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Taste Notes

“I loved California West Coast IPA when I first started in the industry,” Davey says. “And so I’m like, ‘What if we just take that further? Let’s make it even clearer. Let’s make it even less caramel-y. Let’s make it even drier.’ That’s why—on the can—we say it’s ‘wester than West Coast,’ because we’re taking all the things that are already West Coast and we’re just pushing them a little bit further.”

Notes

Targets: OG: 1.061 FG: 1.008 The Elements of Cold IPA According to Kevin Davey and Wayfinder Beer The grist is based on American adjunct lagers: 20 to 40 percent rice or corn mashed with all-American two-row pilsner malt. There should be no caramel malt. The finished beer should be incredibly dry, fermented to 82 to 88 percent apparent attenuation. Lager yeast ferments the beer, but at relatively warmer temperatures, using faster-fermenting strains that produce low ester and low sulfur (such as Fermentis Saflager W-34/70). You can substitute clean-fermenting ale strains such as Chico, Kölsch, or California common, as long as the sulfur and ester notes are low. “Cold IPA is a canvas for IPA hops,” Davey says. Dry hops go in “warm” before fermentation is complete, during spunding or kräusening. “This achieves biotransformation while negating oxygen pickup,” Davey says. The beer should be filtered to crystal clarity and well carbonated. “Cold IPA is the antithesis of New England–style IPA,” Davey says. Cold IPA Style Parameters: OG: 1.055–1.065 (13.5–16°P) FG: 1.006–1.009 (1.6–2.4°P) ABV: 6.4–7.9% IBUs: 50–70 Color: 2.5–5 SRM Ferment at 65°F (18°C). Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, crash to 30°F (-1°C), remove the yeast and hops, and condition 1 week before filtering and packaging.