Been to Island's? How do you clone a beer?

[bzwyatt]

So I was at Island's recently (it is a surfer/Hawaiian themed burger restaurant in SoCal, maybe other places too, not sure) and they have 3 'craft' beers on their menu - a Golden Ale, Brown Ale and IPA. I had the Golden and the IPA. IPA was mediocre, but I liked the Golden Ale a lot. It was yummy. I want to brew something like it for people who think they don't like beer. (I asked our server who makes their beer, and she said 'We do... not here, but we do! and I said, 'Well your menu says somebody else brews it for you...' so she went and asked and came back and said Firestone makes it.)

So how do you clone a beer? Can some of you drink a beer and distinguish which hops and malt are in it? I mean, I've read plenty and I know which malts give which color, and I know which hops are bittering/aroma/special hops. But I don't really know what I would put in a recipe to make it taste like the Golden Ale at Island's, for instance.

Where do you start?

 

[eastoak]

you could just email the brewer and they may respond, i've done that several times and gotten responses. there are clone books and lots of recipes are posted on the internet because others have already done the leg work.

 

[alane1]

start with abv and assuming 75% attenuation this will help you figure out the grain bill, usually if it's higher than 75% attenuation some kind of sugar was added and if you have a beer around take a hydrometer reading. this is your target fg. See if they have any info on hops and ibus on their website, this should point you in the right direction.

 

[Hello]

I've had it, it's good. According to Islands it's brewed for them only. I would email the brewery and ask for the basics and go from there.

For example, their pale 31 shows the basics and I'm sure a LHBS can help you figure out how much and such.

 

[BlackGoat]

There's not really a magic formula for this. Without any info from the brewer, its really a combination of educated guessing and trial/error. Start by looking at recipes for similar styles of beer, which will give you a baseline understanding of what brewers would typically include in a golden ale. Perhaps try to brew one of those recipes and see where that gets you, then compare it to the original. Once you know how it differs you start to make your tweaks to get it closer to where you want it to be. Chances are you might not ever clone it but you will likely end up with something that you like.

 

[bzwyatt]

Yeah I'm not a huge fan or anything - I'm not dying to be able to make Island's Golden Ale, I've just been wanting to make a beer that is really 'quaffable'. I did Centiennal Blonde, and it is really good, but a little different than what I'm looking for. I've imagined a beer that I would make, like I said, to share with anybody to try Beer, and that is the closest thing I've had to a really easy-drinking, but very flavorful and refreshing, brew.

So I want to make something like it...

 

[SSLocal]

Definitely stick with the blonds. Here's a couple reasons I say that:
- They go quickly from grain to glass. You can make a quality Blond in 14-21 days.
- They have low ABV and few complications, making them easy to replicate (flavor-wise).
- They take well to slight changes in the hopping schedule.

I've been making a bunch lately. I can ferment them pretty clean. Use a basic, consistent recipe with the malts and change up the hops and hopping schedule. Keep detailed notes on your brew process. I'll bet you come across something you really like, fairly fast and, if you kept good notes, you'll be able to make it over and over with good results. There are some great 5 star blond ale recipes on here. Good luck.

 

[firestem4]

bzwyatt, I believe Firestone Walker brews those beers exclusively for Islands. So if eastoak is right and you should contact the brewer, they're the one you want to get ahold of.

And you're right, the golden ale is quite good! I moved to colorado a few months ago, I miss their frys and burgers :*(

 

[bzwyatt]

I made a recipe trying for something like this beer, entered it in a competition. I didn't actually like it much and it wasn't I was looking for. I am not sure why, but it has a lot of yeast flavor too. Maybe I overpitched, not sure.

It got a 27 and they liked it, but said the same thing I did - it was more like a belgian than a blonde ale (the category I entered), and had some yeast flavors.

It isn't a bad beer, but I don't like it much, like I don't really even want to drink it. But I have given it to a few people who really like it. It is funny how different everybody's taste is.