Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone 2
11.5 # Great Western 2 row
1# 1 oz Briess Crystal 40 L
9 0z Dingeman's Cara-Pils
1 oz Perle 90 minutes
1 oz Cascade 15 minutes
1 oz Cascade 5 minutes
1 oz Cascade dry hopped in secondary
Wyeast American Ale #1056
Single infusion mash at 152 F, 90 minute boil
I've formulated my own recipe for the first time. I've been drinking lots of highly hopped IPA style beers lately, so I decided this would be a good place to start. My test batch is in the secondary right now.
Experiment #1
11 # Golden Promise 2 row
1 # Briess Crystal 20 L
1 # Briess Crystal 80 L
1 # White Wheat Malt
8 oz Dingeman's Cara-Pils
1 oz Centenial 60 mins
1 oz Amarillo 30 mins
1 oz Amarillo 10 mins
2 oz Amarillo dry hopped in secondary
151 F single step infusion mash, 60 minute boil, primary 6 days, secondary 7 days
Notes: My mash got stuck so I was a little off my target OG. I attribute the stuck mash to the wheat malt (I've heard Wheat can cause stuck mashes) and the fact that the stainless steel mesh hose I use in place of a false bottom got a kink in it. I've heard brewers recommend rice hulls to prevent wheat from causing a stuck mash, but I really think it had more to do with the kinked hose. This is because I've used this much wheat before without having problems. So unfortunately, I think my test batch will turn out to be a much lower alcohol version than I had planned...a session IPA if you will.
I recently brewed James Spencer's Amarillo Ale (of Basic Brewing). I've been wanting to brew this beer ever since seeing James and his buddy Steve Wilkes raving about it...I think it was on one of their podcasts. They definitely made it sound good and worth brewing. What sealed the deal was a recent trip to Red Rock Brewing Company. I enjoyed a couple pints of their Harvest Ale and I was commenting to the waiter how much I liked it. He informed me it's only available once a year, and it's brewed with Amarillo Hops.
I believe the recipe is in the DVD's, but I also found it on on bigfoamyhead.com.
The recipe from bigfoamyhead.com:
10 lbs Rahr 2-row pale
1 lb Briess Caramel 60L
1 oz Amarillo Hops 60 mins
1/2 oz Amarillo Hops 15 mins
1/2 oz Amarillo Hops 5 mins
WL California Ale
Anticipated results: OG 1.050 - FG 1.007. ABV=5.7%
The following is the recipe as I made it:
10 lbs Great Western 2-row pale
1 lb Briess Crystal 60L
1/2 oz Cascade Hops 60 minutes
1/2 oz Fuggles Hops 60 minutes
1/2 oz Amarillo Hops 15 mins
1/2 oz Amarillo Hops 5 mins
1 oz Amarillo Hops dry hopped in the secondary
White Labs WLP001 California Ale
I used a single infusion mash at 154 degrees farenheit for 60 minutes. As you can see, the original recipe called for Amarillo hops as both the bittering hops and the flavor/aroma hops. After I caught a whiff of the very fragrant Amarillo hops, I decided I'd rather use some leftover Cascade/Fuggles hops for bittering, and save the 1 oz of Amarillo for dry hopping in the secondary.
It's still in the secondary right now and I can't wait to give it a try. Oh, and I forgot to take a OG reading on this batch, so I don't really know if I hit the target OG. Thanks to Steve Wilkes suggestion, I'm using honey for my priming sugar from now on.
Here's the list of parts I used to build my all grain system:
(2) 5 Gallon Rubbermaid coolers from Sam's Club @ $18.64 each
(2) 1/2 stainless steel ball valves from Badger Tools @ $7.03 each
(2) Stainless steel couplers, part #4464K214 from McMaster-Carr @ $4.19 each
(2) Stainless steel nipples, part #4830K171 from McMaster-Carr @ $2.01 each
(2) Brass locknuts, part #50785K144 from McMaster-Carr @ $1.92 each
(2) Kynar barbed fitting, part #53055K221 from McMaster-Carr @ $2.75 each
Lessons learned: The nipples were too short so I wasn't able to use the locknuts. As a result, the bulkhead wasn't as tight of a fit as I would have liked. Occasionally I'll get a drip or two leaking past the bulkhead assembly. Not a big deal, but I'd recommend using a slightly longer nipple, perhaps part #4830K172 from http://www.mcmaster.com/ as I think this would probably provide a better seal.
Assemble the parts per the diagram below for both your hot liquor tank (HLT) and your mashtun. You'll also want to install some kind of false bottom in your mashtun. I use a section of stainless steel mesh (from the outside of a stainless steel water supply line) attached to a 1/2 male threaded copper fitting. The copper fitting is screwed into the coupling and the stainless steel mesh is attached to it.
After you figure in shipping costs, you should be able to build these for pretty close to $40 each or $80 for the whole system. Most of the comparable commercially available systems sell for about $180 and up, so there's potential to save quite a bit of money by building this yourself. 
I've picked up some new equipment. I broke down and purchased an 8 gallon stainless steel kettle and an oxygen system both from Beer, Beer, & More Beer. The kettle is great because now I'm able to do a full boil resulting in better hop utilization. The oxygen system is used to oxygenate the wort after the boil. This helps the yeast get off to a better start decreasing the lag time between pitching and active fermentation.
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone:
9 pounds, U.S. 2--row pale malt
1/2 pound, crystal malt (60L)
1/4 pound, cara-pils malt
1 ounce, Perle (alpha 6.5), (60 minute boil)
1/2 ounce, Cascade (alpha 6.3) (15 minute boil)
1/2 ounce, Cascade dry hopped in the primary
Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast
Mash at 153/5 degrees F. Hop according to schedule above. Chill and pitch. This batch spent about 4 days in the primary, 5 days in the secondary, and now it's been kegged and primed with 2/3 cup of honey.
Recipe Feedback 12/06/2006
Sierra Nevada Clone - I liked this one quite a bit. It wasn't quite as hoppy as I would have liked, but it is really good. This is probably my favorite brew so far. I'll definitely make this one again.
