now.

* Edit: See my original post