White IPA

This month’s Zymurgy has articles on different color IPA's, white being one of them. Makes me wonder if we'll see the same kind of discussions on origin and recipes as we have with Black IPA's.

The recipes in the magazine lean toward being American hopped Belgian Wits. Traditionally Wits were a cloudy white from a combination of the yeast used and wheat in the grain bill, but does a White IPA really need a Belgian influence other than color? What about a simple IPA made with enough wheat (and a little oats?) to make it cloudy and give it that rich wheat body and flavor? To me that would be a better description of a White IPA. Brew it with a clean fermenting yeast and keep the spices out.

Or do we have to split the category into Belgian White IPA and American White IPA? :cross:

Founders and green flash have a collaboration white ipa out right now called lynch pin. It was pretty good, very light in color(not cloudy at all), Belgian yeast for sure, although subtle. Mild malt flavor and middle of the road bitterness as far as iPas go. Id drink it again, maybe even try to brew it.

Deschutes has Chain Breaker White IPA out.

I don't care for Belgian IPAs (as I don't like the flavor that a Belgian yeast imparts) but I think a White IPA just as AnOldUR described (the wheat and a clean yeast) would be great. Of course, I've rarely met an IPA that I didn't like.

I made a Wheat IPA a couple of months ago that used white wheat malt for 50% of the grain bill. It isn't cloudy at all which i expected it to be, but it's an awesome beer for summer. It's definitely more American style than Belgian due to the hops and yeast that I used, but that's by design as I agree with Yooper that I don't enjoy Belgians as much as American style.

Yooper said:

I don't care for Belgian IPAs (as I don't like the flavor that a Belgian yeast imparts) but I think a White IPA just as AnOldUR described (the wheat and a clean yeast) would be great. Of course, I've rarely met an IPA that I didn't like.

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I guess youve never had "live a rich life" formerly shark pants by 3floyds. I am currently trying to formulate a similar beer for my next brew, as my fermentation chamber is full and I have an empty better bottle.

I did a gumballhead clone recently and changed the hop schedule up a bit. It turned out very hoppy and very clear. Everyone keeps calling it my wheat IPA.

Yooper said:

I don't care for Belgian IPAs (as I don't like the flavor that a Belgian yeast imparts) but I think a White IPA just as AnOldUR described (the wheat and a clean yeast) would be great. Of course, I've rarely met an IPA that I didn't like.

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I'm with Yooper on this one. I'm not much of a fan of Belgians in general (dark strong/quad is the only type I seem to consistently enjoy) and IPAs made with Belgian yeast just don't do anything for me. I would be interested to try an IPA that had wheat but not a crazy yeast to go with it.

I first had the Deschutes Chainbreaker on tap at a local pub and was an instant fan. The server didn't know the style when I ordered it so I went in kind of blind. Generally I'd think that traditional coriander and orange peel would get lost by the use of higher alpha hops, but Deschutes really nailed it with this beer. The body is a little lighter than most wits, but the overall texture and taste is fantastic. It only lasted a week or so at our local pub and they've been unable to get it back in spite of lots of requests. Deschutes has a general recipe here, though the hops listed on the brew page also include citra.

I've been playing with a recipe based on this and am thinking of using the Wyeast French Saison 3711. Just to assume myself and poke fun at the absurdity of the black ipa/cascadian dark ale/india black ale/etc debate I'm calling it a cascadian white ale.

Malts
64% 8 0 Pilsner
20% 2 8 Pale Wheat
12% 1 8 Torrified Wheat
4% 0 8 Rice Hulls
Hops
boil 60 mins 0.75 Bravo
boil 60 mins 0.25 Centennial
boil 30 mins 0.25 Centennial
boil 15 mins 0.25 Cascade l
boil 1 min 1.0 Citra
dry hop 7 days 1.0 Citra

Other
Sweet Orange Peel - 5 min 2 tablespoons
Indian Coriander - 5 min 1 tablespoon (crushed)

Adjunct Mash: 1# pilsner malt, wheat malt: 122F/10min, 150/20min, simmer/5min.
Mash remainder: 115F/15 min, combine with adjunct and mash 152F/45 min
Mashout: 168F 10 min

Boy said:

Deschutes has Chain Breaker White IPA out.

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+1 on this, I have some at the House right now - good stuff!

The Saranac label (FX MATT Brewing, Utica, NY) has a really nice white IPA. The only time I ever left a comment on a brewing company's website was after enjoying my first bottle of their white IPA.

Brew ****ty wit. Add way too much hops.

That's the recipe for a white ipa.