Sierra nevada torpedo clone

[gfd622]

Hey all

I'm rather new at this brewing thing, though I have a little over 100 gallons under my belt (and around my waistline). Tonight was a great night in terms of success, so thought I'd share that here.

I brew a lot of IPA's and Sierra Nevada ales, as SWMBO really likes those types. My specialty is 60' and simple sierra nevada pale ale, but lately I've explored a few new recipes simply by doing small variations on my ingredients. I don't use software or any of that, I simply modify my base and hops schedule according to labels and best guess.

Tonight I gave the SWMBO a blind taste test - my sierra nevada torpedo ale vs the real thing. Poured both into glasses, the color and clarity was perfect. Head was good on both. After tasting, my brew won the contest, and needless to say the SWMBO wants more. I made a Sierra Nevada porter at the same time which I really like as well.

Here is the recipe I used for this:

Sierra Nevada Torpedo extract clone:

1/2 lb crystal 60L
1/2 lb 2-row pale ale
7 lb light DME (I buy bulk 55 lb from midwest)

Additions and Hops schedule:
1.5 oz magnum (60')
1 tsp irish moss (15')
1 oz crystal (5')
1 oz magnum (5')

0.5 oz magnum (dry)
0.5 oz crystal (dry)
0.5 oz citra (dry) - note, I had to buy 6 oz of this hops - so it's stored in the freezer)

Yeast is Safeals S04 (blue packet - I like dry yeast, it's easy)

I brewed it for 15 days in primary, 2 months in secondary. FG was 1.008

It's a great beer - nice flavor - good alcohol content.

This home brewing thing is great

Dave

 

[Greyhound]

Thanks for sharing. Pale Ales and IPA's are my favorites, too. I've never had SN Torpedo, but RateBeer gives it a 97, so it must be outstanding. I'm going to pick up a sixer at my next opportunity, then try your recipe.

 

[Greyhound]

Did you mash the 2-row?

 

[gfd622]

Did you mash the 2-row?

Sorry, I'm still new at this, and frankly I like extract brewing (I have the equipment, it's very easy for me, and the beer tastes good), so I don't now all the intricasies of beer lingo, but I'll try to answer this.

Assuming that "mash" means to put the grains in a "tea bag" and steep them at 165 degrees for about 20 minutes or so, then yes, I did that. It's extract brewing (as always) using grains for some extra flavor. I mix the grains (60L and 2-row) in a grain sack and place in 165 degree water for 20 minutes. I don't take gravity measurements after brewing since with extract brews I always have at least 7 lb of extract so the initial gravity is always very close to the same (and easy to hit). So, I don't know what my grains do - but they do give color prior to extract addition.

For all my sierra nevada recipes (extract mind you), I find that the base is typically the same or very close for all (usually just a 60L, 1/2 lb). The grains for flavor are very simple (something dark for the porter, 2-row for torpedo, nothing for pale ale beyond 60L). The hops are the difference, but in all cases the hops give a good flavor - I have yet to do a bad sierra nevada clone.

My original recipe was from a store in St. Louis, and I think it was an actual sierra nevada clone (just the pale ale, from the brewers at sierra nevada). Torpedo I made up a bit using the label to see the grains and hops used (and reading threads and modifying or combining or whatever). It works well.

Citra hops is hard to find. I found one supplier and I had to buy 8 oz of it (or some absurd amount). I broke it up into 1/2 oz packs and store it in my freezer. It worked OK. Made it a little more expensive, but it's still only around $30 per 2 cases, which is a good price for the higher end beers (I could save more with all grain, but I'm OK with extract).

Dave

 

[Greyhound]

Thanks. It looks like you steeped the 2-row. I hadn't heard of steeping 2-row, but I'm relatively new at this too. I figured since you posted in the Extract Brewing forum, that's probably what you did, but I wasn't sure.

This recipe is definitely on my short list of recipes to try. By the way, Northern Brewer sells Citra pellet hops by the ounce (in case you ever run out).

 

[rebeltruce]

New here as well, but want to give your recipe a try.....I'm assuming this is a standard five gallon batch.

Grains steeped in 2.5 gallons of water, brought to boil, add the DME, back to boil, Hops added per your schedule. Cool down, move to primary top off to 5 gallons, pitch yeast and let her rip.

 

[gtpro]

2 row generally isnt steeped, its a base grain used for mashing, and youre not getting anything out of that half pound that you wouldnt get from another .25 lbs of DME, probably less.

 

[dc_x]

I was trying to make a similar beer and used 1 lb of crystal 60, but mine came out too sweet. I will drop down to 1/2 lb next time.

Just curious - why use US-04 instead of US-05? I've never used 04, but I have used 05 and it is a very clean yeast. Isn't 04 the British ale yeast?

 

[alcibiades]

wow, 1.008 is really good attenuation. I didnt know S-04 had that kind of sugar converting prowess

 

[gfd622]

Sorry, been away a few days - didn't have time to respond.

As for the 2-row, I really had no idea. I found it in a recipe here on this site (not a partial mash, but an extract recipe), so I just treated it like all other grains. If it does nothing, no worries, leave it out. It costs a whopping 0.50, so I didn't really care either way. Like I said, all my other sierra nevada just use the 60L (except porter does have one or two dark grains, don't remember right off, no problem).

As for the S-04 vs S-05, I used the yeast I had lying around. I have always liked S-04 (it works great in my basement environment, every beer I have done with it has been superb, so I use it for almost everything). S-05 is good too, and it may be worth it I don't know. Most of my flavors come from the hops (I really only do IPA's and hoppy beers), so the yeast is there just to make alcohol from sugar, nothing more.

And yes, sorry to leave it off, but it was a standard 5 gallon batch. I am a glass fermenter guy (biochemist, I like watching yeast grow), so all of my things are done in 5 gallon batches. I don't have a pot big enough for a full boil, so I do a 3 gallon boil and add the rest later.

I'm debating on my next one to leave it in the primary, and just simply add the hops for dry hopping directly to the primary. I don't really want to mess much with something that's working though, and I'd like to free up my primary (I have a few, but I don't have 4), so I don't know. I read on here mixed reviews with this, and that it would require more hops if done in the primary. We'll see - I'll post it if I do keep everything in the primary (and it works)

Good luck all

Dave

 

[rebeltruce]

Just bought all of the ingredients to make a batch of your clone.

I have one question....do you dry hop for the entire two months in the secondary?

 

[tcory77]

SN Torpedo Clone!!!!!! This is most excellent news!!!!!! I have sunscribed to this thread and look forward to seeing how this turns out for several people. I will definately brew this later in the year. Would brew it now, but I have my next several beers lined up already.

Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!

 

[wscott823]

What was your OG? If not actually measured, than your anticipated.

 

[barleyhole]

I was gonna ask what the IBU was, but I decided to look on SN's site first...65. I had a Torpedo for the first time a week ago and really enjoyed it, so I may try this clone. Well done! Thought the IBU might have been higher than that, but now that I think about it, seems a bit right. I brewed an extract APA last summer that came out almost identical to their pale ale with willamette and cascade. Probably if you want to get any sugars out of the pale malt, you could steep it at 150 or so instead of 165.

 

[eanmcnulty]

Did anyone brew this? How did it turn out?

 

[rebeltruce]

Did anyone brew this? How did it turn out?

I'm brewing it today....still looking for an answer so far as the dry hopping though.

Wondering if it gets the hops in the secondary for the entire two months.

 

[eanmcnulty]

Isn't two months a long time to dry hop?

 

[rebeltruce]

That's what I thought, but the OP never really ansewered my question......

 

[gfd622]

Sorry about that, I've been away again. Anyway, when I do secondary the hops are there the entire time. I brew so often now I find it's sometimes best to let beer age as I do, and simply have one week turn into one month. So I just let it sit, and when I get time to bottle I do it. If it's 2 months later, then so be it. It was still hoppy, though I admit it might be fresher and nicer to have less time in the secondary. I use the secondary as a chance to clear the beer and just let it all sit and chill for awhile. After the 150th gallon, I simply find that time is your best friend when it comes to brewing. You can never leave it in there long enough - no matter what stage you are at.

I always add hops immediately to my secondary container. Then it goes in secondary until I bottle. For this one, it was 2 months. I just made another and it's fine as well. It's a fast easy brew - tastes good. I think the second one was in the secondary a little bit less (say 5-6 weeks), but it was still well beyond the 10 days I usually read about.

I don't know the OG. I'm an extract brewer, so I have never worried about it (I don't have beersmith and frankly I don't really care about that). I do measure final gravities, just to give me a feel for where things are and how things compare, but frankly they always come out about the same (give or take). I do all my fermenting in glass - it's very cool watching the entire process.

Hope that answers questions. I'll pay attention more next time. Sorry about that (I didn't receive any messages that people posted on this - so I had lost track).

Thanks for looking and enjoy - hope it turns out.

I'm in the process of devising a sprecher black bavarian recipe (extract). Anybody with ideas on that one out there?

Dave

 

[Rguardian989]

u dry hopped with magnum? thats an interesting choice

 

[jmf143]

Has anyone played around with adding the DME late in the boil, or adding , say, half at the start and the rest near the end? I'm new to late extract additions and was curious if it would have any effect.

 

[tcory77]

Did anyone brew this? How did it turn out?

So....enough time has passed.......a few of you indicated you were going to brew this........how did it turn out?

Would I need to modify anything for a full boil instead of the partial boil?

 

[adc123]

i love torpedo! its got a great level of hoppiness I have rarely seen elsewhere. Were you able to replicate that?

tcory77, a full boil is just that: all the water you would usually use. Full boils will have better hop extraction because of the larger volume of water, so it may change the flavor a bit. I did one full boil and really enjoyed the taste better than my partials. It seemed like twangy, if thats worth anything. I would just do the full boil and see how it comes out!

 

[robertbartsch]

...two months in the secondary; I'm impressed with your patients.

I'm going to make a similar receipe this weekend as I bought some light DME in bulk (50lbs).

PS - most guys don't do secondaries - just a primary for 3-4 weeks.

 

[Swig_A_Bedder_Brew]

This sounds great and a lot of people seem to enjoy it. (I love Torpedo to begin with.) I can't wait to brew this myself. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[tcory77]

Ok.....I have to ask again because it didn't get any responses the first time.

Enough time has passed.......a few of you indicated you were going to brew this........how did it turn out?

Thanks!!!

 

[rebeltruce]

I bought everything and then let the stuff sit....then I needed a couple pounds of DME for something else....slowly but surely I used everything but the hops for other brews.....so I have a allot of expensive hops and nothing else.

I need to make a trip to LHBS to pick up the grain and some DME and go ahead and brew this one........I'm making the committment to do it this weekend.

 

[Prime]

Hopefully tcory gets an answer to his question. I love this beer. I'm adding this one to the queue.

 

[eanmcnulty]

I am subscribed to this thread too. Torpedo is in my queue, but it is getting cold out. I probably won't hit this until Spring. Id love to hear how it turns out for you guys.

 

[tcory77]

OK....looks like no one is going to reply, so I tweeked this recipe for a full boil. Just finished brewing it. We will see how it turns out. I will post the recipe if anyone is interested. This is my first non-kit brew, so I am crossing my fingers. It sure smelled good!!!!!!