I have a few thought on the failed attempt to clone this beer.
SN Celebration was released in Sweden on Feb 1, and I bought and tried one this Friday. The first thing I noticed, was how it was much paler than I remembered. But I thought to myself that it was my memory that was wrong.
Same thing with the taste - a bit less caramelly and roasty than I expected, but the same sour Grapefruit taste from the hops that I remembered.
Then I listened to the Sunday Session with Steve Dressler and made a clone recipe. When that was done, I opened iTunes and saw that the latest CYBI episode was a clone of Celebration!
Now, how surprised I was to hear the studio declare it NOT CLONED! And they actually said the clone was much darker than the original
Well, maybe the reason is that the 2010 version of Celebration actually IS paler in colour than usual? So I listened to the podcast again and Steve say they use a C60 caramel, British if they can. And he does not say it's 60 Lov. So Jamil is probably right that they use a 60 EBC Crystal.
So, I'm thinking: either they changed supplier, or they got a batch of crystal that was paler than normal.
It's not surprising though to think they used a 60 Lov crystal. I you look at different british maltsters, their Crystal is between 120-150 EBC or 60-70 Lov. Their 60 EBC crystal is often called Pale Crystal and sometimes Caramalt.
Now, in the interview, Tasty asks how they get that red colour. Well if you look at Cargills (Dingemann, Muessdorfer, Pauls, Warminster, Gambrinus) page on crystal malts, they go into this, explaining that British crystal is usually kilned instead of roasted. And while the colour is the same, the hue is very different. The kilned malts have a much redder hue than roasted crystal. And the flavour is much smoother, more toasted and less roasted.
Finally, about the hops. This year they have changed labels to state they use Fresh Hops. Bill Manley, Brewing Communications Coordinator, says to thefullpint.com that they note the difference between Wet hops, used within 24 hours of picking and Fresh hops, picked, dried and used in brewing within 1 week. He says 'The hops in Celebration, specifically with the first batches, can be very different than the hops used in later brews. We do our best to blend batches into a consistent flavor but as with any craft product there are definitely variation from batch to batch and from year to year.'
So unless you can get hold of fresh whole leaf hops, it's going to be very difficult to get the clone right.
