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Pirate Life Pale Ale Cloned - I think I've nailed it


Scottie

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Hey Brew Dudes

 

I've tried to clone a number of beers over the past 5 1/2 years of brewing and TBTH I never really pulled it off. Many iterations of LCPA saw me brewing an IPA with Cascade and Galaxy, my Pacific Ale was more bitter as intended, and I never really succeeded with my DSGA. Brewed some great beers but never a dead ringer clone.

 

I think I've pulled it off, first attempt so I am assuming it is a fairly easy beer to clone. Used most of the ingredients off the can excepting I didn't have Caramalt so I subbed in some Munich.

 

Buccaneer's Pale Ale

 

4.00 kg Gladfiled American Ale Malt

0.50 kg Munich Malt

0.30 kg Crystal Malt

0.10 kg Acid Malt

 

Mashed at 66 degrees for 60 minutes, batch sparge.

 

10.00 g Magnum - Boil 60. min

20.00 g Cascade - Boil 20.0 min

15.00 g Mosaic - Boil 20.0 min

10.00 g Cascade - Boil 8.0 min

10.00 g Mosaic - Boil 5 min

20.00 g Cascade - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min

15.00 g Mosaic - Steep/Whirlpool 20.0 min

 

US05

 

15.00 g Cascade - Dry Hop Day 11

10.00 g Mosaic - Dry Hop Day 11

 

20 litres

OG 1.050

FG 1.010

5.4% ABV

 

(Please note if you brew this my efficiency is only 70%)

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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Mate' date=' that looks good. Do you chill?

Cheers,

Andrew[/quote']

 

Good point Andrew

 

I use a plate chiller:

20 minute steep after flameout

Whirlpool

10 minute rest

5 minutes into FV at 21 degrees

 

I also corrected the Valley Water to

Ca 89.4

Mg 4.2

Na 3.6

SO4 146.4

Cl 54.4

HCO3 13.1

 

by adding 7g of Gypsum and 3g of Calcium Chloride to 31 litres of the TasWater stuff.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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Congrats on the brew Scottie. cool

 

Amazing what you can do if you throw a good whack of hops at a pale ale. tonguewink

 

Good stuff mate. happy

 

Cheers' date='

 

Lusty.[/quote']

 

Just what I was thinking yesterday when I sampled this one. Its like hops can cover any mistakes you're probably making when you brew, i.e. Mashing technique that doesn't have steps and rests and all the other jargon.

 

Cheers

Scottie

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Hops won't hide everything .....

A beer without body or head retention won't be improved with hops .

 

For my money the best thing about brewing at our scale , mistakes are generally as well received as successful brews by friends and co workers

 

Congrats on a passable copy though , I do enjoy the pirate life range of beers and follow your lead here and add it to my " to brew " list along with a Peroni , Coopers Pale and something toasty for winter .

Picking up extra fridge next weekend and have hundreds of empty bottles to fill

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

A Schooner

 

Edit: that was a terrible photo, I'll try to do better on the weekend

 

I still think I've nailed it. "It has a nice kick of bitterness, refreshing, its fruity and has a lingering pleasant after taste", comment by my son on Sunday.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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  • 2 weeks later...

Dirtynidge, I am brewing this over the Easter break too! it will be my second AG effort ever (50L pot, gas burner), no chill into cube. Very excited!

 

How did you find the split batch comparing Nottingham to BRY-97? Did Notty diminish the hop influence and strip some away as some others have reported?

 

Jools

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Dirtynidge' date=' I am brewing this over the Easter break too! it will be my second AG effort ever (50L pot, gas burner), no chill into cube. Very excited!

 

How did you find the split batch comparing Nottingham to BRY-97? Did Notty diminish the hop influence and strip some away as some others have reported?

 

Jools[/quote']

 

Hi Jools,

 

Strangely enough, no it didnt.

 

I had almost accepted the fact that The Notty batch would be less hoppy, but I was surprised that its hop flavour and aroma at least matched the BrY97 (although the BRY also has a reputation for stripping hops).

 

Notty maybe has a little more maltiness but they are very hard to pick apart, I wouldn't hesitate to use either again in this recipe.

 

Due to some bad flavours with some yeasts, I started splitting batches, half with the recipe recommended yeast and the other with Notty in the other as a 'control'. The Notty has been so consistent for me in the past that I know I will at least get a drinkable beer if the other one goes bad.

 

Funnily enough, Nottingham is proving itself very versatile and producing excellent beers in everything from Porters to Blondes. I might stop splitting and just use it for everything!

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cheers thanks for the great review. i think i recall you had some US-05 off-flavours as well. I've had two which had phenloic flavours using US-05 - one was drinkable, the other still hasn't faded enough after 6 months!

 

Then my Special Bitter fermented with Mangrove Jack's Liberty Bell yeast exhibited a light-clove like flavour. I've started using Campden tablets to neutralise the chloramines - let's see how this works out!

 

I'll do this Pirate Life PA clone and ferment it with US-05, built up in a starter then cold crashed and pitch just the slurry.

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cheers thanks for the great review. i think i recall you had some US-05 off-flavours as well. I've had two which had phenloic flavours using US-05 - one was drinkable' date=' the other still hasn't faded enough after 6 months!

 

Then my Special Bitter fermented with Mangrove Jack's Liberty Bell yeast exhibited a light-clove like flavour. I've started using Campden tablets to neutralise the chloramines - let's see how this works out!

 

I'll do this Pirate Life PA clone and ferment it with US-05, built up in a starter then cold crashed and pitch just the slurry.[/quote']

 

Ahh, it sounds like we have both been down the same path; I have been using Campden tablets in Robobrew recently and had no phenols since (touch wood). I had previously been doing extracts and assumed that topping off with bottle water would eliminate any chloromides, however I was using straight tap water in the boil which I now know could have caused issues.

 

My last batch was an English IPA split with MJ Burton Union (now know as Liberty Bell) so we will see how that goes.

 

You should be ok with just rehydrating US05, I know Danstar don't recommend starters with dry yeast, not sure about Fermentis.

 

Sorry Scotty, we've got well off topic, let us know how your PLPA brew goes Jools.

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Cracking beer!

 

I recently brewed this and it hasn't hung around long' date=' I would say it is my best beer to date. It is very similar to your recipe, just up a bit on the hops.

 

https://club.coopers.com.au/coopers-forum/topic/15680/[/quote']

 

Hey Nidge

 

I took my recipe off the side of the Pirate Lift tinnie, it didn't have amounts only ingredients. I was after a replica and the PL Pale doesn't appear to have a huge dry hop. This week I am going to get a six pack of the original and do a side by side on Friday Night (yes I am having an AFW), I'll try to the best of my ability to identify the gaps so that I can have another crack . I also did a Throwback Clone, which is good but not really a clone - I'll have to try that one again and again. I have an empty tinnie of their Golden Era Golden Ale sitting on my shelf which I'm also going to have a crack at.

 

One thing I will say about this beer is that I have struggled to brew the same beer more than once, however this one will become a staple - just wish it wasn't 5.4% but as I have learnt the ABV% (starting gravity) is an important component in a beers taste profile.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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Dirtynidge' date=' I am brewing this over the Easter break too! it will be my second AG effort ever (50L pot, gas burner), no chill into cube. Very excited!

 

How did you find the split batch comparing Nottingham to BRY-97? Did Notty diminish the hop influence and strip some away as some others have reported?

 

Jools[/quote']

 

Hey Jools

 

Given this is only your second batch it may be a struggle hitting the numbers, i.e what makes AG recipe sharing interesting is the variable efficiencies in each setup. I don't measure my pre boil OG so can't help you there, however the 1.050 OG is important. No chilling will also lead to a different hop characteristic but I am no expert there. My recipe is certainly bitter (very nice) so you may want to check with some of the no chillers here - Kelsey and Ben, to see what effect no chill has on the end bitterness.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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Cracking beer!

 

I recently brewed this and it hasn't hung around long' date=' I would say it is my best beer to date. It is very similar to your recipe, just up a bit on the hops.

 

https://club.coopers.com.au/coopers-forum/topic/15680/[/quote']

 

Hey Nidge

 

I took my recipe off the side of the Pirate Lift tinnie, it didn't have amounts only ingredients. I was after a replica and the PL Pale doesn't do a dry hop. This week I am going to get a six pack of the original and do a side by side on Friday Night (yes I am having an AFW), I'll try to the best of my ability to identify the gaps so that I can have another crack . I also did a Throwback Clone, which is good but not really a clone - I'll have to try that one again and again. I have an empty tinnie of their Golden Era Golden Ale sitting on my shelf which I'm also going to have a crack at.

 

One thing I will say about this beer is that I have struggled to brew the same beer more than once, however this one will become a staple - just wish it wasn't 5.4% but as I have learnt the ABV% (starting gravity) is an important component in a beers taste profile.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

 

I really, really like the Golden Era Ale, let me know how you go with it.

 

The PLPA clone,l is great, I'm pretty sure it will be my 'house' pale ale. I don't think any of it is going to see a month in the bottle.

 

Since you mention your LCPA attempts (of which I recall there were a few), do you mind sharing your favourite?

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Here you go Nidge

 

4.8% artificially carbed, 20 litres.

 

Little Thief Pale Ale

 

3.00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter

0.50 kg Munich Malt

0.50 kg Wheat Malt

0.25 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt (118.2 EBC)

 

35.00 g East Kent Goldings - Boil 75.0 min

0.50 Items Whirlfloc

30.00 g Cascade - Boil 7.0 min

20.00 g Chinook - Boil 5.0 min

30.00 g Cascade - Boil 3.0 min

20.00 g Chinook - Boil 1.0 min

 

BRY 97

 

My critique on this forum suggested a malt backbone reminiscent of one of the JS hop thieves whereas the hops hit the LCPA mark. Hence the name coined for this beer.

 

Cheers

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Here you go Nidge

 

4.8% artificially carbed' date=' 20 litres.

 

[u']Little Thief Pale Ale[/u]

 

3.00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter

0.50 kg Munich Malt

0.50 kg Wheat Malt

0.25 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt (118.2 EBC)

 

35.00 g East Kent Goldings - Boil 75.0 min

0.50 Items Whirlfloc

30.00 g Cascade - Boil 7.0 min

20.00 g Chinook - Boil 5.0 min

30.00 g Cascade - Boil 3.0 min

20.00 g Chinook - Boil 1.0 min

 

BRY 97

 

My critique on this forum suggested a malt backbone reminiscent of one of the JS hop thieves whereas the hops hit the LCPA mark. Hence the name coined for this beer.

 

Cheers

 

Great, cheers. That will be going on the list for sure.

 

No dry hop?

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Hey Nidge

 

I brewed this one at a point in my Brewing when I was favouring late additions over Dry Hop. Certainly a dry hop of Cascade would be a nice touch, however there seems to be a few Pales that avoid the Dry Hop. A different matter for those IPAs though wink

 

Cheers

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OK just completed the Blind tasting.

Here's a pic before I share my notes.

 

1500775701_57_789.JPG

 

Notes as taken by my daughter during my blind folded tasting session.

 

#3 Buccaneer's Pale Ale = Fruity Aroma, Bitter Garpefruit

#4 Pirate Life Pale Ale = More fruit on the nose, same level of bitterness , grapefruit similar taste to 3.

#1 Buccaneer's Pale Ale = Aroma not as noticeable as last 2 (3 & 4) taste same a 4 bitter grapefruit

#2 Pirate Life Pale Ale = Aroma also not as noticeable, same taste and same bitterness.

 

Going to go again tomorrow, will increase my Mosaic levels late in the boil to go for that extra fruity aroma as tasted in #4, need to maintain the Cascade taste influence and will add a bit more crystal to darken the brew a little.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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......

 

Going to go again tomorrow' date=' will increase my Mosaic levels late in the boil to go for that extra fruity aroma as tasted in #4, need to maintain the Cascade taste influence and will add a bit more crystal to darken the brew a little.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

[i']Valley Brew[/i]

 

No I'm not, my brewing stocks don't allow me to repeat this brew today. Looks like I'll have to wait a bit longer, which means I will run out pinched

 

Cheers

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Cracking beer!

 

I recently brewed this and it hasn't hung around long' date=' I would say it is my best beer to date. It is very similar to your recipe, just up a bit on the hops.

 

https://club.coopers.com.au/coopers-forum/topic/15680/[/quote']

 

Hey nidge

 

I checked out Xenon's brew and I will give it a go at some stage, however IMHO even though the ingredients are the same the brews are quite different given batch size and amount of late hopping. Of course I am only surmising as I haven't tried Xenon's brew, however the brewing software predicts my IBU at 49.4 and Xenon's at 38.6 IBU which in my experience is quite noticeable. The Pirate Life web site states an IBU of 50 and my recipe was intended to clone the original. I don't normally brew beer this bitter but something about this bitter grapefruit drags me in as I wouldn't say I was a massive fan on first taste.

 

Once I nail this clone I will have a crack at the Xenon recipe, as I respect the +ve feedback you and others are giving - and good beer is what we all want to try.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

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