![]() ![]() Why is that? It was a question on my mind as I packed for a trip to the Pacific Northwest, with Cold IPA on the agenda. ![]() But Maine, it would appear, has been stubbornly barren soil for Cold IPA. Samuel Adams makes one, and I even recently saw cans of it at Salem’s Notch Brewing, that expert in traditional European styles. Cicerone and illustrator Em Sauter has parsed the style in Pints and Panels Instagram posts. Clickbait rankings of top Cold IPAs abound. Whatever it is, Cold IPA has made an impression, spreading up and down the West Coast and working its way across the Rockies. India Pale Lager is a hop-forward lager – a bit crispier and cleaner – but typically less bitter and boozy. Davey wrote in Craft Beer & Brewing that his recipe was “a lager brewer’s answer to the Brut IPA trend.” Like Brut IPA, dryness is a signature feature, but Cold IPA is intended to be much more bitter. And Cold IPA has some relatively close cousins. Brewers have long experimented with different processes – including using lager yeast in IPA. Davey told beer writer Jeff Allworth that in making the beer, he was inspired by some of the classic California IPAs like Russian River’s Pliny the Elder, Bear Republic’s Racer 5, or Union Jack from Firestone Walker – a brewery that Davey worked for in the early 2010s. Some see Cold IPA as less of a new style and more an interpretation of an existing one, the West Coast IPA. And again, the goal is to make those hops pop, in a beer that is more quaffable than its IPA cousins (and more akin to a more distant relation, the adjunct lager). Ample carbonation plays a role here, too, heightening the perception of dryness. The sweetness largely comes from the alcohol, not the malt. The grist for a Cold IPA should consist of 20-40% corn or rice, according to Wayfinder’s Davey. And this is where the other distinguishing characteristic of making Cold IPAs comes into play: the grain bill. But as a name, Cold IPA might work better as a metaphor, signaling something about its drinkability when compared to IPAs that are maltier or more full-bodied. So, technically, there is something “cold” (or at least “cooler”) about how the beer is made. Whatever the yeast, the goal is to enhance the crispness of the beer, while minimizing yeasty byproducts (like fruity esters) that might impinge on the expression of the hops. Some brewers use a clean ale yeast (like the famous Chico) but ferment at cooler temperature than is typical for IPA brewing. Typically (though not always), brewers of Cold IPA use a lager yeast, fermenting at cooler temperature than you would with a typical IPA brewed with ale yeast (while at a temperature warmer than when brewing a lager). Rather, it alludes to the process of making it. Wayfinder’s first Cold IPA, now called “The Original,” is described by the brewery as “Wester than West Coast.”Īs you’ve probably figured out, the “cold” in Cold IPA refers not to the temperature at which it is served. He wanted a beer that was aromatic and bitter, but also clean and crisp, to enhance drinkability. His goal was to capture the essential hoppiness of the West Coast IPA, while providing those hops a cleaner stage – meaning a diminished maltiness – on which to express themselves. ![]() The first beer now identified as a “Cold IPA” was brewed by Kevin Davey about five years ago when he was brewmaster at Wayfinder Beer. Head to Portland, Oregon, and you’ll encounter this relatively new style on most tap lists. ![]()
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