Is it possible to replicate with extract?

[beerbelay]

I will be extract brewing for a while do to time/space constraints. Can really good clones actually happen with extract brewing? IPAs and IIPAS included. I'm on my third brew and having a riot but not having luck with my flavor profiles.

 

[The Blow Leprechaun]

Sure, it can happen, it's just a little harder because you can't control as easily some of the variables of the beer. Cloning a beer any time is hard, though.

 

[Austinhomebrew]

Yes, if you use the right extract.

This stuff

 

[ArcaneXor]

Yes, if you use the right extract.

This stuff

Forrest,

Do you use Briess for your liquid extracts? If so, is the "extra pale" the pilsner or pale extract from Briess?

 

[AZ_IPA]

AHS's Harpoon Clone (extract) is a very good beer!

 

[david_42]

Since IPAs and IIPAs are almost entirely base malts, they're easy to match.

 

[GunnerMan]

I took an all grain guinness clone and turned it into an extract brew, took me 3 tries and still was a tad off but still very good. I have a Smithwicks clone in primary right now but I didn't use the correct malt so it may not come out well but I have sampled it out of primary and it is comming along very well. So I think clone is possible, just may take some time.

 

[rico567]

The human taste sensorium (actually taste and smell) is capable of some very fine distinctions. I've adopted the view for my clone attempts that I'll go for something "similar" or "a lot like" a particular commercial brew I've tasted. Hitting a given beer right on the money is fraught with variables. I've brewed extract kits where two supposedly identical kits were perceptibly different to my taste.

 

[Revvy]

If you look at most of the clone recipes out there, including the books, the byo 150 clone brews magazine, and the clones on various websites, they usually have the extract recipes first, and just a very short paragraph on how to convert it to allgrain.

And most of the best tasting clones that I have brewed, and have tasted dead on to the original were extract with grains recipes...In fact the AG versions paled in comparison to the Extract versions....

So it has been my experience, that in terms of clone recipes, I've had better luck with Extract recipes than all grain.

 

[aubrey]

Forrest,

Do you use Briess for your liquid extracts? If so, is the "extra pale" the pilsner or pale extract from Briess?

He said in another thread that the Extra Pale is the Briess Pilsen malt:
Briess Malt & Ingredients Co.: Malt Extracts LME and DME

 

[Shawn Hargreaves]

It really depends on what style you are making.

Pale ale, IPA, ESB, hefeweizen = turn out great with 100% extract
Amber, brown, porter, stout = work well with extract plus steeping grains
Wit, Oktoberfest, most Belgian styles = really need a mash to get close

 

[cuinrearview]

From what I've read on this board and experienced in my house hitting a clone dead on is more luck and circumstance than anything. Most of the time you'll here something like "it wasn't dead on, but I like it more than XXXX" with people using extract or AG brewing. I just single out what I like about a favorite beer and concentrate on those ingrediants. So far this procedure hasn't let me down. It also leads to brewing outside of style and off of the beaten path.