SNPA (almost)

The Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone has been tapped. Not my recipe, though -- it's from a poster on the Northern Brewer forum who goes by the name beerfan.

Here's the lowdown:

OG 1.053 FG 1.011
AA 78.3% ABV 5.4%
IBU 38 SRM 8

93% U.S. Two-row
7% Crystal 60

0.4 oz Yakima Magnum 60 mins (19 IBUs)
0.5 oz Perle 30 mins (10 IBUs)
1.0 oz Cascade 10 mins
2.0 oz Cascade flameout

US-05

Brewed Oct. 21
Crash-cooled Nov. 3
Kegged Nov. 11
Tapped Nov. 25

At first it was a little "homebrewy" -- probably from the last of the yeast settling out to the bottom of the keg. The flavor profile continues to clean itself up. I have yet to purchase some real SNPA to do a side-by-side comparison, but I'd suspect it's going to be pretty close. The recipe is, after all, "renowned" (in its own circle anyway) for being a fine clone. If anything, it's possible this beer's hop character is a little subdued compared to the version coming out of Chico.

I've personally felt in recent years that SNPA seems fairly mellow for an American Pale Ale (probably not the case that beer's changed -- just that my tastes have). As such, this clone attempt, especially considering it might fall further on the mellow side, might even be best classified as some sort of "aggressive" Blonde Ale.

But it's all academic. This is a tasty brew no matter what.