Since 1870 we’ve lived and breathed malting. With this passion and expertise, and by combining traditional and modern techniques, we create an impressive range of malted and non-malted products, including several unique and exclusive barley malts.
There is nothing more we love than talking to brewers and distillers so if you have any questions, or would like to arrange a call with a member of our team, please feel free to get in touch – we would love to hear from you!
(all IPAs were consumed cold in the writing of this piece)
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About Me
Mike is the sales manager for Wales and the West of England and is located in Wigan.
You can read my bio by clicking the button below
Back in May I had the pleasure of attending CBC in Minneapolis, and as part of the trip, I spent a week in Brooklyn to visit local breweries, where I had the chance to try a good few local brews.
The beer lists were fantastic and split between Lagers, Hazy’s, Sours, Malt-forward (British Beers), and Stouts. All were perfectly balanced. What I did not see were any ‘unusual’ styles.
Several states away, Colin our Craft Sales and Marketing Team Manager was in Boulder, Colorado and having a different experience. My phone was constantly pinging with photos of ‘Cold IPAs. I would reply, “Colin – all the IPA’s I’m drinking are cold.”
Suitably enthused by the style, Colin asked me to put on my beer drinking hat and look at what goes into making one. I wasn’t convinced that it was a new style at all until I started talking to UK brewers and tried one.
My first experience was at Tiny Rebel’s ten-year birthday bash, and I was impressed. Mark tells me the grist was simply Ex Pale and Chit malt, the hop grist was like a West Coast IPA and it was warm fermented with lager yeast; it’s now one of his favourite beers! I also shared a Cold IPA with Jack at Distant Hills Brewery; it was a fantastic beer, very smooth and clean. Genevieve Upton, Head Brewer at the wonderful Harbour Brewery in Cornwall explained that they are like a West Coast IPA brewed with lager yeast – ‘they are quite popular, you need to speak to Shaun O’Sullivan at the 21st Amendment. Shaun is fascinated with Cold IPAs and their growing popularity and shared his thoughts with me. Shaun, in turn wanted to give credit to Kevin Davey ay Wayfinder Beer in Portland, Oregon, who pioneered the style.
When I suggested that it’s just like an Indian Pale Lager, Shaun was quick to correct me.
It’s not an IPL. IPLs use a more complex malty grist composition and are basically a West Coast IPA brewed with lager yeast at cold temperatures. It’s not a steam beer either. Steam beers are meltier, darker and less hoppy. Cold IPAs also allow more flexibility with hop addition and higher ABV’s.
Shaun’s insights have been invaluable in writing the guide below.
Water Water composition is comparable to West Coast IPAs, no special changes.
Malt Grist The grist composition will be quite simple: an extra pale or lager malt being matched with adjuncts to lighten the colour and flavour. It’s quite like a traditional American lager grist. Crisp’s Heritage Haná malt with a malt colour around 3 EBC is a fantastic choice for base malt. The adjunct options available are Chit malt, Flaked Torrefied Rice and Flaked Torrefied Maize. All of these choices are very light in colour and will lighten the flavour, but they all offer different finishes. Chit malt will offer a full but smooth finish, rice will offer a crisp finish and maize will offer a creamy smooth finish. Rice and Maize dilute proteins and will help to contribute to a bright appearance.
Hops Hopping rates are similar to West Coast IPAs with a high loading late in the kettle, and a large dry hop addition. Hops are added during fermentation to make use of biotransformation. The choice of hops fits around the classic ‘C’ hops. You don’t want to pick noble hops for a cold IPA.
Fermentation There is no hard and fast rule about yeast. The usual choice is a lager strain fermented at a higher temperature to suppress sulphurs while speeding up diacetyl reduction. The use of lager malts will also reduce ester formation, but don’t go too high on fermentation temperature as it will encourage ester formation. If you go too high you could also encourage acetaldehyde. Usual temperatures are around 16-18 deg C, but cold fermentations can give excellent results.
In the Glass You can expect a Cold IPA to be bright and very pale in appearance. It will be clean with no sulphurs or esters, and will be hoppy. The finish is smooth and crisp and very refreshing. I’m converted!
How can Crisp help me brew one? Crisp can supply all the grists needed to make a Cold IPA. The rice and maize are pre-gelatinised so you can add directly to a single infusion mash tun with no need for complex brewing equipment. The technical team are more than happy to talk about recipe development and after having tried a few examples, I’m more than happy to talk shop over a cold one, IPA that is.
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