Wayfinder and Ecliptic introduce Cold IPA

On that topic the article was not very clear/consistent. Two extracts (with emphasis in bold by me):

“Cold IPA” is a newer term, and the style aims to feature a crisper IPA. John Harris, Ecliptic’s Owner and Brewmaster teamed up with Wayfinder’s Brewmaster, Kevin Davey, to create Ecliptic’s take on the style. The beer is brewed with Pilsner malt and lager yeast and features Pacific Sunrise and Talus hops.”

And:

“Adjuncts help lighten the body and increase drinkability.”

It is true that adding some adjuncts (e.g., rice, corn) to ‘replace’ malt in the grain bill will achieve a lighter body. But why was only Pilsner malt mentioned in the above bolded sentence? Did the author just forget and it should have read:

“The beer is brewed with Pilsner malt and (insert adjunct type here) and lager yeast and features Pacific Sunrise and Talus hops”.

If the author erroneously omitted listing the adjunct ingredient this is an example of sloppy journalism.

Cheers!

 

I re-looked at the can art to see if they have a depiction of a mountain (which will turn blue when cold) but I couldn't find it. Maybe the beers will turn blue when cold?

Cheers!

 

Wayfinder brews awesome beers. Personally, I don't really care what it's called or if it's a gimmicky name. I'd be happy to try it and would have high expectations coming from them.

 

I love a good IPL and Wayfinder kicks ass, so sign me up. A rose by any other name, after all.

 

John, please tell us Easterners what you think about this beer.

Cheers!

P.S. Have you had the chance to drink Jacks Abby IPL beers (e.g., Hoponius Union) when you were an Easterner?

 

Any craft breweries doing an ICE version of anything yet?

 

I am personally unaware of any craft breweries producing an ICE beer but it would not shock me if one (or two or…) craft brewery did/does produce an ICE beer.

On a related note the American-Style Ice Lager beer category was nixed by the Brewers Association beer style guidelines a couple of years ago:

"Notably deleted from this year’s guidelines is the category of American-Style Ice Lager, which gets it's "ice" moniker form being frozen prior to filtration usually to remove water content and concentrate the ABV to a higher percentage. The style is mostly frequently made by larger brewers including Miller, Anheuser-Busch, and Molson Coors under brands like Bud Ice, Natural Ice, and Molson Ice. But a representative of the Brewers Association insists the reason for the removal has to do with a lack of ice lagers showing up in competition."

https://www.foodandwine.com/beer/brewers-association-beer-style-guidelines-changes-2019

Cheers!

 

Is it possible they left that out purposely to avoid negativity from certain types of people in the beer drinking community? And slipped it in secondarily

I was published in about a dozen articles about beer. My writings. I’d always up front when mentioning a malt bill name everything going in right away

 

I suppose this could be the explanation but given that it was mentioned just creates confusion.

Either mention it consistently or 'hide' it consistently.

There is absolutely no reason not to discuss that a beer is brewed using adjuncts (rice, corn). These ingredients have their place in brewing (e.g., to lighten the body of beer as one example) and if brewers do not want to 'own it' here then just choose to brew all malt instead.

Belgian brewers have been producing high quality beers with adjuncts for many years and they do not hide this aspect.

Cheers!

 

If they are anything like the homebrewers among us who have brewed their thousandth IPA, the idea of using a lager yeast just because is not any surprise. Remember BPA? Of course. Love what yeast do for your favorite Belgian beer? Then put it in your next IPA.

Hops Malt Yeast. There are endless combinations and yet.

I'd try it.

 

IMO the moniker and now mostly accepted style India Pale Lager was initially a marketing term aiming to capitalize on the popularity of the IPAs. They could have just as easily gone with Cold IPA from the start. I think what bothers me about Cold IPA more than anything is that it feels like it is further dumbing down what it is. I have no doubt that it will at least be a solid beer, given what I've heard of Wayfinder.

 

This is a perfect setup for Greg of Stone Brewing and Stone Cold Steve Austin to have a Steel Cage Match for the copyrights to “Stone Cold IPA.”

@mschrei @GreenBayBA

 

It uses lager malts, up the hops a bit and you have a hoppy lager ...Er a Cold IPA.

 

Why not? Seems like there's a lot of folks all too willing to open up their wallets for anything that has India Pale written on it. May as well cash in.

 

Yup, cha-ching!

 

Agree 100% with all of this. Relapse, the "cold IPA" I've had from them, is freaking awesome and certainly has a distinct taste from traditional West Coast IPAs and also from IPLs I've had from both Wayfinder and other high-level producers (eg. Jack's Abby).

 

Also this has nothing to do with brut IPA.