I have been trying to improve my hoppy IPA’s recently and have come to a number of conclusions. Some of this I think I could have learnt by doing a little more research before brewing. Some of it is experience based.
- The addition of high protein grain to the malt bill will aid haze production – the most common method seems to be to add rolled oats to the malt bill. Many suggest that rolled oats should make 10-15% of the overall grain bill.
- Large additions of hops, particularly late in the brewing process, aid haze production – it isn’t unusual to see 400g or more of hops used in a 25L batch. Most of this is used late in the process – either as part of a hopstand or dry hopping.
- Missing out the cold crash is a mistake – this just results in more sediment being present in the bottom of the bottles;
- The jury is out on the use of Irish Moss in the boil – this is intended to reduce haze, but I suspect it will have little impact on these brews due to the volume of haze present.
A quick search using Google will reveal a number of good articles on the subject including the following:
advice on producing a good NEIPA
I found this 2-part YouTube episode from Jonny and Brad on The Craft Beer Channel was particularly insightful. Definitely worth watching. In fact, I was so inspired by this item that I thought I would have a go at brewing their recipe. It is number 67 in the pilot batches.
