I just love the “traditional” northwestern IPAs, as mentioned numerous times before on this blog. So many breweries focus on the tropical fruit profiles, which I also love, but sometimes I just want pine and citrus and dank flavors in my IPA.

This latest batch doesn’t follow any particular recipes; I’m just aiming for a bit of interesting base malt character with a touch of crystal malt. So, I leaned on the two-row for about three-quarters of the grist, along with a bit of Golden Promise for interest, some crystal 40, and a bit of biscuit. The latter two used up my supplies, so it was good housecleaning.

The hopping was traditional with a twist. A recent HOPBOX had some of their hop extract, enough to add about 47 IBU. According to their website, it’s mostly CTZ-type hops with some other semi-random aroma varieties. That sounded like a perfect bittering base for my beer, and I have also wanted to try out some of these hop extracts for awhile. I elected to put the rest of my hops all in the whirlpool and dry hop additions. In this case, Amarillo, Centennial, and Cascade were perfect choices.

This batch was brewed while my Foundry was down for repairs, so I used the “traditional” batch sparge technique. I’m glad to say I still have the skills here, and hit my numbers really closely.

Spring Classic IPA

• 10 lb. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
• 3 lb. Golden Promise Finest Pale Ale malt (Simpsons)
• 9 oz. 40L caramel malt (Briess)
• 4 oz. biscuit malt (BlackSwaen)
• 10 mL Yakima Valley Hops CO2 hop extract (48.91% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
• 1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (7.8% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
• 1 oz. Cascade hop pellets (8.7% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
• 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (12.5% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
• 2 pkg. American West Coast Ale dry yeast (Lallemand BRY-97)
• 1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (7.8% alpha), dry hop in keg
• 1 oz. Cascade hop pellets (8.7% alpha), dry hop in keg
• 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (12.5% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

• 1.059 o.g., 1.010 f.g., 6.5% abv, 69 IBU, 7 SRM
• Infusion mash to hit target of 148°, 60 minutes, batch sparge
• Claremont tap water with gypsum added to to achieve 79 ppm Ca, 6 ppm Mg, 91 ppm Na, 172 ppm SO4, 85 ppm Cl, 144 ppm HCO3, 118 ppm alkalinity, 58 ppm RA

Procedure

• I heated 4.6 gallons of water (with Campden tablet) to 159°, and mashed in with my grains to hit 149°. I added 6 mL of 88% lactic acid to adjust the pH. I mashed for 60 minutes before adding 0.75 gallons of 185° water. I let it rest, vorlaufed, and then collected the first runnings. Next I added 3.75 gallons of water at 185°, let it rest at around 170° for 10 minutes, and then collected the second runnings.
• In total, I collected 7.6 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.050, for 75% mash efficiency.
• While the kettle was coming up to a boil, I soaked the hop extract in hot tap water, in order to make it easier to add. That certainly did the trick!
• I added 6 g of gypsum to the boil, to hit my water target.
• Once the kettle was boiling, I added the hop extract and then added other items per the recipe.
• After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the flame, added the whirlpool hops, and let it rest (with occasional stirring) for 15 minutes before chilling.
• I transferred the wort to my fermenter and chilled it down to 66° before pitching the yeast.
• I brewed this beer on 15 April 2022, and fermented it at 66°. Starting gravity was 1.059, right on target.
• I moved the beer to ambient on 24 April 2022, and kegged it on 4 May 2022. I added the drop hops at this point, with a mesh bag inside the keg.
• The final gravity was 1.011, for 6.4% abv. I’m very pleased on how closely I hit my numbers overall!

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Pours as a golden, somewhat hazy beer, with a creamy white head that is very persistent. The head leaves gorgeous lacing down the sides of the glass.
• Aroma
  • Orange and overall citrus notes, with a slight malty background. The yeast character is quite clean.
• Flavor
  • A citrus, citrus pith, pine, and resiny hop bitterness at the front, with a clean malty presence and a light bit of candy behind that. The hop character has that “sticky” quality on the tongue that I really adore in a good traditional American IPA.
• Mouthfeel
  • Medium body, with moderate carbonation and a dry finish.
• Would I brew this again?
  • I feel like I’ve gotten my “traditional” West Coast IPAs down pretty well now. I know the hops and hop combos I like, and have found that perfect balance of crystal malt and base malt. I also have a few variations on recipes that work well. It definitely has a “hop haze,” which I suppose dings it a little bit in terms of my overall score, but I also expect that should be cleared out by the end of the keg. BRY-97 is my favorite IPA yeast now, too! Another thing I love about this beer is that I perceive it just a little differently every time I sample it. Sometimes the pine hits me, sometimes the orange, sometimes the resin.
• Overall
  • 9/10