Root Down Brewing Co.
Dear Replicator,
While it’s not my neighborhood brewery, I think I may have found my new favorite local. Replicator, can you try to get the recipe for the 2018 Great American Beer Festival (GABF) gold-medal IPA Bine from Root Down Brewing Co.? Every time I’m at the brewery I can’t help but to order it even though there’s so many other good options they offer.
Paul Ward
Abington, Pennsylvania
I love the classic beer styles. So Paul, your request for a classic American IPA like Bine brings a smile to my face. Hopefully, through this article we will cause a few brewers to remember the fun and tastiness of this bitter parent to the more modern New England IPA and to craft their own renditions.
Root Down Brewing is situated about 30 miles northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the small town of Phoenixville. Although it’s home to less than 20,000 residents, the town boasts an impressive number of breweries, wineries, and even a distillery. Some even claim that with six breweries within 2,000 ft. (610 m) of each other, that Phoenixville is truly a world-class destination for craft beer drinkers.
It wasn’t always this way though. The town can trace its roots back to 1732 and was eventually incorporated as a borough in 1849. Due to its proximity to both the fast-flowing French Creek, which could be harnessed for power, and the broad Schuylkill River, for bulk transportation, the town steadily grew over time. But with the closure of the Phoenixville Foundry in the mid- to late-1900s, where much of the iron and textiles were produced, the predominantly white-collar town underwent an economic downturn.
Fast forward to 2001 . . . a long-term revitalization plan was established by the town’s mayor and its council members. A big turning point for the town came in 2009 when the first brewpub, Iron Hill, opened. Soon after, additional retail shops opened followed by more restaurants and then additional brewpubs. The revitalization was complete.
One of the top breweries in this small but vibrant town is Root Down Brewing Company, which opened its doors in 2017. But if you don’t want to take my word for it you have no further to look than the hardware they brought home at the 2018 GABF. At that competition, the brewery netted multiple awards despite being open for only one year. They included a gold for Bine, silver for Salty By Nature — a gose, as well as Midsize Brewpub and Midsize Brewmaster of the Year.
The brewery is the physical realization of Mike Hamara’s dream. Once the craft beer bug bit him through selective sampling of the classics from Victory, Sierra Nevada, and Dogfish Head, he desired to share his love of well-crafted brews with his friends and family. That desire grew and grew as did his dreams and aspirations. Before long, his vision of brewing beers that resonated with him and close friends, instead of chasing fleeting beer trends, came into focus. And with the acquisition of a historic brick warehouse and a 15-BBL system, the finish line was in sight. Currently, the industrial-chic space features exposed brick, high ceilings, restored wood floorings, and the original elevator all mingled with what they call “Urban Ambiance” consisting of 90’s hip hop, graffiti, Kung Fu flicks on the TVs, air hockey, arcade games, and cornhole (aka sack toss).
But if you don’t want to take my word for it you have no further to look than the hardware they brought home at the 2018 GABF.
A brewery is only as good as its brewmaster and in Steve Bischoff, Mike Hamara found the perfect fit. Steve cut his chops at the local Sly Fox Brewery where he worked in the cellar and on the brewery floor. To fill some of his free time, Steve worked part-time at Mike’s homebrew store, Artisan Homebrew in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. The connection was instantaneous. So when Mike went to open Root Down, he knew who his head brewer was going to be.
But why is it important to know who Steve is? Simply put, Bine is his creation. He desired to produce an easy-drinking IPA that was still bitter. And what you’ll notice immediately about the recipe is that there’s no caramel malt to distract the drinker from the hops. In addition, the dextrose is there to further lighten the beer and make it more sessionable on the palate. It took several iterations to arrive at the final product.
The approach that Steve uses in recipe formulation for IPAs begins with his aroma additions and works backwards to nail the necessary IBUs in the beer. For Bine, he wanted the piney, resinous, citrus, and tropical flavors that Centennial, Mosaic®, Amarillo®, and Citra® bring. From there, all that was needed was a smaller bittering addition of Warrior® to bring the bitterness into the desired range.
In the end, your version of Bine should be near brilliant clarity and a burnished golden color with moderate high carbonation. The hop aroma and flavor are intense and feature passion fruit, papaya, grapefruit, lemon rind, pine, and resin. The strong hop bitterness is firm but not abrasive while the dry finish keeps you coming back for more. Not to be forgotten, the malt backbone is perfectly supportive for the hoppy landscape with grain, toast, and dry English biscuits.
If it’s been awhile since brewing your last American IPA, give Bine a chance. It’s a solid example of a traditional IPA whose recipe will withstand the test of time.
Root Down Brewing Co.’s Bine clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.062 FG = 1.012
IBU = 60 SRM = 5 ABV = 6.5%
Ingredients
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
4.5 lbs. (2.04 kg) Pilsner malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Vienna malt
0.5 lb. (0.23 kg) corn sugar (20 min.)
12.75 AAU Warrior® hops (75 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 17% alpha acids)
5.0 AAU Centennial hops (7 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 10% alpha acids)
2.75 AAU Mosaic® hops (7 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 11% alpha acids)
3.25 AAU Citra® hops (7 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 13% alpha acids)
5.0 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 10% alpha acids)
8.25 AAU Mosaic® hops (0 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 11% alpha acids)
9.75 AAU Citra® hops (0 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 13% alpha acids)
7.2 AAU Amarillo® hops (hopstand) (0.8 oz./22 g at 9% alpha acids)
13.75 AAU Mosaic® hops (hopstand) (1.25 oz./35 g at 11% alpha acids)
18.2 AAU Citra® hops (hopstand) (1.4 oz./ 40 g at 13% alpha acids)
SafAle US-05 or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Mill the grains, then mix with 3.75 gallons (14.2 L) of 169 °F (76 °C) strike water to achieve a single infusion rest temperature of 154 °F (68 °C). Hold at this temperature for 40 minutes. Mashout to 170 °F (77 °C) if desired.
Vorlauf until your runnings are clear before directing them to your boil kettle. Batch or fly sparge the mash with enough water to obtain 6.5 gallons (25 L) of wort. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops at the times left in the boil indicated above. At 20 minutes left in boil, add the dextrose first and then at 10 minutes left, you should add a kettle fining agent such as Irish moss or Whirlfloc.
After the boil, add the flameout hops indicated and whirlpool for 20 minutes. Chill to 180 °F (82 °C), then add the hopstand hops and whirlpool another 20 minutes before rapidly chilling the wort to 64 °F (18 °C). Pitch yeast. Maintain fermentation temperature of 68 °F (20 °C) for this beer.
Once primary fermentation is complete, and the beer has settled, bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes. A fermenter fining agent would be recommended to get the beer bright if the yeast is taking its time falling. Biofine, PVPP, or gelatin would be recommended here.
Root Down Brewing Co.’s Bine clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.063 FG = 1.012
IBU = 60 SRM = 6 ABV = 6.6%
Ingredients
3 lbs. (1.36 kg) extra light dried malt extract
2.5 lbs. (1.13 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) Vienna dried malt extract
0.5 lb (0.23 kg) corn sugar (20 min.)
8.5 AAU Warrior® hops (75 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 17% alpha acids)
5.0 AAU Centennial hops (7 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 10% alpha acids)
2.75 AAU Mosaic® hops (7 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 11% alpha acids)
3.25 AAU Citra® hops (7 min.) (0.25 oz./7 g at 13% alpha acids)
5.0 AAU Centennial hops (0 min.) (0.5 oz./14 g at 10% alpha acids)
8.25 AAU Mosaic® hops (0 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 11% alpha acids)
9.75 AAU Citra® hops (0 min.) (0.75 oz./21 g at 13% alpha acids)
7.2 AAU Amarillo® hops (hopstand) (0.8 oz./22 g at 9% alpha acids)
13.75 AAU Mosaic® hops (hopstand) (1.25 oz./35 g at 11% alpha acids)
18.2 AAU Citra® hops (hopstand) (1.4 oz./ 40 g at 13% alpha acids)
SafAle US-05 or Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale)
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 6.25 gallons (24 L) of water to roughly 150 °F (66 °C). Add all the extracts, with stirring, before heating to a boil. Boil for 75 minutes, adding hops at the indicated times left in the boil. At 20 minutes left in boil, add the dextrose first and then at 10 minutes left, you should add a kettle fining agent such as Irish moss or Whirlfloc.
After the boil, add the flameout hops indicated and whirlpool for 20 minutes. Chill to 180 °F (82 °C), then add the hopstand hops and whirlpool another 20 minutes before rapidly chilling the wort to 64 °F (18 °C). Pitch yeast. Maintain fermentation temperature of 68 °F (20 °C) for this beer.
Follow the all-grain instructions for the packaging steps.
Tips for Success:
For a West Coast American IPA you should be shooting for water that contains more sulfates than chlorides in roughly a 1.5:1 ratio. I’ve found that increasing this ratio past 2:1 can result in harsher hop bitterness that contains a flinty edge. Root Down uses a quality municipal water source that’s fairly neutral; all that’s required for them is a slow filtration through a carbon filter to remove chloramines and then the addition of gypsum to their brewing liquor at a rate of 1 kg per 15-BBL batch (~2.2 grams/5 gallons). As this is a hop-forward beer, try to use the freshest hops possible. Significant degradation will hold this beer back from being the bright hop palate that it should be.
