SN Celebration Ale Clone Recipe?

Looking for an AG SN Celebration clone recipe if anyone has something that they believe to be damn close. I am in love with this beer and want to make copious amounts of this year round. I did a search on google and the recipe data base and really didn't find anything that seemed to be a solid recipe.

I am particularly proud of this one, we did a good job.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/recipe-tomorrow-question-4788/#post43073

Check out the color comparison:

Mine is on the right, the real SNCA is on the left.

Here you go. I have never brewed this (but I am very soon), but it is directly from a Brewing Network Show (Jamil Show- America IPA) and Mike McDole gave out this recipe. It is his standard IPA recipe, but is developed as a SN Celebration clone.

I would recommend listening to the episode, great brewing tips. I think I left out the mash hops since I recycle the spent grain for dog treats.

One more, and it tastes dead on

Re: Dean Larson's SNCA


It is a great recipe. This was the one recommended from Denny:

Size: 11.5 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 210.65 per 12.0 fl oz
Boil: 75 minutes
Original Gravity: 1.063 (1.056 - 1.075)
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (1.010 - 1.018)
Color: 12.5 (6.0 - 15.0)
Alcohol: 6.22% (5.5% - 7.5%)
Bitterness: 49.95 (40.0 - 60.0)

Ingredients:
24.0 lbs Standard 2-Row
2.0 lbs Crystal 60
1 lbs Carapils®/Carafoam®
2.0 oz Chinook (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.5 oz Chinook (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
2.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Centennial (10.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
2.0 ea Servomyces - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
2.0 ea White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:34:09 Mash In - Liquor: 8.44 gal; Strike: 162.3 °F; Target: 150.0 °F
01:34:09 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 154.0 °F
01:40:56 Mash Out - Heat: 6.8 min; Target: 168.0 °F
02:25:56 Sparge - Sparge: 7.43 gal sparge @ 170.0 °F, 12.69 gal collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 13.01 gal

Notes:
1 Tsp Gypsum 60 Min

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.30

looks incredible "dude". I think I will go with your recipe I do have to ask though. I don't see a boil size associated with your recipe or a mash ratio. I seen that the wort size is 5.5 but that can't be the same as the boil size can it?

It's that time of year again. The celebration ale is off the shelves and my stock is dried up. So what's a thirsty guy to do? Brew his own, of course! So I've taken bits of recipes from here and there, and going off sierra nevada's own website, come up with a clone attempt that I hope gets me close to the real deal.

So from the sierra nevada website, here's what we know:

OG ~1.066
FG ~1.016
IBU 65

Malts: 2-row pale, british crystal
Hops: Chinook, bittering; cascade and centennial, finishing

So that gives us a good head start. From tasting the real thing, it's evident there's some chinook added late enough in the boil to add significant flavor, so in addition to the purely bittering addition, it needs a bittering/flavor addition. So lets say a little bit at 30 minutes. I also get a really nice caramelly maltiness that provides the perfect counterpoint to the hops. So I'm going to go a bit heavy on the crystal. Here's what I've come up with.

Another bit of info is from Dude's clone attempt's thread. His recipe targeted around 10 srm and his side-by-side picture was almost dead on. So I'll be aiming for that darkness.

5.5 gal batch

OG 1.066
IBU 65
SRM 10

11 lbs. 2-row pale
1.25 lbs. british crystal 55
0.25 lbs. carapils (the sierra nevada website doesn't list this is an ingredient but I'm taking a bit of liberty here)

1.25 oz. chinook @ 60
0.65 oz. chinook @ 30
1 oz. cascade @ flame out
0.5 oz. cascade DH
0.5 oz centennial DH

Using wyeast 1056 with a 1.5 L starter

Mashing at 152 for 60 minutes.

I've got a feeling this is gonna be really close. I get all excited just thinking about having a keg of celebration ale and being able to pull a pint anytime I like.

This one is getting brewed tomorrow!

I would add some Centennial at flame out too (SN site indicates such). Also, I used 12 oz British 75 and 4 of British 135 to get an SRM of 12 and still keep it pretty dry...

mgo737 said:

I would add some Centennial at flame out too (SN site indicates such). Also, I used 12 oz British 75 and 4 of British 135 to get an SRM of 12 and still keep it pretty dry...

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Hmm, I just checked again and you're right. For some reason I misremembered the site and thought it had cascade and centennial listed for "finishing" but nothing listed for dry hopping, so I figured the finishing could be both late boil and dry hop. I think I'll add an oz of centennial at flameout along with the cascade. Thanks for the info!

Wow- I kind of forgot about this beer! I have to brew it now. I have everything on hand, I think, so maybe I'll brew this up soon.

Brian, you have to give a complete report on how this comes out!

YooperBrew said:

Wow- I kind of forgot about this beer! I have to brew it now. I have everything on hand, I think, so maybe I'll brew this up soon.

Brian, you have to give a complete report on how this comes out!

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Oh I definitely will. I haven't been excited about a beer like this in a while. I think celebration ale could be my favorite american-made beer so if this is close, I'll be ecstatic.

Racked to secondary onto gelatin and the dry hops tonight. FG was 1.014 which is two points lower than intended but taste was spot on. The bitterness, hop flavor and aroma, and the malt and caramel were all very close to what I remember of the real thing. I can't wait till it's carbed up and ready. I'll only be dry hopping for 5 days, then straight to the keg to carb up. Color seemed a bit light from the sample but I'll know more when I pour a full glass.

Sounds awesome. SNCA is my all time favorite beer, and would be my house staple if it was brewed year round. I just did a version a bit back based mostly on Tasy McDole's version and took bronze at a local comp with it.

Good luck on yours, I'll be watching to see your tasting notes.

Zen, I hear you on wanting to drink it year round! I love that stuff. I think part of it's appeal is the seasonal availability but I sure wouldn't mind it being made all year. Hopefully this clone is a good substitute for the months that it's not available. I'm not sure what they do to it, but that **** is addictive. I wonder if crack is a secret ingredient?! I seriously CRAVE that stuff.

niquejim said:

One more, and it tastes dead on

Re: Dean Larson's SNCA


It is a great recipe. This was the one recommended from Denny:

Size: 11.5 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 210.65 per 12.0 fl oz
Boil: 75 minutes
Original Gravity: 1.063 (1.056 - 1.075)
Terminal Gravity: 1.016 (1.010 - 1.018)
Color: 12.5 (6.0 - 15.0)
Alcohol: 6.22% (5.5% - 7.5%)
Bitterness: 49.95 (40.0 - 60.0)

Ingredients:
24.0 lbs Standard 2-Row
2.0 lbs Crystal 60
1 lbs Carapils®/Carafoam®
2.0 oz Chinook (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
0.5 oz Chinook (13.0%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
2.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added during boil, boiled 0.0 min
1.0 oz Cascade (5.5%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
1.0 oz Centennial (10.0%) - added dry to secondary fermenter
2.0 ea Servomyces - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
2.0 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 5.0 min
2.0 ea White Labs WLP001 California Ale

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:34:09 Mash In - Liquor: 8.44 gal; Strike: 162.3 °F; Target: 150.0 °F
01:34:09 Saccharification Rest - Rest: 60.0 min; Final: 154.0 °F
01:40:56 Mash Out - Heat: 6.8 min; Target: 168.0 °F
02:25:56 Sparge - Sparge: 7.43 gal sparge @ 170.0 °F, 12.69 gal collected, 45.0 min; Total Runoff: 13.01 gal

Notes:
1 Tsp Gypsum 60 Min

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.0.30

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This is the recipe that you can't tell the difference. I've tried several, but this is it.

Dog House Brew said:

This is the recipe that you can't tell the difference. I've tried several, but this is it.

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Thanks to the OP on this one. I have it mashing right now, in a scaled down (by 1/2) version. I also subbed in some Centennial for bittering as I'm low on Chinook and want to make another Arrogant Bastard clone with the last of what I've got.

My first hop addition is therefore going to be 1.25oz Centennial(9.2%) and .25oz Chinook(11.4%). I left the 30m addition at .5oz Chinook.

-edit- Hit 1.068 on this after cooling. Pitched 2c of harvested slurry from a previous brew fermented with Nottingham. Let the wait begin. =)

pernox said:

Thanks to the OP on this one. I have it mashing right now, in a scaled down (by 1/2) version. I also subbed in some Centennial for bittering as I'm low on Chinook and want to make another Arrogant Bastard clone with the last of what I've got.

My first hop addition is therefore going to be 1.25oz Centennial(9.2%) and .25oz Chinook(11.4%). I left the 30m addition at .5oz Chinook.

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Let us know how it turns out. In my experience you need that intense bitter laid down up front that the Chinook provides. Centennial will likely leave you a bit soft on the front end bittering, but it should still be very yummy.

Zen_Brew said:

Let us know how it turns out. In my experience you need that intense bitter laid down up front that the Chinook provides. Centennial will likely leave you a bit soft on the front end bittering, but it should still be very yummy.

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Sure will!

I actually went over the prescribed IBU's according to Beer Calculus, but hopefully I don't lose the slap in the face sort of hoppiness that Chinook provides.

My dirty secret here is that I have never had the commercial version of this beer, so I guess I'll have to keep an eye out so I can compare.

pernox said:

Sure will!
My dirty secret here is that I have never had the commercial version of this beer, so I guess I'll have to keep an eye out so I can compare.

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It's about my favorite commercial brew. The commercial version is a seasonal. Usually shows up on the shelves Octoberish and starts disappearing Marchish. Some years I stock up 6 or 8 cases to carry me through the summer, although the hop presence does diminish some. I think I have one 12 pack still stashed in the GF's garage from last years. You'd be pretty lucky to come across any this late in the year.

Cheers.

Zen_Brew said:

It's about my favorite commercial brew. The commercial version is a seasonal. Usually shows up on the shelves Octoberish and starts disappearing Marchish. Some years I stock up 6 or 8 cases to carry me through the summer, although the hop presence does diminish some. I think I have one 12 pack still stashed in the GF's garage from last years. You'd be pretty lucky to come across any this late in the year.

Cheers.

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Thanks for the knowledge. I think I saw a corked bottle (are they all corked?) at the local packie the other day - I'll stop off tomorrow and see if it's still there.

Otherwise, I guess I'll go ahead and bottle a few bombers of my creation 'til October and see how they compare - I'd expect a diminished hop presence from my homebrew by then, but it would be a fun experiment either way. =)

No.......Can't say that I ever saw one corked, and I've been a fan of this beer for maybe 8 or 9 years now. You may have it confused with something else. I've always seen them in 12 ouncers and the label has basically remained the same with very minor variances year to year.

Here is a link to the brewery page with a pic of the bottle.

http://www.sierranevada.com/beers/celebrationale.html

I made an S-N Celebration Ale clone from the BYO publication. I was really enjoying it, but made a Pliny the Elder clone shortly thereafter. I'm trying to drink up the Pliny while it's at its hoppiest. I'll probably have my Celebration Ale clone to get me through the month of July. I'll have to wait until the Fall for the commercial product again.

KingBrianI said:

Racked to secondary onto gelatin and the dry hops tonight. FG was 1.014 which is two points lower than intended but taste was spot on. The bitterness, hop flavor and aroma, and the malt and caramel were all very close to what I remember of the real thing. I can't wait till it's carbed up and ready. I'll only be dry hopping for 5 days, then straight to the keg to carb up. Color seemed a bit light from the sample but I'll know more when I pour a full glass.

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Thought I would give a little update on this beer. After dry-hopping I kegged it and immediately put it into the kegerator to chill and carb. It was OK, and close to what I remember of SNCA, but it seemed a little watery to me, and didn't seem to have the malt backbone of the real thing. I decided that maybe taking it straight to the kegerator didn't allow it enough time to condition, so I pulled it out and let it sit at room temp for a couple of weeks. After putting it back on tap, the beer had really come around! Caramel and malt flavors were much improved. The body had rounded out and I no longer got that "watery" taste. Hops are good, perhaps a little stronger in Centennial than the real thing. Head retention is incredible. Overall, it is an extremely good beer. But it's not quite the real thing. But not having a real SNCA for a while now, I can't exactly pinpoint whats different. I emailed the brewery before brewing it about their water profile, and unfortunately didn't hear back from them until after I brewed. But the guy who I talked to told me they have a 9:1 sulfate:chloride ratio for SNCA. Mine was probably more like 2:1. So that could be a little bit of it. But you know that feeling you get when you drink the real thing, and it feels like everything is right in the world. And when the glass goes empty, you want nothing more in your life than to have another. Mine is missing that somehow. That's why I would really like to taste the real thing side-by-side with my clone. If I could do that, I'm pretty sure I could figure out whatever it is that's different and fix it for my next iteration. I posted https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f38/trade-sn-celebration-near-durham-nc-184340/ hoping to trade with someone for some SNCA but it's not getting much attention. If anyone reading this has even one bottle of 2009 SNCA please consider trading me. I'll make it worth your while. I'd really like to avoid shipping in this weather though so if you're local that's even better. Cheers!

Hey Brian:

I am nursing through the last of my stock. I can tell you absolutely that the beer is no longer at it's peak and has lost a bit of it's magical hop signature. It is still very yummy, but not quite what it was say in Jan or Feb.

I'd happily send you one, but it would certainly suffer a bit going clear across the US. Let me know if no-one else can help you out, but like I said you would be comparing your fresh homebrew to a slightly hop diminished commercial version.

I wish I had my homebrew version on tap, as I'd send that as well, but it's long gone and I have been filling the pipeline with other things for the summer fair competition locally lately.

Cheers

Zen, thanks for the offer! I'll be sure to let you know if I can't find any from a more local source. I hate to think about what a week in a truck at 90-100 degrees would do to a beer! You can have your pick of any combination of my stock if I take you up on your offer!

KingBrianI said:

Thought I would give a little update on this beer. After dry-hopping I kegged it and immediately put it into the kegerator to chill and carb. It was OK, and close to what I remember of SNCA, but it seemed a little watery to me, and didn't seem to have the malt backbone of the real thing. I decided that maybe taking it straight to the kegerator didn't allow it enough time to condition, so I pulled it out and let it sit at room temp for a couple of weeks. After putting it back on tap, the beer had really come around! Caramel and malt flavors were much improved. The body had rounded out and I no longer got that "watery" taste. Hops are good, perhaps a little stronger in Centennial than the real thing. Head retention is incredible. Overall, it is an extremely good beer. But it's not quite the real thing. But not having a real SNCA for a while now, I can't exactly pinpoint whats different. I emailed the brewery before brewing it about their water profile, and unfortunately didn't hear back from them until after I brewed. But the guy who I talked to told me they have a 9:1 sulfate:chloride ratio for SNCA. Mine was probably more like 2:1. So that could be a little bit of it. But you know that feeling you get when you drink the real thing, and it feels like everything is right in the world. And when the glass goes empty, you want nothing more in your life than to have another. Mine is missing that somehow. That's why I would really like to taste the real thing side-by-side with my clone. If I could do that, I'm pretty sure I could figure out whatever it is that's different and fix it for my next iteration. I posted https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f38/trade-sn-celebration-near-durham-nc-184340/ hoping to trade with someone for some SNCA but it's not getting much attention. If anyone reading this has even one bottle of 2009 SNCA please consider trading me. I'll make it worth your while. I'd really like to avoid shipping in this weather though so if you're local that's even better. Cheers!

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Brian - I don't have the real thing, but do have some remaining bottles of my clone from the BYO magazine. I'm in the Atlanta area - if you're going to be here in the next month I'd be happy to share with you. I may even still have one real bottle of Pliny the Elder that I haven't consumed yet. I'm looking forward to the '10 release of SN Celebration Ale.

Roudy said:

Brian - I don't have the real thing, but do have some remaining bottles of my clone from the BYO magazine. I'm in the Atlanta area - if you're going to be here in the next month I'd be happy to share with you. I may even still have one real bottle of Pliny the Elder that I haven't consumed yet. I'm looking forward to the '10 release of SN Celebration Ale.

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Unfortunately, I don't have plans to be in Atlanta any time soon. That would be awesome though. How does your BYO clone compare to the real thing? I could have bottled up some of mine and we could see how they compare. You better believe I'll have a case of the '10 the day they show up here! I don't know what it is about that stuff that makes you crave it like that. Maybe my next attempt at the clone will include crack!

Out of laziness: Brian, how does your recipe compare to dudes? Dudes looks spot on. I do enjoy me some SNCA!

marc06 said:

Out of laziness: Brian, how does your recipe compare to dudes? Dudes looks spot on. I do enjoy me some SNCA!

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Well, I've never tasted Dude's so I can only comment on the ingredients. I actually targeted the same SRM as Dude since his looked so similar in color, though I got there by a slightly different route. He uses 1 lb crystal 80 and I used 1.25 lbs. british crystal 55. He also used 0.5 lbs carapils and I used only 0.25, though I may drop the carapils entirely if I make it again. Head retention is better than the real thing, and Sierra Nevada doesn't use it. My hop schedule is also different from Dude's. Mine is based off of what Sierra Nevada states on their website while his differs slightly from what they use.

Just to add some further info on this beer, this is the original recipe from Tasty.

Eric

Thanks to forum member Boston, I picked up a 6-pack of 2009 SNCA today! Not being able to withstand my anticipation, I cracked one open to compare with my clone just now. Tasting the two side-by-side, I realize the clone still needs some work. Here's what I've found.

The SNCA is half a year old now, so it's lost a bit of it's hop aroma. But I still think my clone has a bit too much Centennial in the nose. Comparing the two, SNCA smells mostly of sweet malt, while my clone is all hops. I'm going to cut down on the Centennial dry hop amount for my next attempt. The appearance of my clone is slightly darker than the real thing. Probably a difference of 1-2 SRM. Now, that could be due to the fact that I didn't allow the yeast enough time to settle down in the SNCA after I drove it home, but I think the clone is a touch darker. I'll aim for 1 SRM lighter on my next attempt. As for taste, SNCA has the clone beat hands down. I thought the clone was really good until I tasted them side-by-side. The SNCA just tastes more real. Where my clone is a bit soft and indistinct, the SNCA grabs you by the balls and really lets you know it's there. The malt and caramel flavors are very similar, but the SNCA just tastes more SUBSTANTIAL. There is also this bit of tart bitterness right as the SNCA hit the palate that the clone doesn't have. Sweetness is also a bit enhanced in the SNCA. Head retention is better on the clone. Mouthfeel is more full on SNCA.

This was only a quick and dirty tasting to get quick impressions. I'll do a more in depth comparison later in order to hone in on a clone recipe. But right now, here are the changes I'm considering for the next clone.

1. 9:1 sulfate to chloride ratio. I think this is causing one of the biggest differences in flavor. Whereas my beer tastes a bit soft, I think the SNCA has the sharp bitterness it does due to a higher sulfate ratio.

2. Reduce SRM slightly. This isn't a huge deal to me at all. I could really care less if they look the same side-by-side if they taste the same.

3. Reduce centennial dry hop.

4. I'm a bit unsure as to where the tartness comes from in the initial flavor of the SNCA. The sulfate:chloride ratio may have a bit to do with this, but I'm thinking it's partially due to hops as well. Maybe I'll increase the Chinook flavor hop addition slighty and move it back towards the end of the boil a little.

5. Eliminate carapils from the recipe. It isn't used by SN and it causing the clone to have much better foam and retention.

So those are my initial impressions. I hope to have a better comparison sometime in the future. For now, here are some comparison pictures:

SNCA is on the right, my clone on the left


Notice that the clone is slightly darker/richer in color


And here is the head comparison, it's no contest


EDIT: Bitterness needs a boost too. I don't think it's just the chloride:sulfate ratio. I'll add another 10-15 IBU for the next attempt, probably getting a lot of it from the flavor addition of chinook.

Nice notes and good job. I'm glad you found a closer supply of the real SNCA.
I did a slightly modded version of Tasty Mcdoles about 6 months ago that I put next to a real one and I thought it was pretty darn close. I'd share the recipe but it is in beer smith on the hard rive of a dead laptop that I haven't gotten around to pulling the drive from yet.

It was my third or fourth attempt at it, although the first two maybe shouldn't count, as being my favorite beer it was the first one I ever tried to brew, and then re-attempt about two months later. I know I didn't have my ferm temps in order yet, and I'm sure there were other process issues that I have gotten much better at.

Any ways, enjoy.

Cheers

Just compared the clone to the real thing again with a buddy this afternoon. We figured out a few more things. First, the real SNCA had some centennial hop aroma this time around. And it seems like the hop flavor is mostly from centennial, not from chinook like I previously thought. So I'm going to reduce the 30 minute chinook addition and maybe move it closer to the beginning of the boil. I'm also going to eliminate the flameout cascade and add some centennial flameout hops. Maybe reduce the cascade dry hops as well. The biggest difference though is that the real SNCA is much more malty in both aroma and flavor. I'll mash at 154 instead of 152 the next attempt, and use british carastan malt in place of the crystal 55. I'll also up the carastan to 1.5 lbs and eliminate the carapils as previously mentioned.

I'm tasting my first pint of this after kegging on Tuesday and carbing over the last two days.

This is a fantastic, flavorful beer with a clean hop aroma and flavor that is very, very tasty. Even my first cloudy and not-quite-perfectly-carbed pint is getting me cranked up and excited.

And to close the earlier discussion, the corked bottle I saw was a SN Anniversary brew - not Celebration.

-edit- Pint #2 is better than #1.

Attempt 2 at this clone will occur tomorrow. I've tweaked the recipe according to the side-by-side comparison with the real thing. I think this recipe should fix a few of the differences and get me even closer to a true "clone". The main corrections will be that this one should be maltier, thicker, more caramelly, less cascade-y and more centennially than the last attempt. Here's the revised recipe:

SNCA clone v.2

OG 1.066
IBU 65
SRM 9

6 gallon post-boil volume targeted

11.79 lb (5350 g) 2-row pale malt (86.31%)
1.87 lb (850 g) british carastan 34L malt (13.69%)

1.61 oz chinook @60
0.75 oz centennial @10
0.25 oz cascade @10
0.75 oz centennial DH
0.25 oz cascade DH

mash @ 154 for 60 min

water profile will be:
Ca Mg Na CO3 SO4 Cl
142 5 25 78 250 28

Which is a 9:1 SO4:Cl ratio as reported by SN's brewer to me
and a RA of 23, that should be perfect for a 9 SRM beer.

I've moved the flameout hops to 10 min in order to get some flavor from them and adjusted the centennial and cascade from a 1:1 ratio to a 3:1 ratio in order to get more centennial in the beer. I've also removed the 30 min chinook addition because after tasting the real SNCA, I didn't get any chinook flavor, only it's unique bitterness.

You'll also notice I removed the carapils, which I don't think belongs in this beer, and I used carastan malt, since I really dig its flavor and think it will bring that caramelly, malty richness to the beer that the first attempt was missing. And the extra malt, along with the higher mash temp should increase the body.

I think the biggest improvement will come as a result of my tweaked water profile. The more I experiment with high sulfate:chloride ratios, the more difference I find they make in hop-forward beers. I think high levels of chloride extract harshness from hops and that has plagued some of my hoppy beers in the past. A vegetal astringency is sometimes present that I'm now contributing to high chloride levels. Hopefully, this profile will provide that tingly, strong bitterness of SNCA while leaving behind any vegetal or astringent flavors.

We'll see how it goes. I'll keep everyone posted.

I think that is pretty close. I'll look forward to your notes. I am holding off on rebrewing an attempt on this until maybe late Sept early Oct or so. I am looking into buying a house which means all the lovely moving chaos, and I need to shrink the pipeline a bit in the short term. The benefit of course is fresh SNCA should be on the store shelves as my beer is coming into it's own.

FYI. The newest Brewing Network Sunday Session had the head brewer from SN on the show and he gave the official recipe portions for this beer late in the show. It likely needs some tweaks for a home system, but still pretty cool of him.

Zen_Brew said:

FYI. The newest Brewing Network Sunday Session had the head brewer from SN on the show and he gave the official recipe portions for this beer late in the show. It likely needs some tweaks for a home system, but still pretty cool of him.

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Wow, I wish I knew about that before! Thanks for the info, that was some good info. Looks like they target 11-12% crystal 60 with the remainder 2-row pale, as we already knew. I haven't decided yet whether I'll stick with the carastan or go with the c60 steve suggested. Looks like I was right in that chinook is only added in one bittering addition and all the flavor additions come from cascade and centennial. The ratio he said they used was 2:1 cascade:centennial, with equal additions at 10-15 minutes and flameout, and a small addition for dry-hopping. Hmmm, decisions, decisions. Do I change my recipe to reflect this info, or stick with what I had planned? It's a tough life, being a homebrewer.

Alright, so I decided to do the recipe the brewer gave on the sunday session. Might as well since I have it now, right? Anyway, here's what it looks like for a 6 gallon batch at 80% efficiency. I've scaled the hop additions down from the 100 bbl batch he said they use but it wasn't giving me nearly enough bitterness, so I almost doubled the chinook addition in order to get the IBUs where he said they were. Everything else is scaled exactly to what he said they do at the brewery.

SNCA Clone (SN verified)

OG 1.068 -> FG 1.015
IBU 68

12.5 lbs 2-row pale malt (he mentioned they use canadian 2-row)
1.55 lbs british crystal 55 (he said c60, but also said british, which is usally 55L)

1.52 oz chinook @ 60 (directly scaled from his recipe it would be 0.77 oz, but that only gave me like 44 IBU for the beer)
1.24 oz cascade @ 10
0.62 oz centennial @ 10
1.24 oz cascade @ FO
0.62 oz centennial @ FO
1 oz cascade DH
0.5 oz centennial DH

He suggested mashing at 156 F!

Pitch chico yeast @ 62 F and let it rise and plateau at 68 F.

It's coming in over 10 SRM using that grain bill, so I'm pretty sure it's going to be too dark, but hopefully since it's the grain bill they use, the taste will be identical. Should be good!

I just listened to this today and had some fun playing with the numbers. The hops are really heavily weighted toward the end of the boil. If you convert the hops to percentages, it makes it really simple. He gave the recipe for a 100 barrel batch and if you add up all of the hops, you get a total of 195 lbs used for the whole recipe. If you cut the weight of each addition in half, you basically get the percentages of each addition:

12.5% chinook bittering
30% Cascade/Centennial blend (2-to1 ratio respectively) at 15 minutes
30% Cascade/Centennial blend (2-to1 ratio respectively) at flameout
27.5% Cascade/Centennial blend (2-to1 ratio respectively) dry hop

Shooting for a IBU of 68 makes the numbers easy. The following gives you 67 IBU's using Tinseth. Of course the AA% of the hops can make a difference, but this should be REALLY close assuming you get the same utilization as Sierra Nevada.

1.25oz Chinook boil
3oz Centennial/Cascade 15 minutes
3oz Centennial/Cascade flameout
2.75 Centennial/Cascade dry hop

These numbers are really far from the two clones I've attempted. In my attempts I didn't try to get 1/3 of my IBU's from the 15 minute addition–plus use all that at flameout.

I can't wait to try this one soon.

jmo, i thought about calculating it that way, but i decided to use the same amount of hops/gallon as SN, and just up the bittering addition to get the right bitterness. my calculations were like this:

100 bbl = 3100 gal

40 lb cascade / 3100 gal = 0.0129 lb/gal
0.0129 lb/gal x 6 gal = 0.0774 lb / batch
0.0774 lb = 1.24 oz

and so on for the other additions. I'm not sure if he stated the wrong numbers or what, but there's no way they get 68 ibu from the additions he listed. so my options were to scale up all the hops equally to hit 68 ibu, or just increase the bittering addition, which i had to do since i only had just enough cascade and centennial to do the recipe as written.

I see what you mean. Getting 68 IBU for 100 bbl with the quantities he stated doesn't work. I didn't think to check it that way. They must have a way of getting MUCH better utilization than the typical homebrew setup, which makes sense. Raising the bittering but keeping the ratio of the later additions the same, like you have above, will probably work well.