I am excited that this year’s Big Brew recipe is my own beloved Nearly Nirvana Pale Ale (NNPA). This is a recipe that I have brewed over 90 times and one that has personally taught me a great deal about brewing. You can find the recipe and the backstory in the new March/April Zymurgy.
The key point I tried to impart is summed up thusly: Oscar Wilde once said that “Consistency is the hallmark of the unimaginative”. I counter this philosophy and believe that to master brewing, one must start with a thorough understanding of one’s processes, systems, ingredients and one’s own limitations to achieve the desired outcomes.
I advocate for homebrewers to try a specific recipe that they love, be it a clone of a commercial craft beer or their favorite unique recipe. Brew it several times until you get to the point where brewing it becomes almost muscle memory. And once you have locked it in, try changing just one variable at a time to see, taste and smell the impact of that one change.
I want to stress that this year’s NNPA is not the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale (SNPA) Clone that was the 2000 Big Brew recipe. Back then was trying to get as close as possible to SNPA. But over time I modified it to suit my tastes which lean more toward more bitterness, a bit higher malt flavor and a touch higher alcohol.
If you want to get closer to a SNPA clone, then take one of the two ounces from the bittering Cascades and save it for either whirlpool or dry hopping and drop the mash temp to 153o – 155o.
You can listen to Ken Grossman and I discuss his SNPA recipe, discuss a few homebrewing insights and also also this year’s Big Brew recipe during the April Zymurgy Live on April 25th (
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/zymurgy-live/how-homebrewing-lead-to-sierra-nevada-pale-ale/).
As a member of the AHA GC Events & Education sub-committee, we are proud to re-invigorate this feature with great discussions which lead to lively chats with members and an opportunity to ask questions of our speakers while live. I encourage members to sign up for these events as they help nourish and expand our thoughts about the art & science of homebrewing. Wait, isn’t that the very definition of Zymurgy?