AG#1 Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA Clone (now with pics!)

[phatboytall]

Scroll down for pics...

This is a LIVE brewday, sadly due to a knackered cable i can't upload pics til later on. But you can follow live on twitter @thebeerbunker if you have nothing else to do today!

After managing to make two amazing beers in my first DME brews i've decided to go the whole hog and go AG!

Decided i would start with something really tricky (thats the kind of fool i am) i'm going to try and replicate the best beer i've ever tasted, Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA, it was like an epiphany to US IPA's on holiday recently.

This is it here, i recommend you try it http://thebeerbunker.blogspot.com/2010/ ... evada.html

Here is the recipe borrowed and converted from a US homebrew site.

Double the malt and hops of most beers in GW's book! This is Turbo beer! its only a 12 litre batch!!

Sierra Nevada Torpedo 12 Litres
US-05 Yeast
OG = 1.070
FG = 1.018
IBU = 70
ABV = 7.2%

pale malt 4010g
caramel malt 197g

Start Boil
Magnum hops (90 mins) 22g

Magnum hops (5 mins to go) 18g
Crystal hops (5 mins to go) 17g

Post Boil Hops
Magnum hops (dry hop) 12g
Crystal hops (dry hops) 12g
Cascade* hops (dry hops) 12g

*I couldn't get any Citra so i replaced with Cascade, seems logical, thats what they put in the Pale Ale.

Right now the mash is on, perfect starting temp. I didn't have time to fit a tap to my coolbox so i have made a handy syphon tube with holes in it and a filter at the end.

I'll be back with pics hopefully tonght. Posting live now on twitter @thebeerbunker

Ed

[WishboneBrewery]

I went with Mittlefruh as a dry Hop after reading this http://www.brew-dudes.com/citra-hops/557

Should be a good one either way I'd say

[monkeyboy]

i had Torpedo last time i was in California, and i agree - it's a cracking beer. Not sure i could drink it all night, though. Shortly after drinking it I ended up in a brew pub where the US 'this one goes to eleven' hopping strategy had created something so hideous and monstrous it was like chewing your way through a hop field. Everyone has their limits. This one was allegedly 200IBU and hard work. Be interested to find out how this works out for you.

[Naich]

Got any pics yet? I love seeing other people's brewdays.

[phatboytall]

Right, its picture time!

You might have seen here i fell short of my expected OG but thanks to evaporation i got to the right OG.

Ingrediants from the brilliant thriftyshopper


This is my first AG and i was to impaitent to fix a tap to my cool box (i wanted to get beer ready for christmas), so i came up with this "ingenous" solution, a filtered syphon tube.... yes i know what your thinking....more on that later


Nothing quite like a shot of a pan of water waiting to boil...you can sense the tension. I got this pan from the dump for £2.


Water in at 72c, crushed malt going in, my first AG has landed


Mash temp of 67, GW your a genius. (later learned i possibly didn't stir enough),


when i finished it was 63c. Room for improvement there


So the great syphon filter is underway, i cant believe how clever i am, and how no one has thought of this before


Ah...so it got blocked and stopped working after 30seconds....surprised im sure you are not. So, plan B, cut the filter off and poured it through some emergency cut muslin. Not very good, intermitent drain.
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj66 ... G_0642.jpg

I made the wort about 1040, i was hoping for 1071, and i had 13lt rather than 12lts....textbook! But the hops, man the hops, boy did i have a hopbil to get excited about


Hops going in


more hops going in


The hoppy beast cooling outside on a brick (lid on to keep bad things out....well ok i took it off for the photo)


I think my chickens are the biggest fan of me going AG


going in the FV


OG, by complete fluke of an intense evaporation i ended up bang on OG! just 3 litres down....
http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj66 ... G_0659.jpg


So there it is, hopefully it will turn out good. The US yeast rehydrated perfectly and gave it a nice head inside 12hours.

think i'm going to just leave it in the FV with the head on for 3 weeks, going to avoid taking FG samples and just see where it ends up and then bottle.

Thoughts?

[Naich]

when i finished it was 63c. Room for improvement there

think i'm going to just leave it in the FV with the head on for 3 weeks, going to avoid taking FG samples and just see where it ends up and then bottle.

Thoughts?

4 degrees loss over 90 minutes(?) isn't that bad. I find the temperature varies quite a bit between different parts of the MT. I did a load of measurements a while ago and, starting from 68C, it varied from 63.9C in one of the corners to 66.9 in the middle. There is still enzyme stuff going on at 63C and for the first 45 minutes, when a majority of the conversion would be happening the temperature would have been pretty much spot on.

It's worth taking a look at it before 3 weeks though. The fermentation will probably be done after 1 week and it could well be clear enough to bottle after 2. Personally I like to keep an eye on what's going on and have a slurp to get a taste of what it'll be like.

Oh, and congratulations on a successful brew day. Nice piccies

[phatboytall]

Forgot to add what a great beer this turned out to be. Several months down the line now, i only have 3 bottles left and i'm saviouring them. Really clear.

I've since drunk an actualy SN Torpedo side by side and i reckon my home brew was 80% the real deal. Slightly sweeter, less dry and not quite as delicately hoppy.

I didn't dry hop in fermentation or afterwards, i just did it as i turned the gas burner out until it had cooled. (lesson learnt there.)

8/10 as a recipe, definately worth a try if you like the beer.

Next up : More US IPA's, Stone Arrogant Bastard, Goose Island, and Piny the Elder.

[WishboneBrewery]

Good to hear it turned out well

[Spud395]

Whats your take on Goose island, I think it's my favourite IPA?

[Dunk]

I think Can You Brew It podcast/radio show on the brewing network are doing an arrogant bastard clone. It should be available for download as an mp3. I've not tried any of their clone recipes, but I've learned a load about how different aspects of the brewing can affect flaour in the finished beer - might be worht a look.

I found a link... http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/697

I'm going to try their mirror pond pale ale clone recipe soon - a friend send a couple of bottles of the real thing over to me and it was simply delicious.

[phatboytall]

Two funny responses! I placed the order for my next 5 homebrews last week (i bulk up orders to avoid delivery costs)

Included in that was the ingrediants for a Goose Island IPA clone (i loved it bottled) and also an Arrogant Bastard clone, after hearing them brew it on the Brewing network!! Great minds......

I spent a while googling Clone recipes for both, then i compare them back to the brewery website to check what they list as the hops is the same as what the clone states. Both recipies look great.

Will post the brewdays on here.

Ed

[Andris]

that looks like fun day.. I wish some of my neighbors had chicks so I would not have to dump all the grain :-/
I just hate to throw out perfectly good stuff that could be fed to some household animals... and NO my cats hate that stuff.