And the winner is...West Coast IPA!

2022 has given 2JBC much to celebrate. We are preparing for our first ever Homebrew Competition on March 19 at the Craft LB Homebrew Invitational, we have finally (fingers crossed) dialed in our new 1 barrel brewhouse, and we are celebrating 1000 followers on Instagram! We are so excited and thrilled to see what is next! I mean, it’s homebrewing, so anything goes, right? While we are both excited and nervous for March 19th–I mean, what could wrong when you are pouring beer in a garden with no access to water or electricity?--we wanted to take the time to celebrate all of these accomplishments. We have been enjoying learning more about brewing, meeting more brewers, and developing new techniques to improve our beers. While we love that our friends and family enjoy our beers, there is nothing like the camaraderie of other brewers. Only a homebrewer truly understands the thrill of opening up a bag of hops, waiting for a shipment to arrive, geeking out over a pH meter, or that Umami taste in a beer that you created and shaped. 

To celebrate with other homebrewers, we wanted to create a collaborative beer with you. We will develop the beer recipe with input from our followers and share each step of the creation with you on our blog. Based on the results of our first question, the overwhelming winner was a West Coast IPA. In fact, second place was a West Coast DIPA, followed by a Pilsner. Because of this, the final result will be a beer we call Much Love IPA and will share with all of you. You are free to brew the beer, critique the recipe, make changes, update it, and share it with others. However, we only ask that you give credit where credit is due and share that Much Love IPA was created and shared by 2JBC.

History of IPAs

All IPAs are not created equal and have their own unique flare. After everything I have looked over and read, it appears that the various IPA styles are very indicative of the areas in which they are produced and the tastes of the people who live there. The original IPA stemmed from the need to ship beer overseas from England to British soldiers in India. It was too hot in India to brew beer, so beer had to survive a six month journey over the seas to reach British soldiers. To survive the journey, the beer was made with high alcohol and lots of hops so that the flavors remained when the beer arrived. And the IPA was born. The first American IPA was from the Ballantine Company and was brewed until they went out of business in the 1970s. From there, Anchor Brewing Company brewed Liberty Ale with the newly grown Cascade hop and the rest is history. 

West Coast IPAs are most likely born out of the proximity to hop farms that produce Cascade, Centennial, Chinook, and Columbus. Blind Pig IPA was the first super hoppy IPA which led to other brewers to follow including Stone, Green Flash, Ballast Point, and Pizza Port. Besides the different hop varieties available, American IPAs tend to have different grains than the original British IPAs. British malts tend to be a bit more malty or bready than American malts. The bready flavor of the British malt lends itself to a more balanced bitter in the IPA while American IPAs tend to have a more mild 2-Row base that is paler in color and a bit drier on the palate. The result is the bitterness of the hops really shines through. Now, the NEIPA is what we think of as a hazy IPA while an East Coast IPA is a balance between the British and West Coast style of IPAs (think Dogfish IPAs).

Breakdown of IPA styles

Of course, there are more styles than I have listed (i.e., Sour IPA, Black IPA, Milkshake IPAs, etc.), but the four below are a good starting point to understanding IPA flavors. 

1. British IPAs–a maltier and bitter IPA, well balanced, darker in color than a WCIPA
2. New England IPAs–unfiltered or hazy, lower bitterness, fruitier/tropical flavors, tend to be lower carbonated, look like orange juice
3. East Coast IPAs–a balance between British and West Coast IPA styles, tend to have more piney and malty flavors
4. West Coast IPAs–tend to have a cleaner background, less malty, very bitter, and a higher carbonation

Building a WCIPA Recipe​

So how do we build a West Coast IPA? We start with the grains. Why? Because a West Coast IPA tends to have lots of early boil bittering hops that are really pronounced and the star of the beer. WCIPAs also are heavily dry hopped and have lots of aroma hops to complete the flavor. To achieve the background needed to accentuate the hops, the base beer needs to be clean and crisp. For this, the majority of the grain bill should be 2-Row malt. To give the beer a bit more color, a bit of Crystal Malt (in small quantities) can be added. This also helps to give a bit more fermentable sugars to drive up the ABV. A bit of Carapils adds a nice mouthfeel, fuller body, and better head retention.

The Grain Bill

We'd love to hear your feedback on the grain bill. Since this is really the foundation for the Much Love IPA, we'd love to hear feedback! Check our Instagram Story and Feed to share your ideas for hop selections as next week we add in the hops! 

Cheers! 
​2JBC