How important do you think an IPA's malt bill is?

It's tremendously important. The malt sweetness, it's character is the wall and up against it you should build your hops profile. Some folks believe that hops = bitterness and those beers are unconscionably bitter. But the folks that belive hops accent the malt and that the bitter is fine tuned to the malt sweetness will make great beer!

 

Drinking a majority of the session IPAs produced today will tell you how important the grain bill is.

 

Very important. I love hops, but I want beer rather than hop tea. It took a while for me to appreciate that the success of a hoppy beer is due every bit to the malt as it is to the hops. Water and yeast are also vital, but without the canvas of the malt there's nothing for the hops to paint upon.

 

Have you tried, and/or do you like, Jack's Abby IPLs? The brewers there have explicitly stated that they use neutral, non-invasive base malts in order to not interfere with the hops showcase.

Customer preferences for U.S.-brewed IPAs have to a significant degree shown that malt is pretty much irrelevant when judging the "quality" of an IPA/IPL.

 

Many US craft brewers 'feature' North American 2-row malt when brewing their hoppy beers but your observation of "it about how they use it" is germane. Lots of BAs like to focus on ingredients but brewing process is just as important (and sometimes more important) on how a beer turns out.

Cheers!

 

Seems like that's exactly what most people say these days. Esp. among non-"jaded," non-BA folks.

 

Do a jesskidden for us and show us the data. Thanks!

 

If ratings on here count, then that's all the data I need.

 

Yeah- I'd be more concerned with residual sugars, proteins, water chemistry- all of these elements that can effect mouthfeel in the presence of all of those hops. In that respect it's as much about the process as it is the malt bill, but in the end you can't just focus on the hops and make a great IPA.

 

Well, as you yourself have argued many times, the ratings on here don't count for much. They tell us what members of BA prefer but they don't tell us what consumers think, nor do they tell us anything about the role of malts in consumer preferences.

 

It's a huge deal for sure. Taking the crystal malt out of Two Hearted would drastically change that beer overall, lowering the sweetness and making it drier.

Plus, the malt bill isn't just about the flavor of the base beer. Using more than one type of base malt adds flavor dimension, but it creates a better beer from the brewers standpoint. Also, with IPA specifically, it will change the way the you taste and perceive the hops in the recipe.

 

Here's a true Jesskidden post for you to illustrate. A total of 5 of top 6 are "West Coast" IPAs, which have as a hallmark of the style a (very) backgrounded malt presence.

 

Helpful. Thanks.

So your conclusion is that because the hops are showcased and the malt backbone is a supporting cast member, that means the malts are unimportant to the overall flavor profile? OK got it. Very informative.

The same logic would mean that in beers where the malts are showcased and the hops are in the supporting cast the hops are unimportant to the overall flavor profile as well, right?

 

Where there is no attempt at balance, yes.