Even though my tastes tilt a little more old school, and even though our area has no shortage of excellent contemporary West Coast IPA’s, I still enjoy the challenge of crafting a tasty, crispy, citrusy, fruity, pale-as-you-can-get-it West Coast IPA. During the past two years, I had pretty good results with a Denny Kong-inspired beer, so I’m continuing along those lines for 2026.

Rather than going all-pilsner, I’m doing a mix of 2-row and pilsner, with a pound of Vienna as in my previous batches. I’m ditching the dextrose, because it’s a relatively small percentage, and I figure I’ll let the mash do the work of drying out the beer. Hops are all T90 pellets (I want to try some of the newer hop products in a future batch), because I have a good number to use up still. So, this beer is a step back to more traditional ingredients and techniques.

West Coast Best Coast IPA

• 9 lb. 2-row pale malt (Rahr)
• 2.75 lb. pilsner zero malt (Viking)
• 1 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
• 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
• 0.75 oz. Citra hop pellets (12.9% alpha), 60 minute boil
• 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
• 1 Kick Carrageenan tablet, 5 minute boil
• 2.25 oz. Citra hop pellets (12.9% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
• 2 oz. Mosaic hop pellets (10.7% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
• 1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (10.4% alpha), 15 minute whirlpool
• 2 pkg. California ale yeast (White Labs WLP001)
• 2 oz. Citra hop pellets (12.9% alpha), dry hop in primary
• 2 oz. Mosaic hop pellets (10.7% alpha), dry hop in primary
• 1 oz. Amarillo hop pellets (10.4% alpha), dry hop in primary

Target Parameters

• 90 minute infusion mash at 149°, 10 minutes at 168°, full volume mash
• 1.059 o.g., 1.009 f.g., 6.7% abv, 67 IBU, 4 SRM
• Water built from RO to hit 94 ppm Ca, 24 ppm Mg, 195 ppm SO4, 94 ppm Cl
• 5.25 gallon batch

Procedure

• I started with 7.5 gallons of RO water and added 7 g epsom salt, 5.5 g calcium chloride, and 5 g gypsum to hit my water target parameters.
• I heated the water to 155°, before adding the grains as well as 8.8 mL of 10% phosphoric acid, to target a pH of 5.2. I held the mash at 149°, with recirculation, for 90 minutes. Then, I raised the mash to 168° for 10 minutes, before pulling the grains.
• The 6.6 gallons of runnings had a gravity of 1.050, for 67% mash efficiency–pretty much exactly on my target.
• I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe.
• After a 60 minute boil, I turned off the heat, chilled to 195°, and added the whirlpool hops. I whirlpooled for 15 minutes; during this time, the kettle dropped to 185°. I set the Foundry to hold at 185°, to avoid things getting too cool.
• I chilled the wort the rest of the way to 64°, let it settle for a bit, and then pitched the yeast while transferring the wort into the fermenter.
• I let the beer free rise to 66°, and held it at this temperature for initial fermentation.
• Starting gravity was 1.058; I brewed the beer on 3 January 2026.
• I added the dry hops on 10 January 2026, and cold crashed to 33° on 20 January 2026. I kegged the beer on 1 February 2026, using a closed transfer.
• Final gravity was 1.006, for 6.9% abv.

Tasting

• Appearance
  • Relatively clear pale yellow beer, with a very slight haze. Pours with a thick and tall white head that is very persistent, leaving nice lacing on the glass. Awesome!
• Aroma
  • Fresh citrus at the forefront, and a bit of tropical fruit behind that, with a hint of blueberry. A hint of green vegetal aroma, very faint. Not much for malt, and nothing for yeast aroma.
• Flavor
  • Very bitter, citrusy hop character. Light and clean malty flavor. Slight tropical fruit hop note, which becomes more prominent with additional sips. Clean yeast character.
• Mouthfeel
  • Light body, medium high carbonation, dry finish. Slight astringency.
• Would I Brew This Again?
  • This is a solid West Coast IPA. The bit of vegetal hop flavor and astringency are my fault, for leaving the hops in the beer for too long before kegging. I might try advanced hop products (e.g., Cryo or Abstrax) in the future, and reduce the length of the time of pellet contact in dry hopping. I might reduce the bitterness also–the beer is just a little too bitter.
• Overall
  • 6.5/10