I have a few minutes to kill before I go to work and I was poking around looking for other beer clones of beers I like. I was always a fan of Sierra Nevada’s pale ale, so I thought I would check that out. Much to my surprise, they actually have the recipe including mash and sparge schedule on their website. Damn, that is cool!!! OK, so with a renewed enthusiasm, I think maybe I am going to give a pale ale a shot this week as well as my Elysian Space Dust clone. Sierra Nevada also has the recipe for their Torpedo IPA. I might go grab a six pack of that and give it a go. If I like it, that might make the list as well. I always figured the beer companies, like Sierra Nevada and Russian River, would be very hush hush on their recipes and what they use. I also have an email to Bear Republic to see what they will give me on their Racer 5 to do an all grain version of that. I need to break in my Gas One kettle and new outdoor burner, so as long as the rain holds out, stay tuned for more in the “Adventures and Misadventures of RedRocker.” LOL. Be safe all.
Don’t get your hopes up. It takes a lot more than the recipe to clone a commercial beer. Many experienced homebrewers have tried to clone SNPA, some giving up after several unsuccessful attempts and some still trying. The recipe is a great starting point for the style, so you’re likely to brew a nice beer with it.
yup, its always a cool feeling to get an idea of a confirmed grist for a beer you like. but yes, as said cloning it is a whole other challenge. knowing details about a beer you want to make definitely helps you out in getting closer to recreating it though. good luck. im sure there is a lot of SNPA homebrewing advice out there.
What they are saying is fact. The clone recipe we used for a commercial beer was not even close. The beer was and is very good, but it is not a “clone” of the beer in the recipe. As Denny said, there is more to a beer than just a recipe.
Your beer will be great. Good luck and have fun.
I like Torpedo, and when I first started brewing I tried to clone it, along with other beers I liked. After a while I gave up trying to create clones, and now I just make beers that I like. I have made some fantastic IPAs, but never one that is exactly like Torpedo or Space Dust. So what? The beers were great on their own. If I want a Torpedo I know where to get one.
Thanks to all who replied. I just thought it was pretty cool of them to actually put the ingredients down and amounts for each. Will it be the same? I am guessing not by what I am reading, but what the hell. I am going to give it a try and see where I end up. If it is a good beer, that’s all I care about. Once again, thanks to all who replied. RR
I’ve brewed the SNPA recipe from their website. My beer was not the same as actual SNPA. But, it was definitely good.
I agree it is awesome they publish those recipes. They are a great place to start. Try them with different hops to experiment.
If you like published recipes, several other breweries are pretty cool about sharing as well. Avery lists a few, Brewdawg prints a book, Bell’s and others. They really do make great beers but it also reinforces the concepts used in recipe development because you can see what they’re doing.
https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/ellie-s-brown-ale
https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/ipa
https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/the-maharaja
https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/the-reverend
https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/the-kaiser
https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/old-jubiliation-ale
https://www.averybrewing.com/beers/hog-heaven
Unlike a homebrewer’s recipe, in a professional recipe you’ll see most grain bills exercise restraint. A base malt or combination of base malts (Pale, Pils, Munich, Vienna,…), if warranted a special malt (Melatonin, Honey, Victory,…) and/or an adjunct (corn, rye, oats,…), maybe a ‘C’ malt or two (Cara-, Crystal, Caramel,…), possibly a roast (choc/Carafa, midnight wheat, roast barley,…), maybe a sugar (Demerara, lactose, invert,…).
If you want published recipes, from professional craft breweries, Craft Beer & Brewing is a worthwhile subscription.
They feature many beers and styles, from a large number of breweries. With input from the brewers, and the full recipe, scaled down to 5 gallons.
Lot’s of good and interesting info there.
Cloning a (10s or 100s) thousands of gallons commercial beer in a five gallon home brew batch ain’t happening. The volume alone makes it pretty much impossible, not to mention their actual process compared to home brewing on a propane burner or stove. And you might or might not get the exact same grains, hops, and yeast that they use
At best you might be able to brew something that resembles the commercial beer. “Hey, this reminds me of Sierra Nevada pale ale”.
Instead of clone I prefer the term ballpark beer.
I adopted Denny’s term: an homage beer. It quiets the naysayers. My response if differences are brought up: “Of course its different - I brewed it!”
Get over the word “clone”. It ain’t gonna happen. When I use a commercial beer as a goal, I call it an homage.
My new phrase is “Copy Cat Beer”. And if I want a genuine commercial version, I will just buy a keg.
Or, it could be referred to as a “Tribute Beer”. No, you ain’t gonna clone anything!
I call it an attempt at whatever commercial recipe it is lol. If it makes good beer that I like and has some kind of resemblance I’m happy with it.
Thanks for the links @BrewBama .
I call it “inspired by…”
One reason pro brewer’s are often generous with their recipes is that they know clones are not a thing.
Homage, ball park, attempt, in the neighborhood of… I attempted NSPA, I thought I got it damn close, had a side-by-side tasting with friends and everyone liked my attempt better than the actual, then I tweaked it, and it went the wrong way. But it was still good beer and I might try again in a few batches. It’ll never be a perfect match, the water, temperatures, yeast adaptation, batch size effects, other nuances that SN doesn’t share. It’s all part of the magic of brewing.
I have to eat my words! About 20 months ago we brewed a German Pilsner, with W-34/70 yeast. Ireks Pilsner Malt.
We did not attempt to copy-cat any beer. But in a side-by-side taste test, among 3 people, they could not tell the difference between our Pils and a bottle of Weihenstephaner Premium Pils.
There was no recipe we followed, it was just brewed to be something we would enjoy drinking. So…it can be done. Even by default!
I’m not surprised. You guys are doing world class beers. Being able to clone beers without trying is like witchcraft. The future is bright! When when I be able to find these beers on the shelves?
:-X
I kind of want to try one of these things more than anything now tbh.
You say so.