IPA’s are way too abundant at the expense of other styles, and yet there is a good reason why they are so popular. I truly enjoy the classic American IPA’s, with their malt complexity and citrusy hops. Hazies don’t do it for me, because they’re not crisp enough, and something has been lost in the quest for the pilsner-malt-only “West Coast IPAs.” That something is yeast and malt character. Hops are great, but it’s a one-note beer if the other ingredients recede beyond the horizon. So, the “Midwest IPA” is a bit of an atavistic species, a relict population from the late 1990’s when it was still acceptable to use 10 percent crystal malt in an IPA and Pinesol was a desirable hop character.

Craft Beer & Brewing has been killing it with their recipes, and I had great success with one in the recent past and a few just about ready to serve. The magazine hits some budding and uncommon styles, and I first learned about Midwest IPA’s here. I am still not totally convinced this is a unique style, so much as a population of recipes that has retained ancestral traits that others do not. Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale is considered a foundational example; having sampled it I consider it a “traditional American IPA.”

No matter what you call the style, the Summer 2025 issue of Craft Beer & Brewing had a recipe for a clone of Pryes Brewing’s Midwest IPA that looked like a good wintertime brew. My recipe is pretty similar, with some minor ingredient swaps. I used Barke Munich instead of Munich II, and CaraRed instead of CaraAmber. Columbus hops were substituted as the main bittering charge instead of Galena, and I used New England East Coast Ale yeast instead of WLP007 (Dry English Ale). Of course it’s not the same beer exactly, but definitely in the same neighborhood as the original.

Pryes Miraculum Midwest IPA

• 11.75 lb. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
• 14 oz. Barke Munich malt (Weyermann)
• 5 oz. Carahell malt (Weyermann)
• 5 oz. Carared malt (Weyermann)
• 2 oz. Carafa Special II malt (Weyermann)
• 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
• 0.4 oz. Columbus (Tomahawk) hop pellets (15.6% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.4% alpha), 20 minute boil
• 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 10 minute boil
• 0.4 oz. Columbus (Tomahawk) hop pellets (15.6% alpha), 10 minute boil
• 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
• 1 Kick Carrageenan tablet, 5 minute boil
• 1 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.4% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
• 1 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
• 2 pkg. New England East Coast Ale Yeast (Lallemand)
• 3 oz. Simcoe hop pellets (12.4% alpha), dry hop
• 3 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), dry hop
• 2 oz. Cascade hop pellets (7.3% alpha), dry hop

Target Parameters

• 60 minute infusion mash, 152°, full volume mash
• 1.062 o.g., 1.014 f.g., 6.3% abv, 75 IBU, 10 SRM
• Claremont tapwater, adjusted to hit roughly 89 ppm Ca, 25 ppm Mg, 102 ppm Na, 195 ppm SO4, 130 ppm Cl, 10 ppm bicarbonate, RA=-70

Procedure

• Starting with 7.5 gallons of Claremont tap water, I added 7.7 mL of 88% lactic acid to drop out the carbonates, and then added 6 g of gypsum and 2 g of Epsom salt to build out the water profile.
• I heated the water to 158°, added the grains, and held the mash at 152° with recirculation for 60 minutes. Then, I raised the mash to 168° for a 10 minute mash out.
• I removed the grains, collecting 6.6 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.051, for 67% mash efficiency.
• I brought the kettle to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe.
• At the end of the 60 minute boil, I added the hops and whirlpooled for 10 minutes before chilling down to 75° and transferring to the fermenter.
• Once in the fermentation chamber, I chilled the wort down to 64° before pitching the yeast.
• I brewed the beer on 11 October 2025. Starting gravity was 1.062. I fermented at 67°.
• The airlock was showing activity on the morning after pitching.
• Dry hops went in on 17 October 2025, and I cold crashed the beer on 22 October 2025.
• I kegged the beer on 30 October 2025, using a closed transfer.
• Final gravity was 1.011, working out to 6.7% abv.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Medium amber in color, relatively clear with slight haze, pours with a persistent fine white head and slight lacing on the glass.
• Aroma
  • Moderate orange hop aroma with a slight bit of pine behind that; faint caramel maltiness. In early pours, the malt and hops clashed just a touch; with a little more conditioning, it’s really nicely balanced.
• Flavor
  • This is a very bitter beer, with a resiny hop quality. The beer has a moderate level of maltiness, with a light caramel character. It’s less complex than I expected, and the hops and malt clash a bit. A bit of orange comes in at the midpoint of the taste, at a moderate level. There is a low level of breadiness in the malt.
• Mouthfeel
  • Medium body, moderate carbonation, dry finish.
• Would I Brew This Again?
  • This is a good, but not fantastic, beer. The malt character is nice, although the hop flavors are less forward than I expected, especially given the quantities, and something clashes slightly in the flavor and aroma. I wonder if the beer is a touch oxidized? That doesn’t seem likely, given the careful closed transfer and the nature of the flavor, but anything is possible. I enjoy the “old school” aspects of the beer, though, including body and maltiness. I think it might be better with just Cascade or Cascade+Chinook, or another more “traditional” American hop combo. The beer is definitely better when it has warmed slightly above the initial serving temperature.
• Overall
  • 7/10