Craze for the Haze: New England IPAs
Centered in the northeastern corner of the USA, the hazy IPA has taken on a cult following in recent years. But the trend hasn’t come without backlash. In fact there is no shortage of opinions among craft beer enthusiasts these days about the haze craze. To those that enjoy this brand of IPA, the hazy appearance means that the ensuing sips will be tantalizingly rich in hop oils; to others, their appearance is an affront to long-held brewing principles. Whether you call them mouth-watering or murky soup, glowing or ugly, make no doubt; these hazy ales are here to stay.
To start this story, let’s travel back to the early 1990s. The craft beer scene was going through its first major boom and new breweries were popping up across many parts of the United States. Led by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company, the American pale ale and American IPA were emerging as popular styles among craft beer enthusiasts for their hop forward characteristics. The bitterness level was the defining feature and having the proper hop bite was essential for an IPA. Innovation then began to emerge along the West Coast of the United States in the late 1990s and early 2000s when double or imperial IPAs like Pliny the Elder from Russian River Brewing Co. in Santa Rosa, California, and Ruination IPA from Stone Brewing Co. in the San Diego area began flowing out of bright tanks. While still containing plenty of hop bite, what set these apart from many earlier renditions of the style was that the hop nose and hop flavor seemed to burst out from the beer. From a brewer’s standpoint, the hop oils of these beers were a far more prominent feature than the hops’ alpha acids. Using a neutral malt profile and a neutral yeast strain, these beers let the hop characteristics shine. These brewers were also using the often-maligned high alpha acid hop varieties such as Columbus, Centennial, Simcoe®, and Chinook in the late boil and in the dry hopping stage . . . and in large dosages. This may seem like common practice for an IPA these days, but even just 15 years ago most brewing literature shunned using these hop varieties for any addition besides bittering. The evolution of a new American IPA was taking shape along the West Coast of North America, a style beer drinkers have dubbed “West Coast IPA.”
The Ignition Phase
Back on the East Coast of the US, in a small brewpub in Burlington, Vermont, a pair of brewers began innocently developing a brand of American IPA that had similar goals as the West Coast brewers but used a different compass. Founded in 1988 by Greg Noonan and Steve Polewacyk, the Vermont Pub & Brewery would prove to be the birthplace of another IPA revolution. Often cited as the first brewers of the modern black IPA and the New England style of IPA, offering a variety of beers that was extremely rare in those days, the Vermont Pub & Brewery had roots in Greg Noonan’s brewing chemistry knowledge and flair for creativity. Building off the greater worldwide beer revolution led by Michael Jackson, Greg Noonan explored beer styles that were outside of the everyday norm, even for other forward-thinking brewers.
Enter John Kimmich, who in 1994 moved to Vermont with a specific mission to brew under the tutelage of Greg Noonan. John had worked for a time in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at one of the mainstay homebrew shops in the area, Country Wines. Working under Alexis Hartung and her extensive library on homebrewing, John got his first glimpse of the brewing genius when he read Greg Noonan’s book, New Brewing Lager Beer. After about a year he landed a job as head brewer at Vermont Pub & Brewery. Within months of John brewing there, Greg gained confidence in his young protégé’s brewing savvy. With each beer John tweaked, the mentor was impressed; within twelve months Greg gave John the freedom to start experimenting on his own.
By 1997, John had parted ways with the Vermont Pub & Brewery, and along with his wife Jen founded a brewpub of their own in 2003, The Alchemist Pub & Brewery, located a half an hour east of Burlington in Waterbury, Vermont. While Waterbury at the time was a pretty sleepy little New England town and anything but a tourist mecca, what it did have going for it was that it was at the perfect crossroads. Located just off the major highway that bisects Vermont on the way between the state’s largest city and state capital, Waterbury is easily accessed by both travelers on their way to local tourist hot spots and locals coming and going to jobs or shopping excursions. Because of these factors, Waterbury proved to be an excellent spot for John and Jen.
One unique characteristic of Kimmich’s hop-forward beers was that when poured fresh and unfiltered, they were usually pretty hazy. He found that filtering his beers was potentially introducing unwanted oxygen into the beer and stripping the beer of many wanted characteristics. He was using the Conan strain (VPB1188), a yeast that his mentor had developed and one that many are now familiar with. With English derivations, the Conan yeast strain, plus John’s solid brewing base, and his flair for experimenting with hops, all proved to be a winning combination for an East Coast brewing revolution.
THE GROWTH PHASE
By the time I went to the Vermont Brewers Festival in 2007, the line for The Alchemist tent must have been at least 20 minutes for a pour. Folks would get their glass filled, then just circle around to the back of the line for another chance to get a taste of his acclaimed beers, especially Heady Topper. First brewed in 2003, Heady Topper garnered most of the attention back then, but really was just one of many of the Alchemist Pub & Brewery’s acclaimed IPAs. There were stories circulating that people at his pub would take their pint glasses of Heady Topper into the bathroom to fill bottles, then cap them to save and take home since The Alchemist did not fill growlers or bottle their beers. I thought this craze for those IPAs had reached some sort of crescendo at the time. Little did I know that the fire was only just building.
I recently asked Shaun Hill of Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, which has been ranked “Best Brewery in the World” three of the last four years by users on RateBeer.com, about his relationship with Kimmich back in those days. Shaun was brewing about 30 minutes away in Stowe, Vermont at a brewpub called The Shed.
“In 2005 I was fawning appreciation over John’s beers and he was offering me criticism on my beers,” said Hill. “This relationship evolved over time, especially as I moved onward to Denmark and the conversation became one of two peers, very mutual, pushing each other in new directions.” With the untimely passing of Greg Noonan in 2009 (sadly for John the same month as the passing of Alexis Hartung), the old protégé had officially been passed the torch as the new mentor. In my exchange with Joel Mahaffey of Foundation Brewing Co. in Portland, Maine about influential IPAs for this new revolution, he said of The Alchemist, “If anyone answers this question and omits Heady Topper, they’re full of it. That is the original hazy IPA and it has made its mark on the brewing community.”
What has emerged in the northeastern corner of the United States is an explosion of new breweries producing pale ales, IPAs and double IPAs based on the unfiltered, glowing, soft-bodied style of IPA that Greg Noonan and John Kimmich pioneered and then Shaun Hill continued to refine. Both John and Shaun separately pointed out that they were just brewing beers the way they wanted to and that they loved the finished product. The term juicy IPA has come to be a common moniker for these beers and the mouthfeel of the beer is almost as important to enthusiasts as is the hop nose and flavor. And just like how the West Coast-style of IPA spread like fire in 2008; the hazy, unfiltered, New England-style of IPA is spreading in 2016.
Fully Involved
Now it’s time to move into the brew-house and figure out how to brew a New England-style IPA. Shaun Hill says, “Be yourself and make beer that tastes, smells, and looks the way that you want it to.” JC Tetreault of Trillium Brewing Co. in Boston, Massachusetts adds, “The short answer . . . it’s all important, you need to focus on every aspect to arrive at the intended beer.” The goal is to achieve a soft, slightly sweet, almost tropical fruit juice-like mouthfeel for the beer with potent hop characteristics on the tongue that leaves a subtle bite on the finish.
Malts
Just like the West Coast-style of IPAs, New England-style IPAs have a fairly clean malt bill. What that means is that they steer clear of many flavor additions that will add more than a bready, cracker-like background. Crystal malts and other malts that are above 20 °L are generally to be avoided. These beers may benefit from some addition of low Lovibond crystal malts, but keep them in check. Flaked grains like oats, barley, wheat, and other similar grains can be added to help build the body, but don’t feel like they are a necessity. I’ve played around with up to 15% flaked grains in my grain bill and the results have been borderline overkill. JC Tetreault says that, “regarding unmalted/raw/flaked adjuncts . . . we don’t use that in every hop forward beer. Actually a relatively small percentage of our hop forward beers contain them.” Sugar additions such as dextrose, sucrose, and raw sugars increase the gravity of the wort to assure a dryness in the higher alcohol versions. If you do choose a raw sugar, once again be sure to keep the addition modest; I have found molasses characteristics can start to become apparent when I started to near about 10% of the grain bill. The goal is to keep the hops as the feature of the beer while providing a soft, subtle backbone to the beer.
Yeast
Here is where New England-style IPA deviates from West Coast-style IPA. Yeast and the treatment downstream from fermentation seems to be the biggest break between the two renditions of the style. First off, let’s focus on the downstream treatment of these beers. Most New England-style IPAs are not fined in the fermenter with clarifying agents such as gelatin, Biofine®, or PolyclarTM, nor are they later filtered or centrifuged in order to clear the beer. The thought process is that stripping the beer of all the yeast also strips hop oils and other subtle nuances that help build the character of the beer. This allows the maximum level of hop oils to remain in the beer through the finished product. Secondly the New England brewers will ferment with an English-origin yeast strain. BYO’s Technical Editor Ashton Lewis points out, “According to DNA studies, California Ale yeast (White Labs WLP001, Wyeast 1056, and other Chico Ale strains) is most likely from the Cologne area in Germany.” This line of American strains have been selected for their capacity for producing clean, bright and bitter beers without adding character. The yeast strains the New England-style IPA brewers are using are adding more esters to the beer, many of which help build the juice-like profile for these beers. Also the IPAs brewed with these strains don’t seem to clear to the extent that the American strains do when subjected to high levels of hop oils. This is at odds with most literature on these specific English strains. If you read the description for most of the yeast strains used to produce these hazy IPAs, most all of them are considered “highly-flocculent” strains, while the Chico strain, commonly chosen for West Coast IPAs is a low-medium flocculator. Why then won’t these beers clear when subjected to heavy doses of late boil or dry hops? This is still very much a grey area, so I asked several folks in the industry about the haze. What some brewers point to is that these yeast strains flocculate almost too quickly. This doesn’t allow time for the hop oils and polyphenols to adhere to the yeast, leaving those compounds and other hop derived compounds in solution instead of stripping them out. Something that Ashton Lewis points out is that the haze found in hefeweizens is primarily from protein/polyphenol interactions and not from the yeast.
So what yeast strains should you use? There is no shortage of available strains for those seeking to brew this style of American IPA, so refer to the suggestions given in the recipes at the bottom of this page for some ideas.
Water
Water can play a pivotal role in the development of the New England- style IPA. Focus on the hardness levels of your water. If you have soft water, then you have a great starting point. If you have hard water, obtain a water report from your town’s water department. If that is not available, there are several labs that can test a sample, or you can purchase an at-home water test kit. No matter what, using distilled or RO water will get you a great base to the build the water profile you are after. Try to keep your bicarbonate level under 50 PPM for your strike and sparge water.
Next thing to focus on is your sulfates and chlorides. This can be a fairly controversial area when dealing with New England-style IPAs but once again can possibly be a dividing line between New England-style IPA and West Coast-style IPA. When I initially started tinkering with my water levels, I treated my IPA brewing water for a 2:1 sulfate to chloride level in my beer, which generally translated to 100:50 PPM. I produced several beers that, to me, would rival beers my brewing idols were putting out. But in the spirit of homebrewing, I kept experimenting. I moved that to 200:50 PPM sulfate:chloride and found that didn’t seem to move my needle much at all. Next I tried 100:100 and found that did seem to move my needle. My findings aren’t the only anecdotal evidence to confirm that boosting the chlorides may be beneficial to this style of beer. If you’re looking to adjust your sulfates and chloride levels for your strike water and sparge water, I highly recommend checking out the ScottJanish.com March 7th, 2016 post titled “Mouthfeel Softness.” Scott talks about possible negative effects of increased sulfate levels and positive effects of chloride levels.
Hops
Generally, the bitterness from hops in this take on IPA plays a supporting role, one that counteracts the body and sweetness provided from the malts. First of all, keep the bittering additions to a low to moderate level. You can experiment with adding more bittering hops, but I’ve never found a positive correlation to big additions of bittering hops leading to a better New England-style IPA. Use high alpha hops like Magnum, Warrior™, or Bravo if going for pellet or whole leaf hops and I advise keeping the bittering addition fairly low. I’ll typically bitter to a 1:3 BU:GU (bitter units:gravity units) when I brew this style of IPA. This means that for a beer that I targeted a starting gravity of 1.066, the 60-minute hop addition contributed about 22 IBUs. This is to avoid adding a harshness that can come from boiling larger amounts of green hops for an extended period of time. The other option is to use hop extracts which can provide the necessary alpha acids to add bitterness to the beer without getting the polyphenols that some brewers feel contributes to the harsh characteristics.
Late boil additions and dry hops play a much more influential role compared to bittering hops during the production of New England-style IPA. Copious late boil or whirlpool/hop stand additions are beneficial for all highly aromatic IPAs. This will add plenty of IBUs to supplement your bittering addition and begin building your hop oil profile. I find that more pungent, aromatic varietals like Simcoe®, Columbus, Chinook and Apollo play well in this stage. Each brewer seems to find a technique in this area that works for them whether it means adding several additions at 20 minutes or less to the boil, then chilling to some determined temperature for a final hop stand or just adding all their late boil hops at flameout and letting sit for 20+ minutes. There doesn’t seem to be a wrong way, just various ways to get the various low flashpoint hop oils into the beer.
Dry hops are the next objective to set your sights on. I would like to focus on the techniques as opposed to the quantities or hop varietals since technique seems to hold the trump card. But one thing is for sure, don’t be overly shy with the dry hops addition. One ounce per gallon (7.5 g per liter) is definitely a good starting point. You can adjust to more or less depending on your results. Fellow homebrewers Scott Janish and Michael Tonsmeire added that kegging these beers can have several advantages. Keg hopping, CO2 purging and the lack of an extended carbonation period are two such advantages of using kegs vs. bottling.
So when is the best time to add the dry hops? While not a necessity, a two-stage dry hop addition seems to be a solid choice for this style of IPA. Take whatever your intended goal for dry hopping is and split it into two additions. First addition would be added during active fermentation while the second addition would be added once active fermentation has died down and yeast have flocculated. First addition could be added at various stages of primary fermentation; some brewers seem to add them at the same time as the yeast are pitched, some add it at high kräusen while many others add it near termination of active fermentation. I add the first round of dry hops as the kräusen has died down. Hop glycosides and biotransformations are important in this discussion about how the yeast will interact with the hop oils and hop derivatives. I find that the late boil/whirlpool hops will provide characteristics similar to those hop oils added during early fermentation. As for the second round of dry hops, the goal is to wait until fermentation has died down. Timing is not so much a factor here, but oxygen intrusion is paramount. Be sure to take extra measures to ensure as little oxygen as possible is introduced into the beer.
Finally, this is something that is new to me: Dry hopping under pressure. This will require some additional pieces of equipment, mainly a feature called a spunding valve. A spunding valve is a pressure release valve that allows brewers to set their vessel to a certain PSI. If the pressure goes beyond that set point, the valve opens to bring it back to within the set pressure limits. To build your own spunding valve, read our project at https://byo.com/story397. So why may this be helpful to this style? Because we are looking to retain as much hop aromatics as possible and keep the blow-off to a minimum. Homebrewers and pro brewers both have been experimenting more and more with spunding valves for both primary and dry hopping stages of beer production.
The East Coast brewing revolution is in full swing and if you can’t make it to the region to get a sample, at least now you can start brewing beers similar in character to those mentioned in the article. And if you are not a fan of the hazy, glowing beers, just be sure to let those fans who do enjoy the style to sip in peace. As with so many aspects about life, there is no such thing as the perfect.
Special thanks to all the brewers who helped with the production of this article: John Kimmich at The Alchemist, Shaun Hill at Hill Farmstead Brewery, Joel Mahaffey at Foundation Brewing Co., Matt Cohen at Fiddlehead Brewing Co., Matt Nadeau at Rock Art Brewery, and JC Tetreault at Trillium Brewing Co. Please visit these breweries for yourself!
New England-Style IPA Recipes
The Alchemist’s Focal Banger clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.063 FG = 1.012
IBU = 80 SRM = 5 ABV = 7%
While the recipe for Focal Banger has been known to change over the years, the Citra®/Mosaic® hop
combo has been one thing that hasn’t changed. Pilsner malt has been known to be part of the grain bill, so feel free to substitute in some for the Pearl malt.
Ingredients
12 lbs. (4.3 kg) Thomas Fawcett Pearl malt
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) corn sugar (15 min.)
4 mL HopShot™ (60 min.)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Mosaic® hops (0 min.)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
The Yeast Bay (Vermont Ale) or East Coast Yeast ECY29 (North East Ale) or Omega Yeast Labs (DIPA Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
This recipe is designed for homebrewers to achieve 5.5 gallons (21 L) wort in their fermenter on brew day. This will help offset the loss of volume to the heavy hopping rate of this beer.
Build your water profile, starting with either very soft water or RO water. Target a water profile of 250:100 PPM sulfate: chloride. Crush the malt and add to 4 gallons (15 L) strike water to achieve a stable mash temperature at 154 °F (68 °C). Raise to mash out and begin to lauter. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the HopShot™ addition after the wort comes to a boil and the corn sugar with 15 minutes left in the boil. After you turn off the heat, add the final addition of hops, then stir the wort and let settle for 30 minutes with the lid on before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). As fermentation nears completion, transfer the beer to a keg and add the dry hops and attach a spunding valve. Let the beer sit on the hops for 3–4 days, then transfer to a serving keg or bottling bucket. Bottle with priming sugar or force carbonate the serving keg to 2.4 volumes CO2.
The Alchemist’s Focal Banger clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract only)
OG = 1.063 FG = 1.012
IBU = 80 SRM = 5 ABV = 7%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) Maris Otter liquid malt extract
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
1.2 lbs. (0.54 kg) corn sugar (15 min.)
4 mL HopShot™ (60 min.)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Mosaic® hops (0 min.)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
The Yeast Bay (Vermont Ale) or East Coast Yeast ECY29 (North
East Ale) or Omega Yeast Labs (DIPA Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Heat 5 gallons (19 L) soft or RO water up to boil. As soon as the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the liquid and dried malt extracts. Stir until all the extract is dissolved then return the wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the HopShot™ addition after the wort comes to a boil and the corn sugar with 15 minutes left in the boil. After you turn off the heat, add the final addition of hops, then stir the wort and let settle for 30 minutes with the lid on before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Top off your fermenter to 5.5 gallons (21 L).
Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). As fermentation nears completion, transfer the beer to a keg, add the dry hops, and attach a spunding valve. Let the beer sit on the hops for 3–4 days, then transfer to a serving keg or bottling bucket. Bottle with priming sugar or force carbonate the serving keg to 2.4 volumes CO2.
Tips for success:
One of the secrets to John Kimmich’s success at brewing these beers is making sure to minimize the amount of dissolved oxygen (DO) in the beer. To do the same at home, be cautious when racking. You can also purge your receiving vessel with CO2 before transfer to minimize exposure to oxygen when you’re moving the beer from vessel to vessel.
Also, minimize oxygen exposure when you add the dry hops. To do this, try vacuum packing your hops before adding them to your beer, or better yet, vacuum pack them and then gas flush them with CO2.
Foundation Brewing Co.’s Epiphany clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.073 FG = 1.015
IBU = 85 SRM = 7 ABV = 8.1%
Foundation Head Brewer and Co-Owner Joel Mahaffey says, “The characteristics that I feel are the hallmarks of a Maine IPA are a soft body, modest but solid malt backbone, low bitterness (but sufficient to avoid cloying sweetness), and a dominating hop flavor and aroma profile. Characteristics should lean towards fruit, be it citrus or tropical, but notes of pine and resin are also perfectly acceptable.”
Ingredients
7.25 lbs. (3.3 kg) Pilsner malt
5.5 lbs. (2.5 kg) 2-row pale malt
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Golden Naked Oats® malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) corn sugar (10 min.)
7.25 AAU Columbus hops (first wort hop) (0.5 oz./14 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
7 AAU Cascade hops (10 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 7% alpha acids)
14.5 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.) (1 oz./21 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Columbus hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Mosaic® hops (0 min.)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Ella hops (0 min.)
2 oz. (57 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Ella hops (dry hop)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) or White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
This recipe is designed for homebrewers to achieve 5.5 gallons (21 L) wort in their fermenter on brew day. This will help offset the loss of volume to the heavy hopping rate of this beer.
Build your water profile to achieve a 100:100 PPM sulfate:chloride profile. Crush the malt and add to 5 gallons (19 L) strike water to achieve a stable mash temperature at 154 °F (68 °C). After 60 minutes, begin to lauter. Collect approximately 7 gallons (26.5 L) of wort in the kettle. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the first hop addition and corn sugar with 10 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, remove from heat then add the second hop addition. Stir the wort, then let settle for 30 minutes before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).
As the kräusen begins to fall, typically day 4 or 5, add the dry hops and let the beer sit on the hops for 3 days. Bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.4 volumes CO2.
Foundation Brewing Co.’s Epiphany clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.073 FG = 1.015
IBU = 85 SRM = 6 ABV = 8.1%
Ingredients
4 lbs. (1.8 kg) Pilsen dried malt extract
3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg) light liquid malt extract
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) Golden Naked Oats® malt
1.3 lb. (0.6 kg) corn sugar (10 min.)
7.25 AAU Columbus hops (first wort hop) (0.5 oz./14 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
7 AAU Cascade hops (10 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 7% alpha acids)
14.5 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.) (1 oz./21 g at 14.5% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Columbus hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Cascade hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Mosaic® hops (0 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Ella hops (0 min.)
2 oz. (57 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Ella hops (dry hop)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) or White Labs WLP013 (London Ale) or Wyeast 1028 (London Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place the crushed malt in a large muslin bag. Soak the grains in 1.5 gallons (6 L) water at 154 °F (68 °C) for 60 minutes. Remove the grain bag and wash with 2 qts. (2 L) hot water. Top off the kettle to 6 gallons (23 L) and heat up to boil. As soon as the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the dried and liquid malt extracts. Stir until all the extract is dissolved then return the wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the first hop and corn sugar with 10 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, remove from heat then add the second hop addition. Stir the wort, then let settle for 30 minutes before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). As the kräusen begins to fall, typically day 4 or 5, add the dry hops and let the beer sit on the hops for 3 days. Bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.4 volumes CO2.
Rock Art Brewery’s Limited Access clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.070 FG = 1.015
IBU = 75 SRM = 7 ABV = 7.5%
While Rock Art uses the cleaner American/California Ale strain in this beer, the unfiltered product still has a nice glowing haze to it thanks to the huge late bursting of hops and a high dry hopping rate.
Ingredients
13.5 lbs. (6.12 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.1 lbs. (500 g) wheat malt (40 °L)
12 oz. (340 g) Carapils® malt
12 oz. (340 g) aromatic malt
1.3 AAU Chinook hops (first wort hop) (0.1 oz./3 g at 12.8% alpha acids)
4.6 AAU Chinook hops (20 min.) (0.35 oz./10 g at 12.8% alpha acids)
7.8 AAU Simcoe® hops (10 min.) (0.6 oz./17 g at 13% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Citra® hops (5 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Simcoe® (5 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Galaxy (5 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Simcoe® (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Galaxy (0 min.)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Galaxy hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Cascade hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Falconer’s Flight® hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
This recipe is designed to achieve 5.5 gallons (21 L) wort in the fermenter on brew day. This will help offset the loss of volume to the heavy hopping rate of this beer.
Build your water profile to achieve a 300:150 PPM sulfate:chloride profile. Mill the grains and
mix with 5 gallons (19 L) of 167 °F (71 °C) strike water to reach a mash temperature of 155 °F (68 °C), targeting a mash pH of 5.2. Hold this temperature for 60 minutes or until starch conversion is complete. Vorlauf until your runnings are clear. Sparge with enough water to obtain 7 gallons (25 L) of wort and add the first wort hops while the sparge is ongoing. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the ingredients list. After the boil, turn off heat and begin a whirlpool of the hot wort. Let stand for 20 minutes, then chill the wort to 65 °F (18 °C). There should be 5.5 gallons (21 L) of wort in your kettle. Aerate with pure oxygen or filtered air and pitch yeast.
Ferment at 67 °F (19 °C) for 7 days. Add the dry hops and raise to 72 °F (22 °C) for three more days. Once the beer reaches terminal gravity, bottle or keg the beer and carbonate to approximately 2.5 volumes. You can cold-crash the beer prior to packaging to 35 °F (2 °C) for 48 hours to improve clarity.
Rock Art Brewery’s Limited Access clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.070 FG = 1.007
IBU = 92 SRM = 8 ABV = 8.2%
Ingredients
9 lbs. (4.1 kg) extra light liquid malt extract
1.1 lbs. (500 g) wheat malt (40 °L)
12 oz. (340 g) Carapils® malt
12 oz. (340 g) aromatic malt
1.3 AAU Chinook hops (first wort hop) (0.1 oz./3 g at 12.8% alpha acids)
4.6 AAU Chinook hops (20 min.) (0.35 oz./10 g at 12.8% alpha acids)
7.8 AAU Simcoe® hops (10 min.) (0.6 oz./17 g at 13% alpha acids)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Citra® hops (5 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Simcoe® (5 min.)
0.5 oz. (14 g) Galaxy (5 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Citra® hops (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Simcoe® (0 min.)
1 oz. (28 g) Galaxy (0 min.)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
1 oz. (28 g) Galaxy hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Cascade hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Falconer’s Flight® hops (dry hop)
0.75 oz. (21 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) or White Labs WLP001 (California Ale) or Safale US-05 yeast
¾ cup corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Bring 1 gallon (4 L) of water to approximately 155 °F (68 °C) and hold there. Place the milled grains in grain bags and steep for 45 minutes. Remove the grain bags, and place in a colander. Wash the grains with 1 gallon (4 L) hot water. Add liquid extract while stirring, and stir until dissolved, then top off to 7 gallons (26.5 L). Bring the wort to a boil and boil for 60 minutes. Follow the remainder of the all-grain recipe.
Tree House Brewing Co.’s Julius clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.061 FG = 1.014
IBU = 75 SRM = 8 ABV = 6.5%
Tree House Brewing Co. is the current heavyweight craft beer king according to users at
BeerAdvocate.com with an astounding 12 of the top 50 beers in the world being produced in little Monson, Massachusetts. For those that can’t make the trip to Monson, here is a good rendition of this extremely flavorful beer.
Ingredients
11 lbs. (5 kg) UK pale ale malt
1 lb. (0.45 kg) oat malt
5 oz. (142 g) honey malt
5 oz. (142 g) Carapils® malt
5 oz. (142 g) flaked oats
8 oz. (227 g) turbinado sugar (15 min.)
8 mL HopShot™ (60 min.)
2 oz. (57 g) Citra® hops (hop stand)
2 oz. (57 g) Mosaic® hops (hop stand)
1 oz. (28 g) Simcoe® hops (hop stand)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
2 oz. (57 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) or White Labs WLP022 (Essex Ale) or Wyeast 1335 (British Ale II) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
This recipe is designed for homebrewers to achieve 5.5 gallons (21 L) wort in their fermenter on brew day. This will help offset the loss of volume to the heavy hopping rate of this beer.
Build your water profile to achieve a 100:200 PPM sulfate: chloride profile. Crush the malt and add to 4.5 gallons (17 L) strike water to achieve a stable mash temperature at 154 °F (68 °C). After 60 minutes, begin to lauter. Collect 7 gallons (26.5 L) of wort in the kettle. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the hop extract after the wort comes to a boil and the turbinado sugar with 15 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, chill the wort down to 180 °F (82 °C) and then add the hop stand addition. Stir the wort, then let settle for 30 minutes before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). As the kräusen begins to fall, typically day 4 or 5, add the dry hops and spunding valve. Let the beer sit on the hops for 3 days. Bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.4 volumes of CO2.
Tree House Brewing Co.’s Julius clone
(5 gallons/19 L, partial mash)
OG = 1.061 FG = 1.014
IBU = 75 SRM = 8 ABV = 6.5%
Ingredients
6 (2.7 kg) extra light dried malt extract
1 lb. (0.45 kg) oat malt
5 oz. (142 g) honey malt
5 oz. (142 g) Carapils® malt
5 oz. (142 g) flaked oats
8 oz. (227 g) turbinado sugar (15 min.)
8 mL HopShot™ (60 min.)
2 oz. (57 g) Citra® hops (hop stand)
2 oz. (57 g) Mosaic® hops (hop stand)
1 oz. (28 g) Simcoe® hops (hop stand)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Citra® hops (dry hop)
2 oz. (57 g) Mosaic® hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Simcoe® hops (dry hop)
Wyeast 1318 (London Ale III) or White Labs WLP022 (Essex Ale) or Wyeast 1335 (British Ale II) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place the crushed malt in a muslin bag. Steep the grains in 1 gallon (4 L) water at 154 °F (68 °C) for 45 minutes. Remove the grain bag and wash with 2 qts. (2 L) hot water. Top off the kettle to 5 gallons and heat up to boil. As soon as the water begins to boil, remove from heat and stir in the dried malt extract. Stir until all the extract is dissolved then return the wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the first hop addition just after the wort comes to a boil and a second hop addition with 10 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, chill the wort down to 180 °F (82 °C) and then add the hop stand addition. Stir the wort, then let sit for 30 minutes before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Top off the fermenter to 5.5 gallons (21 L). Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). As the kräusen begins to fall, typically day 4 or 5, add the dry hops and spunding valve. Let the beer sit on the hops for 3 days.
Bottle with priming sugar or keg and force carbonate to 2.4 volumes of CO2.
Trillium Brewing Co.’s SLEEPER St. clone
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.066 FG = 1.013
IBU = 75 SRM = 5 ABV = 7.2%
Trillium brewers describe this beer on their website as, “Opaque orange-yellow in color with floral aromas of lime zest, grapefruit peel, pine sap, and candied orange.”
Ingredients
11 lbs. (5 kg) 2-row pale malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) wheat malt
12 oz. (0.34 kg) dextrin malt
4 oz. (113 g) pale crystal malt (15 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) dextrose sugar
14 AAU Columbus hops (60 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 14% alpha acids)
14 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.) (1 oz./28 g at 14% alpha acids)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Columbus hops (hop stand)
5 oz. (142 g) El Dorado™ hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Columbus hops (dry hop)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc® tablet (10 min.)
White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale) or Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
This recipe is designed for homebrewers to achieve 5.5 gallons (21 L) wort in their fermenter on brew day. This will help offset the loss of volume to the heavy hopping rate of this beer.
Build your water profile, starting with either very soft or RO water. Target a water profile of 200:100 PPM sulfate:chloride. Crush the malt and add to 4 gallons (15 L) strike water to achieve a stable mash temperature at 150 °F (65.5 °C). After 60 minutes, begin to lauter. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the first hop addition after the wort comes to a boil and a second hop addition with 10 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, chill the wort to 180 °F (82 °C) and then add the hop stand addition. Stir the wort, then let settle for 30 minutes before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C).
As the kräusen begins to fall, typically day 4 or 5, transfer to a keg with the dry hops and add a spunding valve. Let the beer sit on the hops for 4-5 days, then transfer to a serving keg or bottling bucket. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to the transfer by dropping the temperature of the beer to 35 °F (2 °C) for 24 hours.
Bottle with priming sugar or force carbonate the serving keg to 2.4 volumes CO2.
Trillium Brewing Co.’s SLEEPER St. clone
(5 gallons/19 L, extract with grains)
OG = 1.067 FG = 1.014
IBU = 75 SRM = 5 ABV = 7.2%
Ingredients
6.6 lbs. (3 kg) golden liquid malt extract
2 lbs. (0.91 kg) wheat dried malt extract
4 oz. (113 g) dextrin malt
4 oz. (113 g) pale crystal malt (15 °L)
12 oz. (0.34 kg) dextrose sugar
14 AAU Columbus hops (60 min.)
(1 oz./28 g at 14% alpha acids)
14 AAU Columbus hops (10 min.)
(1 oz./28 g at 14% alpha acids)
2.5 oz. (71 g) Columbus hops (hop stand)
5 oz. (142 g) El Dorado™ hops (dry hop)
1.5 oz. (43 g) Columbus hops (dry hop)
1⁄2 Whirlfloc® tablet (10 min.)
White Labs WLP007 (Dry English Ale) or Wyeast 1098 (British Ale) yeast
3⁄4 cups corn sugar (if priming)
Step by Step
Place the crushed malt in a muslin bag. Steep the grains in 6 gallon (23 L) water at 160 °F (71 °C) for 20 minutes. Remove the grain bag and wash with 2 qts. (2 L) hot water. Be sure to remove the wort from heat then stir in the dried and liquid malt extracts. Stir until all the extract is dissolved then return the wort to a boil. Boil for 60 minutes, adding the first hop addition after the wort comes to a boil and a second hop addition with 10 minutes left in the boil. After the boil, chill the wort down to 180 °F (82 °C) and then add the hop stand addition. Stir the wort, then let settle for 30 minutes before cooling to yeast pitching temperature. Top off the fermenter to 5.5 gallons (21 L) then aerate the wort. Ferment at 68 °F (20 °C). As the kräusen begins to fall, typically day 4 or 5, transfer to a keg with the dry hops and add a spunding valve. Let the beer sit on the hops for 4-5 days, then transfer to a serving keg or bottling bucket. You may want to cold-crash the beer prior to the transfer by dropping the temperature of the beer to 35 °F (2 °C) for 24 hours. Bottle with priming sugar or force carbonate the serving keg to 2.4 volumes CO2.
