Wayfinder and Ecliptic introduce Cold IPA

John,

Firstly thanks for that report.

What I appreciated (and still do appreciate) about the IPL's from Jack's Abby is the "dry side" those beer have from being fermented with lager yeast.

Cheers!

Jack

 

Sounds like they achieved their goal. Also might explain their choice to use "IPA" in the marketing as that's clearly the market they're targeting and they may have feared the combined lost sales from people who "don't like lagers" and disappointment from people who do and were looking for more typical pale lager attributes

 

Ya I guess I was thinking that maybe since they have a well established lager reputation they didn't want to create expectations when their goal was something that would better reflect their ipas

 

For those asking how this is distinct from an IPL, hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

https://newschoolbeer.com/home/2021/2/what-is-a-cold-ipa-wayfinder-kevin-davey-definition

The process sounds deliberate and purposeful. I do wish they'd release the different approaches, with different yeast strains, and different dry hopping techniques, as a way to show if/how how the process warrants the name. Mikkeler did something similar way back when they released their single hop series and their yeast series of beers in the late 00s.

 

In the above linked article Kevin Davey stated (with emphasis in bold by me):

“I used our house lager strain of yeast, but ferment it warm (65F)…”

Hmm, it was fermented warm but they brand it as Cold IPA.

Marketing at its ‘best’!?!

Cheers!

 

Appreciate the link and to read the process straight from the brewer.

While I'm admittedly still not sold on an entirely new nomenclature, the beer itself sounds interesting. My non-brewer brain still interprets a lot of his description as it sounding like a good IPL. If I came across this I'd be interested enough to give it a fair try.

One issue I'd take is this: "...it’s crisp and sessionable, but strong and sneaky." I have no use for a sessionable 8% anything. Something similar came up with the marketing of that DFH Oat milk IPA, stating that it was a 7% beer that drinks like a session beer. I've been noticing this weird thing going on where marketing is talking up session beers as drinking like full-freight beers, but then promoting high ABV beers as sessionable. Does this seem counter-intuitive to anyone else?

 

The name is all marketing for sure. But isn't 65F cold for IPA fermentation? I thought ales were typically fermented around 70F?

Either way its nice to see that there appears to be a bit more thought than just marketing behind it. And I am definitely glad to see people working on the IPL genre because its a style I love on paper but that rarely delivers on its promise in the glass (for me)

 

While I agree that 8% seems a bit high for a session beer, i also admit that I've had great success sessioning Lagunitas's Where's Waldo.

 

I think that kind of stuff is just classic marketing, working to refute peoples complaints about your product. No fat dairy that "tastes just like full fat!" kind of thing. I do feel like advertising super strong beers as "session able" is pretty weird, I always think of the low abv as being crucial to a session that is more.than a beer or two

 

Nope.

Ale yeast strains typically range from the lower 60's to lower 70's (but needless to say some ale yeast strains can vary).

A common yeast strain for West Coast IPAs is the so called Chico strain. One version is Wyeast 1056 and they provide a recommend fermentation range of 60 - 72 degrees F. It is up to each brewer (commercial brewer, homebrewer) to select which temperature to ferment within this range.

Cheers!

 

Ya rereading the section on the yeast and fermentation temp and it occurs to me that its really more like a "steam IPA" using lager yeast fermented at a warmer than usual temp.

 

I feel fairly certain that I saw some Jack's Abby beers on the shelf the last time I was at John's on Powell, though that was months ago. At least a BA Framinghammer. Not sure about Hoponious, however.

 

Great CB&B podcast with Kevin from Wayfinder if you guys want to learn a bit more about it. Great listen.

Is “Cold IPA” marketing? Totally. Is it a different approach to IPA? I would say yes.

They tried it with Chico fermented cold and Kolsch yeast fermented cold and it wasn’t as good as their house lager yeast fermented on the warmer side.

 

Did they mention if it is lagered at all?

 

I am struck by the statement, "Adjuncts help lighten the body and increase drinkability." I bet it will cost $18.00 for a 4-pack.

 

rice and or corn aren’t any cheaper than barley. The cost of this beer is in the hops.

 

Historically in the US brewing industry, corn has typically been cheaper while rice has often been cited as being equal or sometimes more expensive than barley malt* - all being agricultural products, prices vary based on harvest, other market conditions, etc.

But all three undergo processing before reaching the brewery - barley must first be malted (almost exclusively by outside malting companies), rice is milled and then sorted with the broken grains become "brewer's rice" and corn is converted to grits, flakes or syrup. Brewers who use rice or corn grits need to have cereal cookers, adding to additional expense (equipment, time and labor).

 

Historically yes

Just to use BSG as a reference flaked versions of rice and corn are almost twice as expensive as the NA Pilsner malt used in this beer. I can’t remember what version of rice he said they were using so might be a bit less expensive than bulk flaked rice.

I’m sure the syrups that the big boys use nowadays are maybe a bit cheaper than the same weight in malt but not sure.

 

Craft Beer & Brewing provides a clone recipe for Wayfinder Relapse IPA and lists Briess Flaked Rice for the rice adjunct.

I doubt that Wayfinder Brewery has a cereal cooker so raw rice would not be am option.

Cheers!

Edit: I just re-listened to the podcast and Kevin mentioned flaked rice there as well.