Sam Adams Cold Snap Clone?

[tally350z]

Its on there site that they add Hibiscus. We shall wait and see..

 

[BeerGrylls]

Having brewed with lots of hibiscus, I can say with 100% certainty that it is not in this beer. Grain of paradise, maybe. But definitely not hibiscus.


Better brewing through science!

They might be lying, but this Sam Adams says that this beer has hibiscus: http://www.samueladams.com/craft-beers/cold-snap

 

[loveofrose]

Wow. I don't see why they would lie. It must be trace because I can't detect it at all!


Better brewing through science!

 

[Wolfdust]

Its Hard To Pick It Out But Im Sure Its In There, With 10 Spices Im Sure Its Just A Little Muted. Its Like My Cooking With Onions, I Dont Like Them So You Cant TastE OniOns In My Cooking But I Like The Flavor They Lend To The Dish As A whole.

 

[BeerGrylls]

Its Hard To Pick It Out But Im Sure Its In There, With 10 Spices Im Sure Its Just A Little Muted. Its Like My Cooking With Onions, I Dont Like Them So You Cant TastE OniOns In My Cooking But I Like The Flavor They Lend To The Dish As A whole.

This post just made my head hurt.

 

[chrisT]

Any updates on the cold snap clone recipe?

 

[jmdkc]

Hi - New poster here... After exhaustive research online, on the when/how of spice additions-- including pestering SA 3 times (they gave me a few additional spices each time is asked) ... I believe I have a decent baseline Cold Snap 5 gallon AG recipe, which I am going to brew this week.

I used Mt. Hood as substitute for Hallertauer Mittlefrugh (LHBS didnt have). The two areas I am unsure of are whether this is too much tamarind, and if I should further tamp down the Star Anise, in the recipe.
The SRM is slighly off SA. I think this may be offset by Hisbiscus added to secondary, which Beersmith does not calc.

Feedback Welcome...
I will keep you all posted on how it turns out so we can refine this!!!


Ingredients

6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 61.1 %
4 lbs White Wheat Malt (3.2 SRM) Grain 2 37.6 %
1.00 oz Mt. Hood [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 14.3 IBUs
0.25 oz Anise, Star (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 4 -
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 5 -
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 6 -
2.00 g Seeds of Paradise (Boil 0.0 mins) Spice 7 -
0.50 oz Lemon Peel (Boil 0.0 mins) Spice 8 -
1.0 pkg Belgian Witbier (Wyeast Labs #3944) [124.21 ml] Yeast 9 -
2.1 oz Fruit - Plum [Secondary 2 weeks] (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 10 1.2 %
1.50 oz Hibiscus (Secondary 3.0 days) Spice 11 -
0.25 oz Lemon Peel (Secondary 2.0 weeks) Spice 12 -
8.00 oz Sweet Tamarind Paste [Whole de-seeded tamarind in 4 oz water] (Secondary 1.0 weeks) Spice 13 -
.75 oz Cinnamon Stick Extract [Soaked in Vodka] (Bottling 0.0 mins) Flavor 14 -
.75 oz Vanilla Bean Extract [Bean Slit open and Soaked in Vodka] (Bottling 0.0 mins) Spice 15 -


Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %
Bitterness: 14.3 IBUs
Est Color: 4.2 SRM

 

[BeerGrylls]

Hello jmdkc and wicked first post. Can I ask which ingredients SA confirmed were in the recipe and which you're guessing on?

 

[HawleyFarms]

Looks like I should have bought wheat malt at the lhbs while I was there. Bought the SA seasonal collection yesterday just to try the Escape Route kolsch and ended up being impressed by cold snap. Will definitely be keeping an eye on this clone recipe

 

[jmdkc]

Hello jmdkc and wicked first post. Can I ask which ingredients SA confirmed were in the recipe and which you're guessing on?

Hi there,
confirmed w SA: Paradise Seeds, Orange peel, lemon zest, plums, hibiscus, coriander, star anise, vanilla, sweet tamarind
They would not confirm or deny the presence of cinnamon. Since I detect subtle cinnamon on palate, I am making an educated assumption on this one. I guess i should edit first post they confirmed 9/10.
When the ingredients are added, and at what quantity are educated assumptions as well, but thats what makes this hobby so intriguing!

 

[Calibear]

Hi - New poster here... After exhaustive research online, on the when/how of spice additions-- including pestering SA 3 times (they gave me a few additional spices each time is asked) ... I believe I have a decent baseline Cold Snap 5 gallon AG recipe, which I am going to brew this week.

I used Mt. Hood as substitute for Hallertauer Mittlefrugh (LHBS didnt have). The two areas I am unsure of are whether this is too much tamarind, and if I should further tamp down the Star Anise, in the recipe.
The SRM is slighly off SA. I think this may be offset by Hisbiscus added to secondary, which Beersmith does not calc.

Feedback Welcome...
I will keep you all posted on how it turns out so we can refine this!!!


Ingredients

6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 61.1 %
4 lbs White Wheat Malt (3.2 SRM) Grain 2 37.6 %
1.00 oz Mt. Hood [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 3 14.3 IBUs
0.25 oz Anise, Star (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice 4 -
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 5 -
0.50 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 6 -
2.00 g Seeds of Paradise (Boil 0.0 mins) Spice 7 -
0.50 oz Lemon Peel (Boil 0.0 mins) Spice 8 -
1.0 pkg Belgian Witbier (Wyeast Labs #3944) [124.21 ml] Yeast 9 -
2.1 oz Fruit - Plum [Secondary 2 weeks] (0.0 SRM) Adjunct 10 1.2 %
2.50 oz Hibiscus (Secondary 3.0 days) Spice 11 -
0.25 oz Lemon Peel (Secondary 2.0 weeks) Spice 12 -
8.00 oz Sweet Tamarind [Paste Tea] (Secondary 1.0 weeks) Spice 13 -
1.0 oz Cinnamon Stick Extract [Soaked in Vodka] (Bottling 0.0 mins) Flavor 14 -
1.0 oz Vanilla Bean Extract [Bean Slit open and Soaked in Vodka] (Bottling 0.0 mins) Spice 15 -


Gravity, Alcohol Content and Color

Est Original Gravity: 1.057 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.5 %
Bitterness: 14.3 IBUs
Est Color: 4.2 SRM

Have you brewed this yet? I made a witbier late last month that I based a little off of research and a little bit off of their recipe. It turned out amazing, but I'm really wanting to try to make a good Cold Snap clone for the summer.

Also, I'm wondering, why did you decide to go with Mt. Hood instead of Hallertau?

 

[jmdkc]

Update:
So A few weeks ago I added the boiled lemon peel, tamarind & plums to the secondary, and immediately got additional fermentation.
The trickiest part of this stage was the Tamarind... I went to the local Hispanic store and ended up getting the whole fruit pods. I soaked them in 190 degree water for an hour took off the strings, and then squeezed the paste through my fingers into about 4 oz water and stirred into a paste. This was very messy.

Recipe Edit: 2 days ago I added 2.5 oz of Hisbiscus to secondary and simply put ..this is too much - too much red color added to beer. SRM will be off. Next time, I'll tamp this down to 1.25 oz.

Today, I add the vodka extract. (Note - The picture has more than 1 oz .. we made a bit more for drinks)

As for the Mt. Hood - had prior success using it as a Hallertauer Mittlefruh substitute in a Belgian wit... Beersmith recommended as so, and the alpha was same .. so I pulled the trigger... next time I'll use the Hallertauer, but this should be fine.

 

[Calibear]

Thanks so much for sharing!!!

 

[HawleyFarms]

Have you had a chance to taste it yet? I'd love to know how close this actually comes since I have some supplies coming to try something similar.

 

[Wolfdust]

So what I have figured out for a cold snap clone because its my wifey's favorite beer.
6lbs 2 row blend
4lbs white wheat
10 spices; ground coriander
Sweet orange peel, lemon peel, hibiscus, vanilla, licorice, star anise, paradise seed, dried plums(prunes), and tamarind.
Hallertau Mittelfrueh 10 ibus
WLP patriot yeast
Some of the spices were "dry spiced"
I will be attempting a brew in a couple of weeks.

I never did brew this but for those of you wondering where I got my info, if you watch all their commercials on their website and on you tube they give it all away one piece at a time. Sometimes just in the screen shot. My wife decided that she much preferred hefe now so I never brewed it. Best of luck.

 

[Evan_L]

Hmm wouldn't it be funny if craft brewers lurked on sites such as this and when coming across such a thread, created a new profile for the purpose of anonymously sharing the recipe (or close to it).

 

[BeerGrylls]

Hmm wouldn't it be funny if craft brewers lurked on sites such as this and when coming across such a thread, created a new profile for the purpose of anonymously sharing the recipe (or close to it).

Wouldn't be the first time. Information craves to be free. Serve it up.

 

[LastChair]

Thank you all for your contributions to this thread. They are very helpful. Do you think Cold Snap is dry hopped?

 

[Wolfdust]

No not dry hopped but dry spiced as it was said in the commercials. Which ones of how much I never figured out.

 

[HawleyFarms]

Jmdkc: have you had a chance to taste this yet? I'd love to know how close you came with your version of the recipe.

 

[bolus14]

Any feedback on your version of this @jmdkc? Going by what SA shows on their commercial and the info on their website I think the recipe looks pretty accurate, except the website lists Rose Hips which isn't in your recipe. As many have said the spices are the illusive part that around the web nobody seems to have figured out.

I am going to start my brewing for the year next weekend, so I have about 2 weeks but either a Wit or a Red is going to be up first. Leaning towards the Wit, using Forbidden Fruit WY3463, then use the yeast cake for a fruity Tripel (yes I know not to style but this is why we homebrew ) Anyway, feedback on whether this is remotely close to Cold Snap would be great.

I don't know if I can find tamarind pods so they may get excluded, I also don't know that I've ever seen dried plums though I've never looked either. I may forgo the coriander because I have tried 3 different kinds and each beer had the "hot dog" taste that took months to get rid of and Forbidden Fruit, IMO, throws some spicy and fruity phenols/esters that other Wit strains don't so I may get some of the spicy/citrus of the coriander from the yeast.

 

[Wolfdust]

No, I never did brew this beer. I always thought this was the beer my wife wanted but she decided on other beers. BTW dried plums and prunes are the same thing. Coriander makes a difference whether ground or whole. BTW wlp east coast ale yeast is for sure the yeast in this beer. I

 

[bolus14]

After reading the description it sounds like a better fit than a Wit strain, Cold Snap is definitely cleaner and crisper than most Wit's.

As for the plums/prunes that was a complete brain fart on my part. Still not sure about the tamarind though. I'm going to try and hit LHBS this week to pick up the 008 and get a starter going and look to brew before the Super Bowl on Sunday!

 

[jmdkc]

So the 'lessons learned' on my cold snap recipe would be to curb back the hibiscus.
Maybe one or two petals per 5 gal. If you are going with rose hips, dont overdo it as these are strong additions to 2ndary.
Also, I used the wrong yeast. You are totally correct in that we need a clean finisher here. Go with wyyeast American ale, safalfe 5 , or a similar clean strain. Other than those two pretty big errors I think the recipe is spot on.
As for tamarind you get that at any Mexican grocer. They are dried pods, and you steam them, then separate the meat from the seed.
No more than two pods, will add the subtle unique bitterness in the brew. Good luck.
Someone is going to nail this. This experimentation is what makes home brewing such an art.

 

[bolus14]

Surprised, maybe glad, that you replied and said to use so little hibiscus. I was going to go by the amounts from this
http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2011/03/adding-flowers-to-gruit.html

I plan on making the mad fermentatioinists Hibiscus Wit shortly after this so I'll use those up. As for rose hips its seems many on the web use about the same amount as hibiscus usually 1oz - 2oz.

 

[bolus14]

Picked up ingredients to brew this weekend. Going with WLP 008, got the last package of it that LHBS had and just using Rose Hips since they didn't have Hibiscus. Any input on mash temp? Seems 152-153 is the norm for American Wheats so that's what I plan on going with unless I hear otherwise.

Also, since Mittlefruh seems to be impossible to find I'm going to use Czech Saaz, I already had some and being used as a bittering hop I think it'll be close enough.

 

[bolus14]

Brew day went ok, missed OG by a few points since I forgot to adjust for my crappy mash efficiency, should end up around 4.5% which is ok. The Star Anise(licorice) flavor was stronger than I want in the wort so I'm hoping that goes away a little with time or that the spices in the secondary help cover it up.

 

[Wolfdust]

Sorry I missed your message the other day. Everything looks good, you can exchange any noble hop for the other with minor flavor impact. So the saaz is what I would have used in your situation. Mash temp is right where I would have suggested. Anise is a strong but it will ferment out some, just like when I made root beer. It's always stronger the early stages and seems to be accented by sweetness. I believe in any case it will have less perception after fermentation. Keep me updated on this, I would love to hear how it works out.

 

[Wolfdust]

How did it go?

 

[bolus14]

Still in the fermenter, but at this point they anise is hardly noticeable, not sure I would pick it out if I didn't know it was there.
So far one of the best wheats I've made, has a great clean Wheat base with a hint of citrus in the background. I put the vanilla and prunes in this weekend, will add the Rose hips this Wednesday or Thursday and then bottle this weekend.