Dissecting a Style: Cold IPA

As beer styles change and evolve, consumers are sometimes left in the dark, so we’re starting a new series of articles that will highlight some of the lesser known styles you’ll encounter in your beer drinking journeys. First up, we’ve got the newest sub-style of the India Pale Ale: Cold IPA.

Cold IPAs attempt to bridge the gap between hazy/juicy IPAs and crisp session-able lagers, providing drinkers with a clean, crushable beer that highlights the true flavor/aroma of hops.

Not an IPL by Another Name

Let’s first talk about what a Cold IPA is not. In our view it isn’t just an India Pale Lager or a Dry Hopped Lager, despite what some may claim. Using a standard IPA recipe with a lager yeast or throwing an entire cooler of hops at a pilsner isn’t how you make a Cold IPA. 

Historically, when brewing an IPL, breweries add lager yeast to their standard IPA recipe and call it good. Combining the colder fermentation temperatures with that standard malt bill and dry-hopping may not work as intended, as the byproducts of the lager yeast (esters and sulphur dioxide) won’t allow the American hops to truly shine. Many times, due to production schedules, the fermentation is also hurried to a point where the beer isn’t given the chance to clean up, as these brewers may not be ones who produce lagers on a consistent basis.

The other approach is to take a lager and dry hop it exorbitantly. This usually means producing a lager recipe with a hopping schedule more closely resembling an American IPA—little to no boil hops, a massive dose at whirlpool and an equally heavy handed approach during dry hopping. We’ve all had this kind of beer, where the hops take over in an unpleasant way, contrasting negatively with the beer underneath, and more often than not—resulting in a drain pour. 

Ok, so it’s not just an IPA with lager yeast and it’s not a dry-hopped lager, got it.

Et tu Brut IPAs?

Remember the Brut IPA? It seemed to be a flash-in-the pan IPA style that was all the rage a few years ago, but has since faded from the limelight.

Originally pioneered by Kim Sturdevant at San Francisco’s Social Kitchen & Brewery, Brut IPAs use the amyloglucosidase enzyme to break down complex sugars to achieve a bone-dry IPA. The technique caught on like wildfire, with brut IPAs popping up all over the place. Some were exemplary, others (sadly) not, and the Brut IPA craze has faded just about as quick as it caught on.

In actuality, Brut IPAs may have helped pave the way for Cold IPAs, as they introduced beer drinkers to the possibilities of a crisp IPA. Red Swing Brewhouse here in Colorado Springs still has one on tap, but many brewers have moved away from producing brut IPAs.

Adjuncts, Clean Yeast, Biotransformation, oh my!

A Cold IPA should provide the drinker a beer with a clean, in-your-face hop bitterness balanced with a clean, “crushable” experience—each sip should beckon the next. Many brewers will use pilsner malt and a lager yeast fermented at a higher temperature than normal so as to avoid producing as many esters that may detract from the hops. 

For adjuncts, using an adjunct like corn or rice helps the beer provide a stable crisp platform to showcase the hops. Using corn or rice allows brewers to achieve a lighter flavor while still providing fermentable sugars—retaining that dry, clean taste. 

Finally, utilizing a technique that many NE IPA brewers use, adding the dry-hops at high krausen during the initial fermentation process will allow for biotransformation. Biotransformation is the transformation of the hop oils in the presence of yeast. This technique allows the hops to bring more of a citrusy, fruity aroma than is present directly “out-of-the-bag.” 

The combination of these three techniques is paramount to crafting the Cold IPA and what makes it different from the other sub-styles of IPA. 

Out in the Wild

Where can you find a Cold IPA? At the time of writing this, Mash Mechanix has a “Cold Crank IPA” available on tap. Rock Bottom out east is planning to brew one soon, according to head brewer Scott Roberts, and we know that Fossil Craft Beer has been known to make a Cold IPA from time to time. This style has only been around for a short time, so ask your favorite local brewery about making one!

As for ones you may be able to find at the store, 10 Barrel Brewing just released their Rock Hop Cold IPA, where a portion of proceeds from Rock Hop will benefit Trailkeepers of Oregon, a non-profit volunteer organization that maintains and preserves Oregon’s hiking trails.

We hope you’ll be able to get out there and find some examples of this style. Let us know what you think!

Cheers!