Macs Copperhop

[Geoff P]

Some years ago Macs (under the Lion regime) produced an IPA named Macs Copperhop.  It had a nice coppery/red colour with a great hop flavour.  I'd like to replicate this beer at home and would appreciate any hints as to what the recipe may have consisted of?

[Nicholas Jones]

Likewise, this was a sound beer. I suspect it was the foundation for Sassy Red?

[Geoff P]

I believe it was as the Copperhop was made in Nelson prior to Sassy Red in Wellington but unfortunately the better of the 2 was deleted from the range.  It had a more rounded flavour, hence my endeavour to replicate it.

[Geoff P]

Yes, you are correct about Tracey being the brewer and she is now the owner and brewer of Tasman Brewing which runs the Sprig & Fern bars.  Unfortunately, she won't supply any hints as to the Copperhop ingredients.     

[jt]

The recipe is probably the property of Lion, so I guess you can't go giving that sort of stuff away.
But on the otherhand, isn't there some similarity with Sassy Red? There's a few discussions here and there about Sassy Red, that could be a starting point?

[bart]

I agree, Copperhop was a really good beer, it was probably the first true 'craft' beer that I ever tasted, with a real proper hop kick and beautiful yet delicate and refreshing malt character. I imagine the only reason they got rid of it was that the ingredients were probably too expensive. And no, it tasted nothing like Sassy Red. I have no idea what the recipe was, but I can still remember the taste, as this was my go-to beer when working on the apple orchards around Nelson during my late teens summer holidays. If I were to attempt a clone of it today, based on my memory of it, I would probably go something like this: 

20L Batch

4kg Pale Malt

1kg Munich Malt

300g Light Crystal

200g Biscuit

66 degree mash for 60 mins

15g Pacific Jade (60 mins)

30g Riwaka

10g Pacific Jade (10 mins)

30g Riwaka 

20g Green Bullet

10g Pacific Jade(1 min)

US05 Yeast

I think this would be at least in the right ball park, although its pretty hard trying to remember specific flavours and aromas that I last experienced probably about 10-12 years ago! 

[Geoff P]

Thanks very much for your suggestion bart.  I wasn't mash brewing when Copperhop was around so am somewhat inexperienced when it comes to matching recipes with flavours.  And yes, Sassy Red is quite a different beer. 

[bart]

I might give this recipe a whirl myself just out of curiosity. Not sure if a dry hop addition would be required but if I did do a dry hop I'd probably go for about 5g each of Riwaka, Green Bullet and Pacific Jade. I racked my brain trying to figure out the potential hop profile of this beer based on memory, might require some tweaking though!