Dogfish Head's American Beauty - clone thread

[Bauerbrews]

Hey all, I'm creating this thread as an attempt to narrow in on a recipe to clone Dogfish Head's American Beauty, an Imperial Pale Ale brewed with granola.

I hope this thread is going to serve as an open forum for us to discuss the attributes of the beer itself, and offer input on how we can recreate it.

I found it to be a deliciously sessionable beer, even at 9% ABV, and I would love to be able to bring my own keg of it to the lot of a show.

Let your lovelight shine my brew friends, let's recreate this tribute beer.

So, here were my tasting notes:

Appearance - Great head formation and retention, copper/orange hue, decent clarity but an ever-so-slight haze, mild carbonation
Aroma - clean fruity esters, bready malt, spicy hops, orange blossom honey aromatics, and a light nuttiness, just the tiniest hint of alcohol.
Taste - mild bitterness, honey sweetness upfront that fades with the finish, floral/spicy hop forward which fades into bready/nutty malt. A touch of warmth but very sessionable for a 9% ABV. Medium-light creamy body.

and here are those of BeerAdvocate: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10099/101085/

Here's Sam of Dogfish Head talking about it, he offers some insight and tips:


So here's the basic run-down we can start with:

Imperial Pale Ale
9% ABV
55 IBU

US Pale Ale malt
Grizzly’s Granola – Orange Blossom Honey/Almond granola
HBC 366 experimental hops


This is what I found for HBC 366 -

AA Range: 11.5 - 13.5%
Beta: 3.2 - 3.9%
Cohumulone: 24 - 26%
Total Oil: 2.3 - 4.3 ml/100g
Characteristics: Sensory analysis of HBC 366 shows marked peaks of citrus, tropical fruit and pine with nearly zero negative attributes. A daughter of YCR 5 (Warrior).

And I'll leave you with this, in good faith.

 

[BrewingBrian]

I see you never got much interest in this thread, but I am absolutely determined to clone the American Beauty from Dogfish Head. It's certainly a top 3 beer for me. Love it. I also just ordered a Pico Pro brewing kit, so would be interested in re-creating it with a Picopak, or adding something to an existing Picopak. I'm thinking about the "Brew Your Own Double IPA" picopak as a base, and then adding the granola or honey at some point. Of course, I have no idea if the hops will be anything like the HBC 366. Has anyone got any further with this attempt at a clone? Thanks!