Attack of the Panda Clone

Previously I talk about a trip I told to San Francisco and some of the beers I got to sample there. The trip left me with a little problem, many of the beers I like I cannot get at home. I really wanted to have Thirsty Bears Panda Ale again. The answer is easy enough; BREW IT MYSELF. Time to brew a clone beer.

Personally, I have never really been a big fan of brewing clone beers. I have brewed a few before. The beer tasted good, but to me there is almost something missing. The recipe is close, but no cigar. The brewers make the original beer every week. They could probably brew a batch blindfolded.

I did not know much about the base beer used for the Panda Ale. My tour guide (not an employee at Thirsty Bear) said the beer is the Polar Bear Pilsner dry hopped with cacao nibs and vanilla beans. With information about the beer I decided instead of brewing a pilsner I decide to brew amber ale (I currently do not have an amber ale recipe the a brew regularly, so this would be a good time to kill two bird with one stone). I took a SMASH approach in the amber recipe, I really wanted the finish flavors to stand out. 

Ingredient List 5-Gallon Batch

10 lbs. 2-Row Malt

2 lbs. Crystal 40

¼ lb. Acidulated Malt

¼ lb. Rice Hulls
¼ lb. Corn Sugar

.20 oz. Falconer’s Flight 11.4% AA (FWH)

.20 oz. Falconer’s Flight 11.4% AA (60 Minutes)

.20 oz. Falconer’s Flight 11.4% AA (40 Minutes)

.20 oz. Falconer’s Flight 11.4% AA (20 Minutes)

.20 oz. Falconer’s Flight 11.4% AA (0 Minutes)

White Labs San Diego Super Yeast

6 oz. Cacao Nibs

8 Vanilla Beans, Split and Scraped. 

 

The base beer turned out great. I am super please with the color and the taste. This was the first time I have use San Diego Super Yeast. This yeast is amazing. I brewed on a Saturday and by Wednesday I was ready to transfer to secondary. Also I went from OG 1.070 to FG 1.010. Like I said, AMAZING.  I let the beer sit in secondary on the cacao nibs and vanilla beans for 3 ½ weeks. I tasted the beer while bottling I was blown away. IT TASTE LIKE BROWNIES.  I am really looking forward to drinking the beer once carbonated and it has a little more time to condition. This is definitely a beer I am going to make again.  

Weekend in SF

I had two big beer events during my weekend in San Francisco. Lucky for me all of the wedding events was at night so that left a lot of free time during the day. I have not been in San Fran for several years and I knew I wanted to experience the craft beer scene. After a quick search I located Bay Area Brewery Tours; when it comes to drinking getting around and unknown city, simplicity is best. Bay Area Brewery Tour was great and well prices for the amenities.  The tour included 3 breweries, lunch, and all of the beer. I could purchase more beer from each brewery if I felt so inclined. I knew very little about San Fran Breweries prior to the tour so I was excited and thirsty for what I was going to be drinking.

The first stop on the tour was Thirsty Bear.  The beer and food was amazing! This was the first certified organic brewpub.  Taking the time to find organic ingredients really show they care about what they are serving. We sampled 5 beers, but my favorite had to be the Panda Bear Ale.

Our tour guide described the beer as the Polar Bear Pils (another great beer) that has been dry hopped with vanilla beans and cocoa nibs. The taste reminded me of a brownie. It was very deceiving, looks like an amber, but tastes like a chocolate porter. 

The second stop on the tour was Southern Pacific Brewery. This was my favor stop on the tour. If I could stand living in the bay area, Southern Pacific would be one of my regular spots.  The brewery has a great neighborhood feel. Lucky for me we got to sample 8 of their beers.

My favorite was their California Blonde. I preferred this to the IPA and Pale Ale. The favor reminded me a lot of IPAs and Pales but I felt this was more balanced and has a better hop characteristic then the others.

Last on the tour was Speakeasy.  Even thought I can get Speakeasy locally, this was the first time I ever tired their beer. I was not disappointed. The taproom was very cool it was set up like an old speakeasy with photos of gangsters on the wall. Although, I must say I would have had a much better experience if the tasting was held in the brew house instead.

My favorite beer at Speakeasy was the Tallulah XPA. The beer had a great citrus hop favor. Now that I have had some of their beers I look forward to trying the rest.

The on Saturday before the wedding I was able to visit one more brewery. My aunt and uncle, big beer lovers, told me I needed to visit 21 Amendment Brewing before heading home. This is the place to be for a Giants game; just a stone throw from AT&T Park. What a great brewpub. The food was amazing. I high recommended the el Cubano Sandwich. I washed the sandwich down with a tasting of 5 beers. I really enjoyed the Brew Free! Or Die IPA. It is a very well balanced beer. If I did not have other plans already, I could have sat here all day and enjoy it.

The other big event for the weekend was my cousin’s wedding. About 6 weeks ago I get an email from my cousin asking me if I could brew a beer for her weeding, Of course I said yes, I love having he opportunity to help family and have people sample my beer. She gave me free rein over what was brewed so I made her beer that I have been working on over the past several months. The beers I made for the wedding were my Oat IPA, Hop N Oates Maneater IPA and my root beer porter, Doc Barleys sarsaparilla porter.

I was really worried about how both beers would turn out. I felt during the whole brewing process problems just kept coming. At bottling I tried something new for my IPA. I added 1 ounce of Simcoe Hops to the bottling bucket, in and effort to simulate a randalizer. With the root beer porter people did not know what to say, they were shocked at how good it was.  The aroma was spot on big root beer flavor in the nose, but on the palate the root beer was subtler and the flavor of vanilla and mint came through more. The root beer porter would have been that much better if there were some vanilla ice cream to add.  

I had a great weekend in San Francisco. I am looking forward to going back soon for more advantage in craft beers.

Drop off Day

Today I dropped of my home brew entries for the San Diego County Fair. This is the second time have I enter this competition. Last years was my first entry. I think with last year beers came in nearly dead last.  But with this years entries i feel much more confident.

I entered 4 four that have i brewed over the past few months. the first was an IPA. I brewed it back in January. (first batch of the year). I was a partial mash. With the big key ingredient being Chinook Hops. I have never used them before but wanted to give them a try. last night i was looking at the bottles and notice a lot of particles floating around in it. Made me a little nervous so i decided to drink of them last night (I never like to take a untasted be out into the world). Taste was great! Good bittering, well balance, my only criticism is that hop finish. I think is was lacking aroma.

Second beer I entered was and English Bitter. Everything on this beer is English except for the water I used (kinda hard to find English tap water in San Diego). 

The last two beers I am most proud of. When I have the brewing up and running I want to have a seasonal rotation of Belgian Strong Ale brewed with fruit. I made a fruit beer with peaches a few years ago and it turned out great so I thought i would do it again. This time I made it with raspberries. Pretty damn good tasting too. Originally, I wanted to make a Raspberry Balsamic beer, but the fear of the vinegar being too overpowering won, so i was just raspberries. Next time i make it I will be adding a lot more raspberries.


The last beer I entered was a spiced beer. I call it Doc Barley's Sarsaparilla Porter. Simply put it is a porter that taste like root beer, but not all of the sweetness like the soda. I got the idea from my friend, who also just starting brewing. Took the idea and just when with it. the first batch turned out amazing. everyone is really impressed how much it taste like root beer.

After dropping off the entries at the fairground I went over to Solana Beach to check out a new brewery. Culture Brewing Company. Place is pretty bomb. They have the same brewing system I am looking into getting when I open my brewery. I tried their Amber Ale, Hefe, American Brown, IPA, and Double IPA. The best beer for me was the IPA, thing has like 20 different hops in it, tasted great. Prices were reasonable I got 5 tasters for about $8.  Staff was really cool too. Funny thing about being there about a year ago was at a concert at Belly Up and thought to myself this would be a great location for a brewery.