best techniques for a West Coast style ipa

[wedge421]

Im going to be doing a how to video on the best practices for brewing a West Coast ipa. I was thinking, less then 5% crystal malts, add dextrose to dry it out and use the "C" hops for that classic pine taste. Any other ideas?

 

[Yuri_Rage]

All malt, no sugar, easy on the crystal, but don't shy away from it. Hop bursted.

Look at Jamil's Lagunitas IPA clone recipe for a good grain bill. You need a malt backbone for all those hops.

 

[ICWiener]

Take extra steps to keep the oxygen out after fermentation. Purge your secondary vessel, keg, bottling bucket, etc. with CO2 before any contact with the beer. O2 is very very bad for your IPA.

 

[terrapinj]

minimal to no hops added during the actual boil aside from your bittering addition. huge flameout addition and/or big hopstand addition (when wort is below 165°)

a couple 2+ oz dry hop additions for 4-5 days each

I don't think lagunitas typifies the west coast ipa style - it's too malty and not dry enough IMO

sugar isn't always necessary dep on your OG, mash temp and yeast strain

 

[wedge421]

minimal to no hops added during the actual boil aside from your bittering addition. huge flameout addition and/or big hopstand addition (when wort is below 165°)

a couple 2+ oz dry hop additions for 4-5 days each

I don't think lagunitas typifies the west coast ipa style - it's too malty and not dry enough IMO

sugar isn't always necessary dep on your OG, mash temp and yeast strain

I was thinking the same thing about the Lagunitas. It has Crystal 60 in it which pretty much goes against everything I know to be a WC ipa haha

 

[ICWiener]

It has Crystal 60 in it which pretty much goes against everything I know to be a WC ipa haha

It's not the crystal...it's how much crystal. Even Pliny has about 4-5% crystal 45 in it. It's okay to use in an IPA, just don't go overboard.

 

[terrapinj]

I was thinking the same thing about the Lagunitas. It has Crystal 60 in it which pretty much goes against everything I know to be a WC ipa haha

c60 isn't bad if used in moderation

lagunitas reportedly mashes in the mid-high 150s leaving a higher FG

 

[Yuri_Rage]

So a well known west coast IPA does not qualify as a west coast IPA? Color me confused.

 

[ICWiener]

lagunitas reportedly mashes in the mid-high 150s leaving a higher FG

Jeremy Marshall was on Can You Brew It?...He said they mash their IPA at 160! How crazy is that.

 

[Yuri_Rage]

Also, I don't think Pliny typifies the style. It EXAGGERATES those characteristics as an Imperial IPA.

I very much disagree that a west coast IPA has to be bone dry. Lagunitas is a great example of that.

 

[ICWiener]

Also, I don't think Pliny typifies the style. It EXAGGERATES those characteristics as an Imperial IPA.

Nothing about Pliny is typical. I was just trying to use an extreme example to show that you shouldn't be afraid to use crystal in an IPA.

 

[passedpawn]

I think we know a West Coast IPA as a big IPA with unbalanced bitterness. It strives to push the hop impression to the max, and typically accompanies this with an ABV well over 6.0.

A traditional IPA makes an effort to add maltiness and body (crystal malts) to balance the hops, but the WCIPA does not.

I don't think it's really a regional thing. Look at Victory HopDevil.

I don't like the term at all. Craft is growing way too quickly to give any regional terms like that any meaning.

 

[terrapinj]

even beyond the dryness Lag IPA isn't exceptionally hoppy - its a very well balanced IPA

there are plenty of IPAs from this side that don't qualify as WC IPA - Racer 5 also comes to mind - perhaps not quite as cloying but I don't find them to be that much different from DFH 60 or Bell's Two Hearted etc

a west coast IPA should be unbalanced - not much difference between a WC IPA and IIPA aside from ABV and perhaps the bitterness level IMO

of course everyone's definition will be different since it isn't a BJCP defined style

 

[phenry]

I don't like the term at all. Craft is growing way too quickly to give any regional terms like that any meaning.

This.

When people say "east coast" IPAs are towards the malty end of the spectrum and "west coast" IPAs are towards the hoppy end of the spectrum I want to punch my computer.

There's absolutely nothing that indicates east coast breweries can't procure just as many hops as west coast breweries and use the same amount of hops in their IPAs.

Maybe if these were regional styles hundreds of years old it would make sense. But two decades isn't nearly enough time to say "yeah, this is a west coast IPA" when a brewery in Georgia makes a similar tasting IPA.


But to get an IPA you're looking for:
-2-row base.
-Some light crystal. Maybe some Munich or Vienna. Maybe even some Victory. I stay away from those specialty malts though.
-Bittering charge.
-Huge flameout addition.
-Huge dry hop.
-Use popular hops. Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, Centennial, etc.

Easy.

 

[nealperkins]

Yuri Rage did you brew the Jamil's Lagunitas IPA clone? I love that beer and thought the recipe was rock solid on the podcast.

So, I did brew it and was disappointed with the hoppiness as it was way under-hoppped. I figured I must have made a recipe mistake but, I've been over it and over it. Could there have been a mistake on the podcast? Dunno, but I've brewed a LOT of IPA's...