[wamille]

I love Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA.  How do they get the bready taste/aroma that permeates that beer?  I'd really like to be able to clone that beer and share it with folks where I live in South Korea.

[liquidbrewing]

I would just try and email the brewery and see if they'll tell you.  Chances are they won't have a problem with telling you what specialty malt they're using.

[beer_crafter]

Hmm, I never really got a biscuit taste from Sculpin.  I had one last night and just tasted straight up HOPS.

Allegedly, Sculpin is based on the following homebrew recipe:

Grain/Extract/Sugar:
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
80.0 11.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) 1.8L America 1.036 2
7.3 1.00 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt USA 1.033 2
3.6 0.50 lbs. CaraVienne Malt Belgium 1.034 24
9.1 1.25 lbs. Crystal 10L America 1.035 10
Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
1.00 oz. Amarillo Gold Pellet 9.40 45.6 Mash H
0.50 oz. Warrior Pellet 16.30 35.9 60 min.
0.25 oz. Magnum Pellet 14.40 15.9 60 min.
0.25 oz. Hallertau Northern Brewer Pellet 7.10 7.8 60 min.
0.25 oz. Tomahawk, F-10 Variety Pellet 16.40 18.1 60 min.
0.25 oz. Crystal Pellet 3.60 2.0 30 min.
0.25 oz. Centennial Pellet 9.90 5.6 30 min.
0.25 oz. Simcoe Pellet 13.60 7.6 30 min.
1.00 oz. Amarillo Gold Pellet 9.40 0.0 0 min.
1.00 oz. Simcoe Pellet 13.60 0.0 Dry Hop
2.00 oz. Amarillo Gold Pellet 9.40 0.0 Dry Hop

Extras
Amount Name Type Time
1.00 Unit(s) Whirlfloc Tablets Fining 15 Min.(boil)

Yeast
White Labs WLP001 California Ale

[skyler]

Sculpin is, far and away, the least biscuity/bready IPA I know (for my tastebuds)... not sure what you are looking for... oxidation?

[wamille]

I must be drinking a different Sculpin IPA... haha.  It has a wonderful bready/biscuity aroma both times I've tried it - once on tap from a growler I bought at a "gourmet" Piggly Wiggly in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina... and once from a 22-ounce brown bomber in Michigan.  It didn't taste oxidized at all.  It was quite tasty.  But what got me was that aroma and flavor... all I can characterize it as being is bready/biscuity smelling and tasting.  The hops were present, but not overtly in your face like most IPA's I like... Sweetwater IPA, Avery IPA, Green Flash Imperial IPA.  So, whatever that flavor/aroma comes from, I want to replicate it.  I have tried the recipe beer_crafter mentioned.  My version wasn't close.  However, if this is "THE" official clone, I'll try it again and see if I get it... closer this time.  By the way... I notice the recipe calls for Hallertau... but where it lists Hallertau it also lists Northern Brewer.  Does this mean both are being used for 60 minutes at .25 ounces each? 

[majorvices]

If you want biscuit flavor try using biscuit malt or Victory malt. Maris Otter also produces some biscuit like qualities, look for a floor malted variety such as Thomas Fawcett or Crisp.

[blatz]

By the way... I notice the recipe calls for Hallertau... but where it lists Hallertau it also lists Northern Brewer.  Does this mean both are being used for 60 minutes at .25 ounces each? 

I believe they are referring to german grown Northern Brewer hops - as in those grown in the Hallertau region.

Could be wrong, but that is how I am reading it.

[beer_crafter]

I'm stumpted!

[skyler]

I think it actually was oxidation you were tasting. In certain styles, oxidation can come across as a light malty taste that I could see coming across as biscuity. It happened to a batch of Denny's Rye IPA that I brewed once and racked into a defective keg. I didn't know what it was but then I read something Gordon Strong posted about oxidation coming across as sweet or malty and now I pick it up in a lot of homebrew that gets brought to club meetings. I have had sculpin several times, both in the brewery and in pubs in California. I have never had it in a bottle. It is the most aroma-intensive IPA I know of and it's my girlfriend's favorite beer. You may be picking up a nuance that I miss, but I suspect it is mild oxidation.

[malzig]

Also, if that recipe is anywhere near representative, there is a lot of light crystal malt in there, which is going to add something noticeable to the malt flavor.

[repo]

Had a Sculpin last night, it was malty and possibly bready/biscuity. Can't quite put my finger on it, sure didn't want to finish it. It was not at all close to what Sculpin is meant to taste like. It was definitely way past it's shelf life, and even though it was free I felt a huge letdown. Wish they'd put dates on their bottles not that it would have saved my friend from tyring to do something nice. It's the thought that counts.

[beer_crafter]

The more I drink those really big aroma/flavor IPAs (Sculpin, Flower Power, Capt Lawrence, Widmer Nelson) the more I realize exactly how short the shelf life is.  I bought a few 6 packs that drank very well in December and now a month later the hops are gone. 

[skyler]

The more I drink those really big aroma/flavor IPAs (Sculpin, Flower Power, Capt Lawrence, Widmer Nelson) the more I realize exactly how short the shelf life is. 

especially bottle-conditioned ones.

[brewmichigan]

... and once from a 22-ounce brown bomber in Michigan. 

Where did you get this? I've never seen Sculpin in Michigan.

[Chas]

I realize this is a very old thread, but interestingly enough, this is the taste I've gotten every time I've had a sculpin. It is the most unique flavor I've had except for a Union Jack I had from a friend who brought it back from California. I've tried to clone it both and get neither of that flavor. I've tried to aim for that flavor because i really like it. I can't help but wonder  if it's like it has been suggested, a result of oxidation, temp flux from transport and age. That stinks because it's sounds like that's not replicable. Does anyone else know what I'm referring to?