Wednesday, January 20, 2010

IPA Piloting

The IPA is a work in progress in both the recipe and the name.  There are countless great IPA's out there and hopefully someday mine will be in the same sentence.  The difficult part in designing my recipes is that I want to make an good beer that can be compared to other greats but also want it to be different enough so it isn't viewed as a clone for beer already out there.  With an IPA, that really all comes down to the hops.  My thoughts with this IPA is using traditionally used hops for much of it, then throwing in a new hop variety (Sorachi Ace) to add a new element to the flavor and aroma.  Maybe it will be the Simcoe of 2010 (many of the most popular IPA's over the past few years have been using Simcoe in their recipes).  

I have never used Sorachi Ace and hear that it has a lemony flavor and aroma.  I am thinking that the lemon flavor in moderation will work with the grapefruit and orange flavors of the other hops in the recipe.  Only one way to find out how if works...try it.  The other hop I want to get a hold of again is the Citra hop, I loved how it worked in my American Wheat and want to give it a whirl in an IPA (Sorachi Ace could might also go well in a wheat).
 

IPA
Style: Northwest IPA
Malts: American 2-Row, Crystal, Honey
Hops: Amarillo, Centennial, Columbus, Sorachi Ace, Zeus (maybe some other ones for dry-hopping)
ABV: ~ 6.5%
Playlist: The RZA, the GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Inspectah Deck, U-God , Ghostface Killah, Raekwon the Chef, and the Method Man...

IPA names is something else that I have been working with.  Earlier I had mentioned Outlaw IPA, which I do like, but need to play with some other options.  Other things that people have brought up are Canyon IPA, Tie Cutter IPA, Cougar Mountain IPA or Thunder Mountain IPA (too close to Redhook's to me).   Thoughts?

1 comment:

  1. Good luck with the IPA alchemy!
    Names?
    "Idaho IPA" A location and a unique style of IPA - good for establishing brand ID and telling a story.
    "Idaho Elixir IPA"
    "Horseshoe Bend IPA"
    "The Yakker IPA"
    "Mountain Whitewater IPA"

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