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Little Creatures Pale Ale Clone?


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Ay up, lad!

 

Been lurking here for awhile, learnt some stuff, just put down the Authentic IPA for second time, because I liked it so much. Don't know how you are with thread necromancy, therefore a new one.

 

When visiting Tazzie in 2013 I tried the Little Creatures Pale Ale and it was wonderful.

 

My brew skills are pretty much mix a few Coopers tins with some sugar and/or spray malt. Maybe live on the edge and do a spot of dry hopping. Don't have the time, money or even the lust to go more advance. I like to Keep It Simple, Stupid. This where Copper Kids and other kits suits me to a T.

 

Do you have a clone that I could mix up and get pretty close to the Little Creatures?

 

Thanks in advance

 

/568ml

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Hey mate,

 

I've had a quick look around at recipes and to try and keep things simple this is what I would use as a base:

 

1.7kg Coopers Traditional Draught

1kg Light Dry Malt

500g Dextrose

US-05 yeast

23lt brew

 

That should give you roughly 5.2% once bottled (the same as the original).

 

That just leaves the hops. You said you tried it in 2013 and I believe they have changed the hop schedule since then (or around the same time? who knows).

 

Where do you live / where do you buy your home brew gear from? I'm reading that the "Original" LCPA featured Chinook & Cascade hops. If you can tell me where you would buy hops from I might be able to work something out to keep the costs down :)

 

Cheers + beers,

Mark

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I unintentionally brewed a beer about a year and a half ago that tasted rather similar to LCPA. I believe I used Cascade and Chinook hops in it, and just finding the recipe now, it appears that I did.

 

This was an all grain recipe, however the hops could be used the same way in a kit version.

 

20.00 g Cascade [5.60 %] - First Wort 75.0 min Hop 5 12.5 IBUs

15.00 g Magnum [12.20 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 17.7 IBUs

10.00 g Cascade [5.60 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 2.7 IBUs

15.00 g Chinook [13.00 %] - Boil 8.0 min

 

If you take out the first two additions of Cascade and Magnum, and just use the later additions of Cascade and Chinook, it will probably get you in the ball park. Maybe increase that 10g to 15 or 20g.

 

Using Mark's kit/malt base plus those two late hop additions should get you pretty close. You will have to branch out and do a small hop boil though. wink

 

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+1 to both Mark's & Kelsey's suggestions.

 

I agree that Cascade & Chinook are a must in your hop mix if you wish to recreate something close to this beer. There is another hop (maybe even two) in the commercial mix, but I can't be sure what that is/they are. Amarillo & Cluster do spring to mind, but that is purely speculative on my part.

 

If wishing to produce a beer like this from a kit base, I also agree with Mark's recommendation of using the Thomas Coopers Traditional Draught kit as a base. It has a Cascade hopped element to it as part of it's makeup, so can only be beneficial here.

 

The only thing I feel that has not already been mentioned is the malt bill. The current commercial LCPA has a good influence of specialty malts that create a darker hue in the beer & contribute to its malt character.

 

The important numbers quoted on the Little Creatures website are "40 IBU, 20 EBC, 5.2% ABV". LCPA Linky.

If you want that level of specialty malt influence to reach that EBC @ this ABV% you need to either do a grain steep or use a Liquid Amber Malt extract in conjunction with the kit.

 

For what it's worth, if I was to do a kit based brew of this beer with no grain additions, this is what I would probably brew...

 

Thomas Coopers Traditional Draught 1.7kg

Coopers Liquid Amber Malt Extract 1.5kg

Light Dry Malt Extract 200gms

Dextrose 150gms

Cascade 15gms @ 10mins

Cluster 15gms @ 5mins

Chinook 10gms @ 3mins

Chinook & Cascade 15-20gms each dry hopped.

US-05 yeast

Brewed to 23 litres

Ferment @ 18-20°C

EBC = 19.7

IBU = 39.9

OG = approx. 1.048

FG = approx. 1.012

Bottled ABV = approx. 5.2%

 

Cheers & good luck with whatever you decide to put down Mr. 568ml. wink

 

Lusty.

 

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I made a batch a few weeks ago that is similar to LCPA. I liked it that much that I made another batch.

It is

 

Coopers Australian Pale Ale

1Kg Amber liquid Malt

10gm Cascade hops

Bring this to the boil and the simmer for an hour

 

At flame out I added 10gms of Amarillo and Galaxy

 

Add water to make OG 1048.

Ferment with SO4 yeast.

 

It is not the same but it tastes good.

Ronald

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Thanks all.

 

It will be some time before I get to do it, only got one FV. So killing waiting time, boy there is a lot of that when brewing, with researching brews ahead. Got the Authentic IPA going then it Marilyn Secret turn and one more, I forgot the name, before I can tame the creatures.

 

Base in the North West of England, with the beautiful Yorkshire Dale outside my windows. Got at last count 20 breweries in a 25 mile radius. The local cheap shop sells the basic home brewing stuff, but has a massive turn around on it, so there must be other home brewers here.

 

Got over the hill a very good LHBS and spoils for choice when it comes to online retailers.

 

/568ml

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That waiting time doesn't seem so bad once you build up a stockpile of beer though. wink

 

I'm probably past the point of planning out a heap of brews all at once now though too so I pretty much just brew whatever I feel like when it gets close to doing a brew day (which is literally a whole day). Mostly lagers, pale ales and red ales. I do a couple of batches of porter each year as well.

 

If there's always something on hand to drink while the new ones ferment, carbonate etc, it makes it easier to leave them alone to do as such.

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Base in the North West of England' date=' with the beautiful Yorkshire Dale outside my windows. Got at last count 20 breweries in a 25 mile radius. The local cheap shop sells the basic home brewing stuff, but has a massive turn around on it, so there must be other home brewers here. [/quote']

Anywhere near Keighley and the Timothy Taylor brewery?

 

The Landlord is one of my favourite beers.

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My stock went low last year because I was scared of brewing it too cold. I do now brew a few degrees low, but the draught could handle the temp around 12-13c. The IPA was nice and warm, 20c, the first few days now running at 15c, I hope it is OK.

 

Sadly no space or money left for a simple heating system, maybe for next winter.

 

Just up the road from Tim, in Skipton, where my favourite brewery is - The Copper Dragon. I enjoy all their brews, I can't say the same about others. There is always one or two brews, that is not on par. They have tours and a brilliant restaurant on site, full plates with ever so yummy food.

 

/568ml

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You should brew some lagers around that time period when the temperature is at that range, it's a good temperature for fermenting lagers. Unless of course, you don't like drinking lagers. lol

 

It's a shame you're out of space (and money) though, a fridge would probably make brewing life a lot easier. You can hook up an STC-1000, which can both heat and cool, and a heat source that sits inside the fridge, and the STC will maintain whatever temp you plug into it. This allows you to brew whatever you want, whenever you want.

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The closest I get to lager is a draught, else I'm and ale/IPA/bitter drinker.

 

Yeah I have been dreaming about the STC-1000 and BrewPie, I am a bit of a nerd too. Even getting a bigger pot to put the FV in and heat it with a fish tank heater, on the cheap. I had some digital thermometers laying about and put one into the FV, too additive keep going over to check the temp. See with a BrewPie I could keep an eye on the brew while away from home.

 

Sadly out of a job, medical reasons, but when that is dealt with, I will get some more toys :)

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I suppose you could ferment those styles with a lager yeast, but I don't know how it would taste compared to ale yeast.

 

What is a BrewPie?

 

The best thing about a fridge with an STC is that you don't even need to keep an eye on it. Simply set your temp and forget it for a week or so. I have one advantage living in a hot climate in that I don't need to use a heat source inside the fridge, even in "winter".

 

Anyway, hope you get back on your feet properly soon mate. smile

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G'day Otto, I hear you loud and clear and I'm running a couple of STC-1000, I'm happy as a pig in mud, but if your into these things you can run your brew from start to finish. smile

 

Just think a lager from start to finish all temperature changes from pitching, diacetyl rest, slow rise and slow fall to cold crash and lager. Program it individually for each beer style you may brew and Robert's your mothers brother. happy

 

Home brewing as simple as you like or as complicated as you can make it, something for everyone. wink

 

 

Cheers.

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Oh yeah, it's definitely the ultimate in set and forget temp control haha. But yeah I'm happy enough with the STC and the brew fluctuating a massive 0.3C during fermentation. I think I actually prefer having to adjust temps myself, because it encourages checking for FG before dropping it down for cold crashing. If it was automated and I checked it and it wasn't finished I'd still have to faff about with the controller anyway so it didn't drop the temp.

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I managed to do a fair impression of a LCPA with a pretty simple recipe.

I just used the Coopers Australian Pale Ale, some BE2 (or equivalent from the LHBS), along with some Cascade or Citra hops, one bag steeped, the other dry hopped on day 3.

You could try this recipe:

https://daveshomebrew.com.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=34&Itemid=42

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  • 6 years later...

there might be more recent threads but I found this after google search I don't like search on this site hard use from phone. 

So amber malt extract in this clone very interesting might give this a go after x mas aussie brew makers have good extract recepie.

Edited by jamiek86
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1 hour ago, jamiek86 said:

there might be more recent threads but I found this after google search I don't like search on this site hard use from phone. 

So amber malt extract in this clone very interesting might give this a go after x mas aussie brew makers have good extract recepie.

I wouldn't use 1kg amber liquid malt in an LCPA clone. It is too much and the amber malt is quite sweet.

I would run with Munich (if you want to mash it) or perhaps stick to ale malt, add some wheat malt and caramalt (or other light crystal).

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@Hairy every time i have used light crystal myself if ends up too sweet even with longer hop boils. Yes i originally thought it had wheat malt in it then found all these other recipes claiming amber. I suppose at the end of the day its the hops mainly that matter as long as its something similar with the flavor coming through at the end. There were even different yeasts used in all these other attempts ill just keep making something similar and who knows how close I will get. 

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On 12/23/2021 at 6:27 AM, jamiek86 said:

@Hairy every time i have used light crystal myself if ends up too sweet even with longer hop boils. Yes i originally thought it had wheat malt in it then found all these other recipes claiming amber. I suppose at the end of the day its the hops mainly that matter as long as its something similar with the flavor coming through at the end. There were even different yeasts used in all these other attempts ill just keep making something similar and who knows how close I will get. 

Liquid Amber malt usually contains a fair chunk of crystal malt so if you didn’t like light crystal then you should go easy on the Amber.

You should definitely give Munich a go.

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