Clone Beers

You're not weird. Brewing is a hobby, and you're doing it the way you want to do it.
 
Rodbrew70 said:
My guess is that, that separates the 'home brewers' from those that aspire to take it to the commercial level!
...

I don't have comercial aspirations,by any means, but I do want brew great beer consistently. I suppose it's possible to make improvements by constantly varying ingredients and process, but I feel like I can really make some progress if I can simplify my approach and focus on one or two recipes. Just tough to decide what those should be without tryng out a lot of beer styles. I think I'm at that point, but I haven't nailed down the "house brew" list.
Actually , I guess IPAs and APAs can be a good way of focusing on the brewing consistently and then vary the hop content for variety. If the grain bill is the same every time and the process is very consistent, then layering different hop combinations can make for a good selection of beers in the pipeline.
And I suppose finding a good clone recipe and doing it enough times to get it as close as possible to the commercial version would be a good way to do that, too.
 
jeffpn said:
No one has come forward yet and said that they do brew or have brewed a beer that their friends thought was the commercial beer. That's really what I'm looking for here. Like I said, the clones that I brew may not taste accurate, but they are nonetheless enjoyable to me. That's why I brew them.

I don't typically look to clone a beer. When I went AG BIAB I had a goal of only brewing beer that I designed.
That being said, "inspired by" I have my A.D.D. IPA that at 6 week in the keg was almost indistinguishable from the Founder's All Day that inspired it. A second one, Apricot Blonde by Dry Dock (Nosy's backyard) I brewed before having the commercial version, It was also very close and I believe with some yeast changes and process management could get closer but that is not my intention. A final one is Valhalla that was inspired by Dark Lord from 3Floyds. I've never had the commercial version and probably never will - I happen to love RIS style and Valhalla turned out very drinkable and I'm satisfied with that.
 
Other than OMB who said he has many clone recipes and has fooled people many times, it seems to me that most people aren't even interested in an exact match. My take on the whole thing is that I find it interesting to use the grain and hop bill that some companies provide for their beers, and design something around that. I've done that a few times. I haven't even tried some of the beers that I've cloned. To me, it's not about getting exact. It's about getting it enjoyable, and I haven't failed yet.
 
im curious to know how many recipes on this site are clones (or are intended to be).

the people that posted here are hopefully a very small sample compared to all the users, so we may be skewed a bit one way or the other
 
People are always going to brew what they want to brew. Some people think that brewing clones is a waste of time when you can just buy it. Others like to see how close of a match they can get. Both brewers are happy, and so am I.
 
This is the first opportunity I've been able to do a side by side comparison between the real Spotted Cow, and this site's clone recipe. Mine is in the taller glass. You can see it's a bit darker. I think that they have very similar tastes. I like them both!
 

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Accidentally, or on purpose?

I once brewed an IPA that I couldn't tell from Redhook Longhammer. Wasn't trying to, though.

I'm giving a go at getting close to Moose Drool, but as long as I'm close enough for my taste, I'll be satisfied.
 
Bowhunter64 said:
The only beer I really want to clone is my own! Lol
If only we were all that good!!
 
What I meant by that was I have a couple of recipes that I really like and I have all I can do to make it the same every time to say nothing about cloning someone else! Lol
 
No question about what you meant! I'm saying I agree!
 
...If I can buy a beer commercially, why would I go to the trouble and expense to make it?....
I do it occasionally because brewing all-grain, I can usually make two cases worth of the "clone" for1/3 (sometimes even less) of the cost of some "craft" sixpacks, and it has sometimes actually turned out better than the commercial version. When it does, it goes onto my list of brew to make again (and again).
 
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Here's a survey type thread. Does anyone here brew any clone recipes that are indistinguishable from their commercial counterparts? I've brewed a Spotted Cow clone recipe multiple times. While it may not taste exactly like the real thing, it is still a very enjoyable beer to me. I recently brewed a Longboard clone as well. I don't know how close it is either, but I like it, and I will brew it again. I guess for me, instead of saying they're clones, it'd be more accurate to use the phrase "inspired by." What say you?
Hi jeffpn. I have brewed a few clone beers and they are very different from the commercial versions. I believe that the real recipes are trade marked and the clones are adjusted to be a bit different if not better tasting than the original. The phrase "inspired by" is a good phrase but I like to say "improved upon". Keep up the great brewing.
 
As a homebrewer, I don't care if the commercial recipes are trademarked/patented. I'm sure there are those who can make some pretty good guesses as to the ingredients. (Not me!) If I found a posted clone recipe that I wanted to brew that actually did use identical ingredients, I would brew it without thinking twice. I see no reason why a clone recipe could not be identical, or nearly identical.
 
I've really only run across one beer that I really want to try to duplicate. It's an old-school NW IPA from a small brewery in Tacoma. Unfortunately it's fairly unknown and I'll be on my own in terms of figuring out a recipe. The brewery lists the grains and hops, so that's a great starting point. The grain bill is so simple that it shouldn't be hard to come up with a good malt profile. Then it's a matter of guessing how much and in what order the hops are used. Might take a few tries.
I'm happy with the "inspired by" approach with most beers/styles, but if I could nail this particular one, I'd be very pleased, indeed! ;)
 
Nope same same here mate I think I've nailed a fat yak clone you should know that one seeing as your from Aus but too many different styles to get stuck on one brew plus the keggorator would be pretty boring with the same beer on every tap eh.
 
I've really only run across one beer that I really want to try to duplicate. It's an old-school NW IPA from a small brewery in Tacoma. Unfortunately it's fairly unknown and I'll be on my own in terms of figuring out a recipe. The brewery lists the grains and hops, so that's a great starting point. The grain bill is so simple that it shouldn't be hard to come up with a good malt profile. Then it's a matter of guessing how much and in what order the hops are used. Might take a few tries.
I'm happy with the "inspired by" approach with most beers/styles, but if I could nail this particular one, I'd be very pleased, indeed! ;)
Have you tried to contact the brewery? They will give out the recipe a lot of times. It's the sizing down and process that are tough to nail.
 
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Have you tried to contact the brewery? They will give out the recipe a lot of times. It's the sizing down and process that are tough to nail.
I figured I'd do that. Worth a shot, anyway. I'll be back there in October and I'll pick up some extra to bring back, but in the mean time, I'll hit them up and see if they're willing to share. I have a feeling that they're probably pretty chill about it and may be able to at least give me some guidelines.
 
so i am making my first brew and its a sierra nevada clone Ozarks Mountain Brew and was wondering how i should do last mash set. i have ace brewer......so brew steps says, sparge and then rise the temperature to 170 f to 10min. so i just hoist the my malt pipe and sparge and the put it pack and start last mash or do the last mash step and then sparge?

Ville R
 

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