TimCA wrote:is Jamil's ________ any thing like _________?
I'd love for Jamil to chime in on this as well (as I don't want to put words into anybody's mouth), but here's my take on it.
I don't think anything in the Brewing Classic Styles book is a clone of any beer. Its one of the things that makes this recipe book so unique.
Every recipe is designed to be an accurate representation of the BJCP Style (and if Jamil feels its a little to big, or too hoppy, etc. he mentions that and the the reason for deviating from the guidelines) not a single beer.
So while Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is a standard example of American Pale Ale Jamil's recipe is not a clone of that particular beer individually, but representative of the broader description of American Pale Ale style.
I think you'll also find may commercial brewers (like Alan Pugsley did on the Shipyard show) say they brew beers to sell not win competitions. So if you want to clone a particular commercial beer then looking for a competition winner may or may not be the best source to start with. For the longest time I could never figure out why one of my favorite beers Odell's 90 Shilling didn't win more awards. It's a great beer, but in a flight of 40+ it probably won't have any stand out flavors to really separate it from everything else.
The good new is if you love American Pale Ales then you should love the recipe in the book. If you want to brew a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale the book should get you close and you can tweak it into a clone.
Anybody else got a better way of articulating it?