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.