Pryes Miraculum Midwest IPA

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

Denny Kong-ish West Coast IPA

I made my first version of this new-style West Coast IPA last year, and learned some lessons about hopping techniques in the process. During that previous batch, I used a hop bag that was too small for the dry hopping addition, and as a result the hop flavor/aroma were pretty underwhelming. This time around, I opted to let the hops float free in the fermenter. I use a BrewBucket 7.5, which has a rotating pickup arm, so I could do a closed transfer into the keg without excessive hop particles clogging things. The hop choices on this version used up some of my hop stash–three-quarters of a pound of hops went into the final recipe!

Denny Kongish West Coast IPA

  • 12 lb. 5 oz. pilsner malt (Rahr)
  • 1 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 4 oz. dextrose, added to boil
  • 0.85 oz. Enigma hop pellets (17.9% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 2 oz. LUPMOMAX Cashmere hop pellets (13.5% alpha), 30 minute whirlpool
  • 1 pkg. California ale dry yeast (WLP001, White Labs)
  • 4 oz. Idaho #7 hop hash (31.4% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter
  • 2 oz. Azacca hop pellets (12.2% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter
  • 2 oz. LUPOMAX Sabro HBC 438 hop pellets (19.0% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter
  • 1.15 oz. Enigma hop pellets (17.9% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter

Target Parameters

  • 1.063 s.g., 1.010 f.g., 7.0% abv, 64 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Full volume infusion mash, held at 149° for 120 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes
  • Neutralized Claremont tap water with Campden tablet, RO water, and mineral salts added to mash to achieve 51 ppm Ca, 8 ppm Mg, 33 ppm Na, 104 ppm SO4, 53 ppm Cl, 8 ppm CO3.

Procedure

  • Starting with 3 gallons of tap water, I added 2.5 mL of 88% lactic acid as well as a Campden tablet, along with 5 gallons of RO water, 0.75 CaCl, 1.5 g epsom salt, and 3.5 g gypsum to hit the target water parameters.
  • I heated the water to 155° and added the grains, along with 17.2 mL of 10% phosphoric acid for pH adjustment, to hit an estimated pH of 5.35.
  • I held the mash at 149° for 120 minutes, with recirculation, and then raised the mash to 168° for 10 minutes before pulling the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.9 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.050, for 69% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, with a 90 minute total boil. After 30 minutes, I added the first round of hops, and then proceeded following the recipe.
  • After the 90 minute boil, I chilled to 170° before adding the whirlpool hops and letting them sit for 30 minutes while whirlpooling.
  • Next, I chilled to 68°, transferred to the fermenter, and chilled down to 64° before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 1 January 2025, and it had a starting gravity of 1.066.
  • I added the dry hops on 11 January 2025, loose into the fermenter.
  • I cold crashed the beer on 15 January 2025.
  • I kegged the beer on 18 January 2025, into a CO2 purged keg. Final gravity was 1.007–that’s wonderfully dry and works out to 7.8% abv. I had a similar experience last batch, so this mash regime works wonders!

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Light gold beer, slight haze, which pours with an exceptionally persistent and creamy white head–it’s like a meringue! This head leaves beautiful lacing down the side of the glass. The beer is surprisingly clear. As a result, I am feeling good about my decision not to use post-fermentation finings; this likely helped with oxidation reduction.
  • Aroma
    • Citrus and dank hop aroma at a high level, neutral yeast profile, and no malt character to speak of in the aroma.
  • Flavor
    • Very bitter, citrus pith and dank hop character, with a bit of grapefruit along the way, and a long-lingering hop aftertaste. The hop flavor is a bit one-note; it has the usual issue with Azacca to my tastebuds, which is an orange pith quality on the edge of rotten orange. I’ve never understood the appeal of that hop! Low level of maltiness, but it is there. Clean fermentation character.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium-high carbonation, medium-light body, very dry finish.
  • Overall
    • 7.5/10
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • I really like this recipe as a template for a double IPA; it is a clean background to let the hops shine. This is the first time in awhile that I have let the hops float free for dry hopping, and with the Brew Bucket’s rotating pickup arm, things worked well. Thanks to the closed transfer (and perhaps the BrewTanB?), the hop character has held up well. The beer is clear enough without finings, so I think there is no need to use Biofine Clear as the original recipe stipulates. Azacca, as usual for my experience, gives a harshness in the citrus note that I don’t care for. This formulation is a bit one-note on the hops. But, it’s okay overall! In a beer like this, a different hop combo would be the ticket to hoppiness.
      • Interesting note: when I tasted this again last night, after a rauchbier, I got more tropical notes, and the unpleasant orange wasn’t as apparent. I would rate the beer higher in that case – perhaps a 8.5/10.

Quick IPA

Sometimes I just need a quick IPA fix. I’m working through my hop stash, and threw together a recipe to finish off a few 2-oz. packages, targeting varieties that had classic citrus, pine, and resin character. The base recipe is just a typical classic American IPA, with a mix of 2-row, crystal, and biscuit malt. This time around, I aimed for a quick mash (30 minutes) and quick boil (30 minutes), to keep that brew day moving along!

golden slightly hazy beer with tall white head held in tulip-style glass

Quick IPA

  • 12.75 lb. 2-row malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 lb. crystal 40 / caramel 100 (Viking)
  • 0.25 lb. biscuit malt (Dingemans)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, in mash
  • 1.25 oz. Topaz hop pellets (18.9% alpha), 30 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 0.75 oz. Topaz hop pellets (18.9% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. New England East Coast Ale yeast (Lallemand)
  • 2 oz. Anchovy hop pellets (12.0% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 2 oz. McKenzie hop pellets (11.7% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.061 s.g., 1.014 f.g., 6.2% abv, 68 IBU, 7 SRM
  • Full volume infusion mash, held at 152° for 30 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes
  • Claremont tap water adjusted to hit 100 ppm Ca, 19 ppm Mg, 87 ppm Na, 224 ppm sulfate, 110 ppm Cl, 20 ppm CaCO3, RA=-66, alkalinity=16

Procedure

  • I collected 7.25 gallons of tap water and added 6 mL of 88% lactic acid in order to neutralize the carbonates. Then, I added 7 g of gypsum and 2 g of epsom salt to hit my target water parameters.
  • I heated the water to 158° before adding the grains, and held the mash at 152° for 30 minutes, with recirculation.
  • At the end of the mash, I raised the temperature to 168° for 10 minutes before pulling the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.25 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.051, for 63% mash efficiency. I suspect the low efficiency was due to the short mash time.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After a 30 minute boil, I turned off the heat and chilled the wort down to 78°. Then, I transferred the wort to the fermenter and chilled to 66° in the fermentation chamber. This took about 6 hours, after which time I pitched the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 5 October 2024; it had a starting gravity of 1.056. I fermented the beer at 66°.
  • On 25 October 2024, I kegged the beer and added the dry hops loose to the keg; I put a hop screen in place on my floating dip tube.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Pours with a fluffy off-white head. A gold beer with moderate haze.
  • Aroma
    • I get some vanilla aroma as it warms; fascinating! As it warms caramel comes through more, along with (oddly enough) some berry. Moderately high hop-forward aroma, with pine, resin, and citrus pith qualities.
  • Flavor
    • Very bitter resin and pine hop character. Slight caramel quality at the back end, especially as the beer warms.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Very dry finish with a touch of astringency. Medium body, moderate carbonation.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • It’s a decent American IPA, very much in the old school. The berry quality on the aroma is interesting. It scratches my classic IPA itch, but is nothing exceptional. I gave it a 6, but the cool aroma bumps it to 7.
  • Overall
    • 7/10

Denny Kongish West Coast IPA

Last fall, I managed to snag a can of the Denny Kong West Coast IPA, which was brewed by North Park Beer Co. for the 2023 Homebrew Con in San Diego. It was an incredibly delicious beer, and because the recipe is readily available, I thought it would be worth a try!

The malts parallel the original reasonably well, but I made some adjustments for my hop stash and also made an adjustment to the yeast. It should be in the general ballpark, but as Denny Conn would say, my version is an homage and not a clone. The main innovations I applied here were the long mash rest and the massive dose of hops.

Denny Kongish West Coast IPA

  • 12 lb. pilsner malt (Rahr)
  • 1.25 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 4 oz. dextrose, added to boil
  • 1.3 oz. Magnum hop pellets (12.6% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 2.8 oz. Cascade hop pellets (7.5% alpha), 30 minute whirlpool
  • 1 pkg. California ale dry yeast (WLP001, White Labs)
  • 2 oz. Eclipse hop pellets (17.6% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter for 3 days
  • 2 oz. Idaho #7 hop pellets (14.0% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter for 3 days
  • 2 oz. LUPOMAX Azacca hop pellets (16.0% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter for 3 days
  • 2 oz. LUPOMAX Citra hop pellets (18.5% alpha), dry hop in primary fermenter for 3 days
  • 2 tbs. (30 mL) Biofine Clear, added to keg
  • 2 oz. Nelson Sauvin hop pellets (12.9% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.063 s.g., 1.010 f.g., 6.9% abv, 65 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Full volume infusion mash, held at 149° for 120 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes
  • Neutralized Claremont tap water with Campden tablet, and mineral salts added to boil to achieve 55 ppm Ca, 12 ppm Mg, 54 ppm Na, 106 ppm SO4, 60 ppm Cl, 10 ppm CaCO3, RA=-38, alkalinity=8 ppm

Procedure

  • Starting with 7.9 gallons of tap water, I added 5.6 mL of 88% lactic acid as well as a Campden tablet, followed by 3 g of CaCl.
  • I heated the water to 155° and added the grains, along with 2.9 mL of 88% lactic acid for pH adjustment.
  • I held the mash at 149° for 120 minutes, with recirculation, and then raised the mash to 168° for 10 minutes, before pulling the grains.
  • In total, I collected 6.9 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.046, for 65% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, for a 90 minute total boil. After 30 minutes, I added the first round of hops, and then proceeded following the recipe.
  • After the 90 minute boil, I chilled to 170° before adding the whirlpool hops and letting them sit for 30 minutes.
  • Next, I chilled to 70°, transferred to the fermenter, and chilled down to 63° before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 2 March 2024, and it had a starting gravity of 1.062–nearly exactly on target!
  • I added the dry hops on 10 March 2024, in a boiled (sterilized) hop bag. It was a bit tight for the volume of hops, so I was a bit concerned about how much hop contact I would get.
  • I kegged the beer on 26 March 2024, into a CO2 purged keg. Final gravity was 1.007–that’s quite low, and results in a 7.4% abv! The 120 minute, 149° mash really did the trick for drying things out. Hop flavor and aroma were a bit lower than expected, probably because of the thick concentration of hops in the bag.
  • Once the beer was down to around 34°, I quickly added the Biofine Clear, and then re-cycled the CO2.
  • I put the beer on tap on March 30.
  • Because hop aroma was underwhelming, I added 2 oz. of Nelson Sauvin hops to the keg (in a baggie) on 12 April 2024.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Light gold color, slight haze. Pours w/ a thick and persistent off-white head that leaves beautiful lacing on the glass.
  • Aroma
    • Light citrus aroma, a hint of white wine (presumably from Nelson Sauvin hops).
  • Flavor
    • High level of citrus-pith bitterness. Clean, light malty character behind that.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Moderate carbonation, medium-light body, dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • Yes, but with different hop handling. I am underwhelmed by the hop aroma and flavor, especially relative to the commercial version I tried. It was dumb of me to use such a tightly packed hop bag! The hops just didn’t shine like they should. I would definitely try a variation in the future, though. I love the dryness on this, but it might be too much for some. The low temperature, extended mash really did the trick! The BioFine also worked its magic, resulting in a fairly clear beer. Other than aroma, though this is a nice American IPA!
  • Overall
    • 7/10

Note: I tasted this again on 25 April 2024, after nearly two weeks with the extra hops. It definitely helped the beer! Although the appearance is now a bit hazier, the aroma has a fantastic tropical fruit profile (kiwi, guava, a bit of sweet white wine, and more). The flavor is perhaps a bit harsher now (I suspect due to the hops in the keg), but it also has a more prominent tropical aspect overall. Not a bad end result!

Olde Tyme IPA

The beloved India Pale Ale has diversified markedly since its 19th century roots in England, exploding onto the scene in the United States during the “Craft Beer Revolution.” Even during my own lifetime, I’ve seen incredible change, from the old school American IPAs, to the rise of West Coast IPAs, Hazy IPAs, white IPAs, session IPAs, and everything else in between. For better or worse, the market trends have definitely tilted fruity and hazy, and it’s often difficult to find anything that approximates the brews of the 1990s and early 2000’s. I have a certain sentimentality for them and like to brew one every once in awhile.

The IPAs of 25 years ago (in my memory, and in recipes) tended to have more going on with the malt, tended to be a bit darker in color, and focused on the pine/citrus/resin hops that dominated at the time. I did some looking through old Zymurgy issues, and found a recipe commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Maltose Falcons (now 50 years old!). This recipe from 2000 (available here) was later published in the September/October 2006 Zymurgy issue, titled Odyssey Ale. It is definitely a time capsule of its era!

To the original recipes, I modified the hop varieties slightly. I made some modifications for hops on-hand; so, I used Magnum instead of Perle, and Strisselspalt instead of Crystal. Both are varieties available in the late 1990s. The original recipe doesn’t have a dry hop charge, and I felt that was important to keep the beer interesting. So, I added 1.5 oz. of Strisselspalt and 1.5 oz. of Chinook into the dry hop. My only other major modification was to use Munich I instead of “Dark Munich” (Munich II), because that’s what I had on-hand.

Olde Tyme IPA

  • 12.5 lb. 2-row brewers malt (Briess)
  • 1 lb. crystal 40 malt (Great Western)
  • 1 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 lb. Carafoam (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB (mash)
  • 0.5 oz. Chinook hop pellets (12.3% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Magnum hop pellets (10.1% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Strisslespalt hop pellets (1.8% alpha), 15 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 1 oz. Cascade hop pellets (7.5% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 0.5 oz. Centennial hop pellets (8.1% alpha), 10 minute whirlpool
  • 2 pkg. American West Coast Ale dry yeast BRY-97 (Danstar)
  • 1.5 oz. Chinook hop pellets (12.3% alpha), dry hop in keg
  • 1.5 oz. Strisslespalt hop pellets (1.8% alpha), dry hop in keg

Target Parameters

  • 1.068 s.g., 1.017 f.g., 6.7% abv, 50 IBU, 9 SRM
  • Full volume infusion mash, held at 155° for 60 minutes and 168° for 10 minutes
  • Neutralized Claremont tap water with Campden tablet, and mineral salts added to boil to achieve 103 ppm CA, 19 ppm Mg, 54 ppm Na, 248 ppm SO4, 60 ppm Cl, 10 ppm CaCO3, RA=-77, alkalinity=8 ppm.

Procedure

  • I collected 7.75 gallons of tap water and added a Campden tablet along with 5.5 mL of 88% lactic acid, for the initial water adjustments. I heated this to 163°, and then added the grains, to hit a mash temperature of 155°. At the time of mash-in, I added 2.5 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust the pH.
  • I held the mash temperature at 155° for 60 minutes, with recirculation. Then, I raised the mash to 168° for 10 minutes, before pulling the grains.
  • In total, I collected 7 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.057, for 72% mash efficiency.
  • As I brought the runnings to a boil, I added 9 g gypsum and 2 g epsom salt, to hit the water profile target.
  • Once the kettle was boiling, I added hops and finings per the recipe, boiling for 60 minutes.
  • After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled slightly before adding the whirlpool hops. I whirlpooled for 10 minutes, before chilling to 66° and transferring to the fermenter.
  • Starting gravity was 1.066. I brewed the beer on January 1, 2024.
  • I pitched the yeast, and set the fermentation chamber to 66°.
  • I kegged the beer on 7 February 2024, adding dry hops to the keg. Final gravity was 1.013, which equates to 7.1% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Burnished orange-gold, clear with only a very slight haze, moderately persistent white head.
  • Aroma
    • Orange/citrus aroma, slight malty note, and no yeast character
  • Flavor
    • Nice malt backbone, with a light caramel quality. Moderately high bitterness, with a piney resin aspect that lingers on the tongue.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body. Moderate carbonation. Slightly dry finish.
  • Would I Brew This Again?
    • This beer tastes like 2001…which is nice sometimes, but not what I always want on tap. Overall, this is a very good beer, which fits exactly what I wanted in the recipe. So, I would say it is a “10/10” for hitting my goals of an IPA from 25 years ago, but 7/10 for everyday drinking.
  • Overall
    • 10/10