Coming Soon: AleSmith IPA Clone
During a visit to San Diego in February, I discovered a new home brew supply store in Vista. With Battlemage Brewing Company and Belching Beaver Pub 980 nearby, it made for a convenient stop on the trip. I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to brew to get back into the hobby. I’d brewed a few IPAs in the past — drinkable, but they never quite delivered that pine and resin punch I was after. Good beers, just not quite right.
After some browsing I picked up grain, yeast and hops, then came home and started going over the brew sheet and instructions.
This clone builds its grain bill from US Pale 2-Row, Crystal 10L, White Wheat Malt and German Munich Type I. Hop additions include CTZ, Amarillo and Simcoe, with Fermentis SafAle US-05 handling fermentation. Target stats are an original gravity of 1.071, final gravity of 1.015, an estimated ABV of 7.4% and 70 IBUs.
The overall impression is a decidedly hoppy and bitter, moderately strong American pale ale that puts modern American and New World hop varieties front and center. The balance is hop-forward, with a clean fermentation profile, a dry finish and a clean supporting malt backbone that steps aside and lets the hop character shine.