Cellarmaker Brewing Clone

[benm1024]

Hello all. My goal is to clone the style of IPA's that Cellarmaker Brewing in San Francisco makes. The best other commercial example of this style I can think of is Grunion Pale Ale by Ballast Point. The general flavor I'm going for is super hoppy without the strong bitterness. I understand the hopping part of this process - use a small to no bittering charge at the beginning, then go heavy at 1 min, 0 min, whirlpool etc. I am not sure what malt bill to shoot for however. These beers typically come out a light golden color with a haze that doesn't seem to clear up. Cellarmaker beers are hard to pin down because their menu is always changing, but if anyone has any good clone ideas that sound like they would fit my description I would appreciate it. I will update this thread as I try out a couple recipes.

 

[StopTakingMyUsername]

Great question!
You're probably right on the minimal/no early additions of hops, and very heavy late additions. I've experimented with that protocol, and have whittled down to (literally) a "pinch" of 60 min hops. I am iffy about skipping 30 or 20 minute additions, because if you use a very light malt base and mash super low (to get the beer insanely dry), there is the potential to have a very bland, watery beer (picture: hoppy water).

I tend to use 3-4 oz total at each 10, 5, FO addition, and then dry hop with 7-8 oz total in a 5 gallon batch. That's gotten me pretty damn close in terms of the aromatics, at least.

For the dry, clear, clean beers, I have been trying to mash low (148-149), and MAKE SURE to pitch required amount of cells (or slightly above). I've had better luck with lower ABV than higher - which is probably also due to pitching rates.
Typically I was just doing very simple malt bills... 2-row, carapils, and maybe 3-4% honey or crystal malts.
I just recently switched over to pilsner instead of 2row, as I've noticed a lot of the great, dry IPAs I love (cellarmaker-style) often use pils.
I'll let you know how that turns out in a week or two

Dunno if any of this is on the right track, as I'm not really a "veteran" brewer... but I saw that no one had replied to this thread yet, and I'm very curious too.


BN had Cellarmaker on an episode of "The Session".
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/post2785/

I haven't gotten through the whole thing yet (it's 3 hrs), but it might be helpful

EDIT: 1:05 they talk about the malt bill...
Rahr 2row, 15% Maris Otter (or Weyermann Pils), 2% C-20, Acidulated malt