The West Coast IPA Recipe :
- Color : Pale
- Alcohol content : 6.9%.
- Quantity : 20L
- Bitterness : Sharp (63 IBU)
- Difficulty : Very High
- Brewing time : 6h
Ingredients :
Malt base :
- 3.5kg of Malt Pale Ale
- 1.5kg of Malt Maris Otter
- 350g of Flocons d’Orge
- 300g of Carapils
Hot-side hopping :
- 15g of Houblon Colombus (First Wort)
- 15g of Houblon Centennial (Boiling : 10 minutes)
- 15g of Houblon Citra (Boiling : 10 minutes)
Off-flame hopping :
- 30g of Houblon Centennial (90°C-20 minutes)
- 35g of Houblon Citra (90°C-20 minutes)
- 10g of Houblon Amarillo (90°C-20 minutes)
Dry-hop :
1st Dry Hop 3g/L – 24h after seeding
- 20g of Houblon Citra
- 40g of Houblon Amarillo
2nd Dry Hop 4g/L – 3 days before bottling
- 50g of Houblon Amarillo
- 30g of Houblon Citra
Yeast and water :
- 2 Levure Verdant packets
- Total water volume : 34L. (Preferably Sulfate > Chloride) (ideally 4:1, if it’s possible, minimum 2:1). Ideal filling pH : 5.3.
Brew our West Coast IPA recipe step by step
Step 1
Heat 19 liters of water to 72°C in your brewing vessel and pour in the crushed grains.
Stir well to soak up all the malt, and don’t hesitate to crush any lumps against the sides of the tank.
Stir until the temperature drops to 66°C and hold for 1 hour.
At the same time, heat 15 liters of water to 75°C.
Step 2
Once the hour of saccharification is over, move on to filtration and rinsing. Add your 15g of Colombus as soon as filtration begins.
Step 3
Then heat the wort and boil for 60 minutes.
With 10 minutes to go, add 15g Centennial and 15g Citra.
Step 4
Once the timer has run down, lower the temperature to 90°C and add all the off-flame hops (35g Citra; 30g Centennial; 10g Amarillo).
Infuse for 20 minutes, then chill.
Step 5
Once at 18°C, take your specific gravity (approx. 1.060), transfer to a fermenter and add your yeast.
Keep at this temperature for the next 4 weeks.
Step 6
24 hours after sowing, add the first Dry Hop, i.e. 20g Citra and 40g Amarillo.
This is not a NEIPA, but the addition of hops is still quite substantial. As a result, this beer is rather sensitive to oxidation. If, like me at the moment, you’re not equipped with CO2, I recommend that you leave the hops in during fermentation. There will be a taste impact with a very slight hop burn, but it will be minor and better than oxidation.
Step 7
During the last week of fermentation, raise the temperature to 22°C.
Three days before bottling, add your second Dry Hop with 50g Amarillo and 30g Citra.
If you have the equipment, put your fermenter in the fridge to get closer to 1°C for the duration of the Dry Hop. If this isn’t possible, don’t worry, it’s a good optimization, but a secondary one.
Once this period is over, the final density should be 1.007.
Step 8
Add 5g per L of sugar at bottling, or carbonate at 2.5 vol. of CO2 if you’re using forced carbonation.
Over View
Our West Coast IPA will tickle your palate with a refreshingly dry bitterness. Forget the sugar and creaminess here, we’re not here for a hug, but a good invigorating slap. In a good way, that is.
This beer strikes a fine balance between tropical/citrus aromas and the resinous flavors of a good old-fashioned American IPA.
The composition of the water will play an essential role in this beer. I have 80ppm of chloride and added salts to reach 250ppm of sulfate. I advise you to use this ratio as a guide (without exceeding 300ppm sulfate, 200ppm calcium and 30ppm magnesium).
I can’t brew under CO2 at the moment, so I’ve calibrated this recipe with that in mind. If, however, you are equipped, you can customize the Dry Hop a little: make the first DH 4g/L and the second 5 or even 6g/L.
Note also that the keg remains the best possible packaging for this type of beer!