Sierra Nevada Clone

Classification: pale ale, Sierra Nevada, extract

Source: Patrick Humphrey (HUMPHREY.PATRICK@igate.abbott.com), HBD #1681, 3/16/95

I recently brewed Tony Babinec's Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone from the Cat's Meow (vers. 2). Tony helped me convert the recipe to a partial extract formulation. Here it is.
A taste of the primary at racking was rather bitter. Is this the style of an American ale of this type? How long might it be before some of this extra bitterness subsides? I like a hoppy brew but not extremely bitter. Tony suggests that the bitterness might be due to the very late addition of the Cascades.

Tony Babinec's Comments:
Offline, Patrick reported that he found the beer to be "bitter" on racking. I wondered what the source of the perceived bitterness might be. The Perle addition should contribute more or less 30 IBUs of clean bitterness. The Cascades will only contribute to bitterness in a minor way, but ought to contribute their signature flavor and aroma. So, the total bitterness of the beer ought to be in the medium to high range. Note that the AHA American Pale Ale style guidelines call for high hop bitterness. Also, I think SNPA weighs in at about 32-36 IBUs. In the end, I don't see that the beer Patrick brewed could be over- bitter, and am wondering what he's tasting in the beer. In any event, the flavors should soften a bit with time. The challenge in an SNPA clone is balancing the hopping with that elusive delightful malt sweetness. Hopefully, the specialty grains help in this regard.

Ingredients:

6.6# light unhopped malt extract
1/2# Cara-pils
1/2# caramel
1 oz. Perles (boil) 8.5 alpha
1/2 oz. Cascade 4.6(?) alpha (15 min. remaining)
1/2 oz. Cascade 4.6(?) alpha (5 min.)
Wyeast 1056

Procedure:

Specialties steeped 1 hour at 155-160 deg. F (68-71 deg. C). 1 hour boil. The %AA of the Perles is higher than Tony's recipe. His calls for 6.5% The %AA of the Cascades were lower (his, 6.3%).

Specifics:

OG: 1048
FG: 1010
Primary: 8 days
Secondary 12 days +