Sour-Mash IPA?

I was gonna suggest Saaz, Hallertau, Hersbrucker, Tetttnang or Styrian Goldings mix & some honey malt for sweetness. You thinking a German ale yeast?

 

Sour + Bitter = Gross

 

Would work as an aromatic pale ale I think: fragrant noble hop aroma, floral, mild spice and tart, on the palate cracker like malt with slight sweetness, crisp tartness, mild bitterness, floral hops. IMO, I wouldn't go above 5.5% and would bitter at 0.75 BU:GU. I wouldn't go really sour either, this concept would work well with a balanced approach.

 

Magic Hat tried this, IMO, it did not turn out well. Lawsons Brettzilla DIPA is great but not exactly what you are contemplating.

 

Wicked Weed's "Amorous" is a sour IPA and is phenomenal.... I would love to brew something like it, but I'm not confident brewing a sour yet.

 

I'd suggest keeping your IBUs low. A bit of acidity and accentuate bitterness, but too much will likely clash. You could try dosing a regular IPA with lactic acid to get an impression of how much is right.

My preference is for dry hopping well-aged sour, great combo of fresh hop aromatics with the developed acid/ester profile of the base beer.

 

A local brewery, Night Shift, had a Berliner/IPA blend (SoJo) at this year's EBF. It was delicious , one of the best of the day. Keep to late addition, citrusy hops, and I think you'll have a winner. Might be doing something similar in the coming months.

 

Is there more to learn about sours and hopping in an upcoming book?

 

Was reading this article, and gee whiz, Wicked Weed and New Belgium are doing a sour IPA.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...ign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20140528

 

Yep, I've got sections of hopping sour beers, and 100% Brett IPAs. Hard copies are just two weeks out (they'll be at NHC).

 

This of course begs the question - if you add a metric butt ton of dry hops to a beer with zero IBUs, is it still an IPA?

There's a high probability this question should be ignored.

 

I don't think a beer like that could simply be called an IPA, but any beer with an appreciable level of sourness isn’t an IPA anyway. Bitterness from isomerized alpha acids is part of the flavor profile of the generic IPA style. Could a low bitterness “sour IPA” have the same legitimacy as white IPA, 100% Brett IPA, black IPA, session IPA etc.? I don’t see why not.