American Pale Ale Coldwater 420 - Special Pale Ale

[Mutilated1]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

Fermentis Safale US-05

Yeast Starter

No

Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter

None

Batch Size (Gallons)

5

Original Gravity

1.065

Final Gravity

1.012

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

42

Color

7

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

8 Days near 62 F

Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

8 Days near 62 F

Additional Fermentation

None

Coldwater 420 - Special Pale Ale

This was originally supposed to be a clone of Sweetwater Brewery's 420 Extra Special Pale Ale, however I think my version comes out a lot better and tastier. I chose the name "Coldwater" because the city tap water where I live comes from the Coldwater aquifer ( Coldwater Alabama ) which supplies much of the name brand bottled water that you buy at the store if you live around the South - very tasty spring water, and also as you can see Coldwater sounds kind of like Sweetwater...

This is a really great beer, if you like Sweetwater 420 then I think this would be a beer that you'd really enjoy. Its not an exact clone, for one thing I think my version ends up with a little more alcohol than the real Sweetwater 420 since beers in Georgia and Alabama are limited to 6% ABV, using promash I estimate mine ends up about 6.5% and I also think that the malt is more pronounced in my version.

Regardless, it makes an extremely tastey beer and its an easy recipe that you'll enjoy.

SG: 1.065
FG: 1.012
Color SRM - 7.0
Bitterness: 45 IBUs

Here is the Recipe:

Malts:
7 1/2 Pounds - Pale Malt American 2-row, ( 1.036 - 2L ) - 65.2%
1 1/2 Pounds - Light Munich Malt ( 1.033 - 10L ) - 13%
1 1/2 Pounds - Vienna Malt ( 1.035 - 4L ) - 13%
1/2 Pound - CaraAroma ( 1.036 - 25L ) - 4.3%
1/2 Pounds - Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt ( 1.033 2-L ) # .5 - 4.3%

Hops:
1 ounce Cascade ( 5.75% Alpha ) @ 60 minutes
1.5 ounce Cascade ( 5.75% Alpha ) @ 30 minutes
.5 ounce Cascade ( 5.75% Alpha ) @ 5 minutes

Yeast:
Fermentis Safale US-05

Heat 3.5-4 gallons of water to 165F, or hot enough to bring the mash to 153F. Mash at 153F for 80 minutes, then drain. Sparge with 4.5-5 gallons of water at 170F, to collect 7.5-8 gallons of wort.

Bring wort to a rolling boil and add the hops according to the schedule.

Chill wort to 70F and pitch 1 envelope US-05.

Ferment in Primary at 60-65F, for about 8 days or until gravity drops to 1.012. Rack to secondary and let it clear for another 7 days, or add 1 envelope of unflavored gelatin disolved in boiling water to the secondary and it will clear in about 2 days instead. Keg it or Bottle as usual, with 5 oz of priming sugar.

One thing to note, I make no attempt at all to strain the hops from the wort when going from the brew pot to the fermenter. I only try and filter the beer when I rack from the primary to the secondary and I rely on the gelatin in the secondary to clear the beer. So far, I'm very pleased with how clear it gets.

 

[Aubie Stout]

Is the Sweetwater Extra Pale Ale really around 45 IBU's? SNPA is @ 37 IBU's and I think it is much more bitter than the Sweetwater. I'm guessing it'd be closer to mid 20's maybe. What do you think?

Also, we have a place close to Pier 59. Drinking some homebrews up there this weekend.

 

[CoolJAtl]

Very good recipe. I think it is better than the original. Had some 420 the other night and told SWMBO that my version tastes better :fro:

 

[Mutilated1]

Very good recipe. I think it is better than the original. Had some 420 the other night and told SWMBO that my version tastes better :fro:

Thanks - I like it better than the original too.

The last time I made it I cut back on the CaraAroma to about 4oz and its a lot closer to the original that way, I thikn 1-2oz would likely be even closer. Truth be told, I'm not entirely sure that CaraAroma belongs in this beer, but this recipe started out as an extract + steeping grains recipe I got from ALABREW in its original version(s) and I converted it to Partial Mash and eventually to All Grain. The CaraAroma was the steeping grains in the original version I started with. The version that is posted is probably the second or third iteration after I converted it to all grain. Basically its the second version that I felt was pretty close. If you want to get even closer, dial back on the CaraAroma some.

@AubieStout - I believe that 45 IBUs is the number that I got from ProMash after putting in the most successful hop schedule. Personally, to my taste I think SweetWater420 is a bit more bitter than SNPA, but I wouldn't swear to it - SNPA is kind of hit or miss where I buy it, its not consistently the same - it could be more bitter or maybe not just depending on the beer gods when you buy it. SNPA could very well be more bitter, but you don't really notice the bitterness as much in this homebrew "Coldwater 420" because its more upfront with the malt.

Thats funny you mentioned Pier59 - I used to live right across the water from there at Rabbit Branch, could hear the music at night.

One other note about the hops - I'm not entirely 100% sure that the hops in SweetWater 420 are Cascades, but I used Cascades because someone told me thats what they were and Cascades happen to be what I got a butt load of. I've also made this beer with Galena and Cascades and it turned out very nice as well.

 

[trip2hard]

The head brewer of sweetwater just left and he's at a brew pub now next time am there I'll ask him about the hops in 420 maybe he'll tell. I heard when he left they weren't to happy.

 

[mikfire]

Thanks for the recipe. The reason I fly Delta is to make sure I can bounce through ATL (the airport) and get a pint or two of the 420.

I am brewing this next and will let you know how it turns out.

 

[sleepystevenson]

Hey Mutilated1, what efficiency is this recipe based on? Looks like a good one to add to the brew list! Thanks.

 

[Mutilated1]

Hey Mutilated1, what efficiency is this recipe based on? Looks like a good one to add to the brew list! Thanks.

80% According to my Pro-Mash settings. I think I usually get better efficiency than that, and my OG is usually a bit higher.

 

[zanemoseley]

Could you possibly suggest at PM recipe to use for stove top PM. I would love to try this out but am not good at converting. I expect I could drop a lot or all of the pale malt for DME and keep most of the specialty grains. Not sure about any need for additonal hops to make up for hop utilization, I may be able to boil close to 5 gallons so utilization may not be affected much.

 

[Mutilated1]

Look at DeathBrewer's tutorial for doing a stove top partial mash. Follow his instructions for Mashing all the grains except the Pale 2 row. Should be able to mash 3.5-4#s no problem.

Then replace the 7.5# of Pale 2 Row with 5.5# of Pale LME or 4.5# of Light/Pale DME.

 

[trip2hard]

Am doing a 10gal batch of this but i replaced Munich 10L with some reg. Munich and I cut back on the CaraAroma a little to. I think am going to brew this tomorrow I'll let you know how it turns out. I got a pound of Cascades so if it comes out decent I'll brew it again and dump it on the yeast cake.

 

[trip2hard]

I did brew this yesterday and I think I forgot the Munich now that am looking over everything. ****......

 

[trip2hard]

Would you have to rack the 2ndary if you use gelatin? Like if you use a keg as a 2ndary or would you have to rack in another keg?

 

[Mutilated1]

Would you have to rack the 2ndary if you use gelatin? Like if you use a keg as a 2ndary or would you have to rack in another keg?

I would probably rack it again, but thats just me. I like my beer clear.

 

[Chello]

I just started brewing this. I'v been wanting to try it for a while!

 

[Mutilated1]

I just started brewing this. I'v been wanting to try it for a while!

Awesome.

I might brew it again tomorrow afternoon myself.

 

[Austin_]

I picked up the stuff to make this last weekend and got around to making it tonight. I did a partial mash. I changed up the hop schedule and amounts to lower the IBUs to about 38. I had the US-05 ready to go and at the last minute I decided to rack my steam beer to a secondary and pitch this batch on the San Fran Lager yeast cake. I'm just curious as to what it would taste like so I did it. I'll let you know how it comes out.

 

[Chello]

My brew day was a little disappointing. For whatever reason i missed my mash temp by about 8 degrees. So i was mashing around 147. First time i haven't hit my mash temp +/- 1 degree. So my efficiency suffered but i think it will turn out fine.

 

[zanemoseley]

Well I brewed 2 weeks ago and my OG was a bit low but I should have noticed that you based yours on 80% efficiency, I got only 67% even with using 3lb of DME. I'll just have to adjust the next go around with a pound or two more base malt.

Once question, I see you do an 8 day primary, 7 in the secondary then keg. I was wondering how long yours normally takes in the keg till it tastes right.

 

[Mutilated1]

I don't know -- maybe a week in the keg ? Basically just long enough to get some carbonation.

 

[zanemoseley]

Cool, I didn't know if it required a fairly long conditioning period.

 

[Jeffegale]

Im going to go buy the ingredients tomorrow from my local micro brewery/shop however it calls for Fermentis Safale US-05 what would be equivalent in yweast?

 

[Mutilated1]

Im going to go buy the ingredients tomorrow from my local micro brewery/shop however it calls for Fermentis Safale US-05 what would be equivalent in yweast?

1272 American Ale II would be a good choice most likely.

 

[talkingmonkey]

Brewing a PM version, (kinda), right now. Thanks for the recipe. This is for an oyster roast. I think they're gonna like it! 1st real PM, never going back to all extract.

 

[volntitan]

New brewer here...

My dad and I are new brewers and looking to do batch #3. The first was a kit beer and the second was a FAt Tire clone from recipe book. We really haven't had folks try our stuff until we could get one that was more universally acceptable to ordinary beer drinkers. First batch was ok. Second batch turned out well, but little heavy for the "Bud Light" crowd of friends. I had a Sweetwater 420 and really liked it so went looking for a recipe.

Is this a pretty "error free" beer for someone like us or should I look to a more simple one? Again, just started so really not up on all the terms just yet. We do keg if that makes any difference.

Thanks folks. This hobby has really brought my retired father and I even closer. Best thing we have ever done.

 

[Chello]

Just tapped the keg of my first attempt at this recipe. My mash was way off was i wasn't expecting it to be close to the real deal.

It definitely has some heat from the alcohol since i ended up at 1.005 from mashing so low. That puts its about 6.75% ABV which is way off from the real deal, but it is still a tasty brew.

I'll be brewing this again soon.

 

[Mutilated1]

A buddy of mine tried this recipe and he used Galena for bittering and Cascade for the finishing. I must say his turned out better than mine did.

 

[Chello]

I have just decided since it came out closer to a "big" beer for me, i am going to take half the batch and oak it. I'v been wanting to oak something and this should do just fine.

 

[zanemoseley]

I brewed a PM batch that is identical to the AG but I subbed in 3lb of extra light DME in place of 5lb of the base grain, I also left out the CaraAroma. My efficiency was only 67% using Deathbrewer's stovetop PM, my OG was 1.052 and ended at 1.010.

I tapped the keg almost exactily a month after brew day and this stuff is tasty!! I love sweetwater and this is up there with it if not better. I may have to pay $9 for a sixer of 420 to compare this weekend. At $9 for six I can't afford to drink it all the time so being able to brew a substitute rocks.

 

[Austin_]

I am reporting back as to how it turned out using the San Fran Lager yeast. I really like it. It taste like a pale ale but is different enough to be refreshing. Not to mention your recipe has a little more kick than a normal pale ale. I have only had a couple pints out of the keg and tomorrow I'm taking it with me to a crawfish boil. I'll make note of their comments and report back. I have a feeling they will enjoy it as much as I do.

I was back home in Nashville a couple weeks back and had a chance to try the original. It was about the 4th of the night and my taste buds were already a little dull, but I enjoyed it. You going to the Magic City Brewfest? My sister, who lives in Montgomery, and I are going to be there.