The second of our new Work In Progress series focuses on a much-loved and iconic beer style – the IPA.
Indian Pale Ale, aka ‘IPA’, is a hoppy beer style that was invented over two hundred years ago when it was developed as a way to export beer to India (hence its name). After a fallow period, IPAs were revived by US craft brewers in the 1970s and the latter-day incarnation of this style is now a staple of bars, pubs and craft beer shops the world over. Arguably the IPA has defined craft brewing for the last 20 years; mainly due to its ability to incorporate various flavour combinations. Most of today’s India Pale Ales take their inspiration from those more contemporary American IPAs and derive their flavour from distinct American hops such as Cascade, Chinook, Simcoe.
We wanted to pay homage to the historic beer style by doing our take of three of its most popular variants. Below Mike Richards, our head brewer, talks us through his latest creations…
West Coast Double IPA (8%)
“A double IPA is even stronger than standard IPAs, and this one weighs in at 8%. This means the mash tun was absolutely chock full of malt, and additional sugars were added to the copper to boost the strength even further. The malt grist was kept pretty clean and straightforward using mostly our usual Maris Otter Pale Ale malt with a small amount of wheat and dextrin malt to boost body a little. Generously hopped both at bittering stage and after the boil to make a punchy, bitter beer with powerful hop flavours. We used classic US hops Cascade and Chinook to make a bit of an old school US IPA but with a DIPA twist. We used US-05 yeast to produce slightly fruity flavours and because it copes well with high strength fermentations.”
New England IPA (6%)
“Our New England IPA is all about a sweeter, softer take on the IPA. The malt grist is much more complicated with large amounts of wheat and oats to make a hazy beer with a softer mouthfeel, as well as dextrin malt, maltodextrin and Cara 10 malt all of which add body to the beer. Hopped with Galaxy, Simcoe and Amarillo from a citrus, fruity flavour with a piney, resinous dimension. We fermented with S-04 yeast, our usual yeast strain for good clean flavours.”
Black IPA (5%)
“The challenge with a Black IPA is to make a darker beer but one that is still hop led and not too heavy on the roasted malt flavours. To this end we’ve used Midnight Wheat and Carafa 3 malts in the grist, both of which are well roasted but de-husked to reduce the bitterness coming from them. Hopped generously with Galaxy and Columbus hops for a citrus fruit kick. We again fermented with S-04 for a nice clean finish.”
The beers were brewed on our 100L pilot kit in the brewery and so only a limited number are available. If you’d like to try WIP’s IPA series, you can buy online or call in the taproom shop.
The second of our new Work In Progress series focuses on a much-loved and iconic beer style – the IPA.
Indian Pale Ale, aka ‘IPA’, is a hoppy beer style that was invented over two hundred years ago when it was developed as a way to export beer to India (hence its name). After a fallow period, IPAs were revived by US craft brewers in the 1970s and the latter-day incarnation of this style is now a staple of bars, pubs and craft beer shops the world over. Arguably the IPA has defined craft brewing for the last 20 years; mainly due to its ability to incorporate various flavour combinations. Most of today’s India Pale Ales take their inspiration from those more contemporary American IPAs and derive their flavour from distinct American hops such as Cascade, Chinook, Simcoe.
We wanted to pay homage to the historic beer style by doing our take of three of its most popular variants. Below Mike Richards, our head brewer, talks us through his latest creations…
West Coast Double IPA (8%)
“A double IPA is even stronger than standard IPAs, and this one weighs in at 8%. This means the mash tun was absolutely chock full of malt, and additional sugars were added to the copper to boost the strength even further. The malt grist was kept pretty clean and straightforward using mostly our usual Maris Otter Pale Ale malt with a small amount of wheat and dextrin malt to boost body a little. Generously hopped both at bittering stage and after the boil to make a punchy, bitter beer with powerful hop flavours. We used classic US hops Cascade and Chinook to make a bit of an old school US IPA but with a DIPA twist. We used US-05 yeast to produce slightly fruity flavours and because it copes well with high strength fermentations.”
New England IPA (6%)
“Our New England IPA is all about a sweeter, softer take on the IPA. The malt grist is much more complicated with large amounts of wheat and oats to make a hazy beer with a softer mouthfeel, as well as dextrin malt, maltodextrin and Cara 10 malt all of which add body to the beer. Hopped with Galaxy, Simcoe and Amarillo from a citrus, fruity flavour with a piney, resinous dimension. We fermented with S-04 yeast, our usual yeast strain for good clean flavours.”
Black IPA (5%)
“The challenge with a Black IPA is to make a darker beer but one that is still hop led and not too heavy on the roasted malt flavours. To this end we’ve used Midnight Wheat and Carafa 3 malts in the grist, both of which are well roasted but de-husked to reduce the bitterness coming from them. Hopped generously with Galaxy and Columbus hops for a citrus fruit kick. We again fermented with S-04 for a nice clean finish.”
The beers were brewed on our 100L pilot kit in the brewery and so only a limited number are available. If you’d like to try WIP’s IPA series, you can buy online or call in the taproom shop.
