NB Sierra Madre

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MrClint

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New guy to brewing, chatting up every new brew. I hope that's not too annoying?

The Northern Brewer recipe kits have struck marketing gold. They force us to buy two one-gallon kits on Amazon. I've got to say that their kit brews are an excellent teaching tool, for those that respect real world/hands on lessons. I'm tasting the grains, I'm tasting the hops, raw, cooked and brewed. Trying to dial things in, and asking questions here while I'm still a new guy. I bought the kit with the Sierra Madre (Sierra Nevada clone) and Cream Ale. The Cream Ale drew me in, what an interesting thing to try.

To make a short story longer, I was passing through Trader Joes and walked out with a six'r of Sierra Nevada ale. First taste of SN? A super hoppy blast of bitterness. Not pleasing or impressed at all (initially). Wait for it. There is some depth there. That taste cuts through. That's the liquid concoction that started all of this craft beer tomfoolery? I get it now. I'm two six packs in and have a real taste for SN, and now I have the clone from NB in the fermenter as we speak. Couldn't wait to get this one going.

There you go, learning to brew and respecting the process. Soon I will have more beer. Cheers!
 
If I remember correctly, there is a clone recipe out there. I printed it, but damn if I can find it. Also, if you search Sierra Nevada pale ale recipe, they have it on their website. Sierra Nevada has been said to be very home brewer friendly. I know they have the Torpedo recipe out there, I was going to give it a go, but I have not gotten around to it yet.
 
I’ve tried Sierra Nevada clone recipes probably half a dozen times. It’s the one recipe I can never get right.

My first Sierra Nevada was a pitcher full of delicious ale that I ordered with a pizza when we all went bowling one evening back about 1993.

Really a fantastic ale, there is something about that recipe that I’ve yet to figure out. The NB kits were great prior to moving to all grain, very convenient and educational. Enjoyed the early Brewing TV episodes too, they were part of it.
 
I think I got my recipe from Sierra Nevada's website. Really simple:
5.5 gallon:
9# 2-row
1# 60L
1/2 oz of cascades at 60 and 45 minutes
2 oz at 30 and 0 minutes

Mash at 155 F

I don't have any on tap right now for the first time in about 5 years. It's on the list for next brewday, though. I still buy some of it, but the homemade version is very close
 
I brew in 10-11 gallon batches, so the hops are cheaper by the pound (10 oz for 11 gallons). It was literally less money to buy a pound of hops than 10 1 oz packages. Your mileage may vary
 
I think I got my recipe from Sierra Nevada's website. Really simple:
5.5 gallon:
9# 2-row
1# 60L
1/2 oz of cascades at 60 and 45 minutes
2 oz at 30 and 0 minutes

Mash at 155 F

I don't have any on tap right now for the first time in about 5 years. It's on the list for next brewday, though. I still buy some of it, but the homemade version is very close

Which yeast do you use?
 
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a quality and enjoyable beer. For many years, my most brewed recipe was an all Cascade hop Pale Ale inspired by either SNPA or Mirror Pond (at some point I started using a hop like CTZ for bittering). There is a thread with some good info on SNPA with some recipes and some comments from somebody that used to work at Sierra Nevada.

Here is my post in that thread from a few years ago with that recipe and some pics:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/sierra-nevada-pale-ale-clone.532565/post-8538338
I have been wanting to cycle back to this recipe. As I recall, the last time I brewed a batch I was just getting started with water chemistry tweaks. I felt that SNPA had a bit of a minerally, slick character that I have to think is water related.

SNPA is not dry hopped, but they do have a whirlpool addition. I am not 100% sure how they use the whole hops along with SNPA. I think they use a hop rocket/torpedo often. On a homebrew scale, a small dry hop addition likely gets close to the hop character and aroma of SNPA.
 
Good contributions here brew friends! Much appreciated. SNPA has displaced Corona as my every day go to brew. After mowing the lawn or working in the garden, Corona really cut through the thirst. Let's see how it goes with SNPA for this application. :)

I'm hoping to transition off of kit beers and onto BIAB SMaSH brews pretty soon, to help with my hands on education. I have a couple more kits to brew though. That said, a pale ale SMaSH with Cascade hops and a similar hop schedule should get me in the ballpark parking lot (I think).
 
I'm hoping to transition off of kit beers and onto BIAB SMaSH brews pretty soon, to help with my hands on education. I have a couple more kits to brew though.
I was in a similar position a few years back with a couple kits to brew but I tried BIAB first and found it really hard to go back to finish the kits.
 
I was in a similar position a few years back with a couple kits to brew but I tried BIAB first and found it really hard to go back to finish the kits.

Similar situation here. For many kits you can easily find the recipe and make it yourself (scale/adjust for your system)
 
SNPA is local brew for me and a go to. I restarted brewing with a clone from MoreBeer ”Cali Mountain Ale”. It’s a great starter recipe. Both extract and AG kits worked well. Wyeast 1056 worked a little better from than US-05.

I used Belgian yeast Wyeast 3522 with same recipe and got a very tasty “Belgian Pale”.
:mug:
 
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