White IPA - where can I find it?

I recently read about white IPAs and I'm really curious to try one before to trying to brew it.

Are white Ipas still available commercially? Is there one anyone would recommend? I'm in the SF Bay Area.

Deschutes Chainbreaker White IPA, Saranac White IPA, Linchpin White IPA (San Diego, CA), White Bluffs Brewery (Richland, WA) has a couple.

Thanks. Am I going to have to find a craft beer specialty shop? I tried Bevmo today and mostly just confused the staff.

I can usually find Deschutes and Saranac products at better liquor stores. Check your local grocery stores, too.

Harpoon has a white ipa

im not a big fan of the chainbreaker. but that is the only one of the style i have had.

This one is pretty good: http://www.hsbeer.com/beer/riptide/

If you can find one. Try the Heavy Seas Riptide. It is a white ipa and is outstanding.

I'm hooked on Deschutes Chainbreaker at the moment. Me and my buddy just brewed a Wheat IPA last night, can't wait to try it. That's definitely our favorite style of beer at the moment.

I am in SF too and 99.9% sure they have Chainbreaker at our BeMo's. I am 100% sure I saw it today at Albertson's/Lucky's(?) on Fulton at Masonic for $8/6pk.
Love it! cheers. Wendy

edit: oh you said "SF Bay area" not SF. same answer tho!

Blue Point has one too.

White Hatter from New Holland Brewing

I like Chain breaker too. I haven't brewed anything yet, but that is one I want to try soon.

If you're going to brew one, just make a ramped up grain bill for a belgian wit, throw in a ton of citrusy hops for late addition/flameout and then use an american ale yeast (US*05, Wyeast 1056, etc.). I've made this a couple of times and it's great. With that in mind, some of the white IPAs on the market are different. For instance, High Seas White IPA (mentioned earlier) clearly uses a belgian yeast. It's more of a hoppy belgian wit in my opinion. Whereas Deschutes, etc seem to be using an american ale yeast or atleast some sort of hybrid. Anyway, hope this help when you brew one.

kchomebrew said:

If you're going to brew one, just make a ramped up grain bill for a belgian wit, throw in a ton of citrusy hops for late addition/flameout and then use an american ale yeast (US*05, Wyeast 1056, etc.). I've made this a couple of times and it's great. With that in mind, some of the white IPAs on the market are different. For instance, High Seas White IPA (mentioned earlier) clearly uses a belgian yeast. It's more of a hoppy belgian wit in my opinion. Whereas Deschutes, etc seem to be using an american ale yeast or atleast some sort of hybrid. Anyway, hope this help when you brew one.

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I actually thought that a white IPA implies the use of a belgian or weizen yeast. I have a love-hate relationship with HS's riptide - I hate the initial pungent yeast aroma but then love the beer as a whole Would love to brew something similar!

Up in the bay area should you should have no problem getting Lagunitas Little Sumpin Sumpin. One of my favorite white ipa's.

Deschutes Chainbreaker FTW!

All these sound really interesting. I did manage to find one but it's "with brette" (sp?) so I'm sure it won't be quite what I'm looking for. We bought it anyway to taste. I have tried bevmo and my local Luckys. I'm just unlucky I guess. I'll keep hunting.

The American vs Belgian yeast question is a big reason I want to try a couple different varieties. Thanks everyone

Oh yeah I just tried Little Sumpin Sumpin for the firs time this weekend and that was a really good white ipa too!! It's no Chainbreaker though

chainbreaker is a definitely a Belgian yeast.

there was a clone in zymurgy a few months ago.

if u live in oakland rosamundes sausage grill downtown had chainbreaker on tap right now...

Whatever you do don't try Sam Adams' . It absolutely blows...like most of their brews these days.

I can tell you I've made the white IPA with American yeast and a Belgian wit style grain and spice recipe with simcoe and citra hops at flame out and dry hop and its awesome. Tasted quite nice. I guess the Belgian strain des chutes uses is subdued in aroma and taste. Anyway,do a 10 gal batch and split 5 gal with Belgian and American and see what happens

Anchorage Brewing Company i believe was the first(? maybe) and receives notable mention in Mitch Steele's IPA book, so maybe worth tracking down wherever you may be..

Chain Breaker rocks!!

+ 1 for the Chainbreaker.

Mmmmm…. Love me some white IPA. Just brewed up our version (Last week) with a slightly larger grain bill and some tweaks towards personal taste. It’s in primary now then off to secondary within a week or so…. This is what she looks like.

Operation White Rider (White IPA)
Method: All Grain
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 11.25 gallons (fermenter volume)
Boil Size: 12.75 gallons
Efficiency: 75% (Calculated) 88% Actual YAY!
Source: Manhattan Project Brewing Co.
OG (1.069 Calculated) 1.072 Actual (More than likely due to the uncalculated sugars in the oranges)

Fermentables

6 lb Belgian Candi Sugar - Clear/Blond
5.5 lb American - Pilsner
5 lb American - Wheat
2 lb American - Carapils (Dextrine Malt)
2 lb Flaked Wheat
1.5 lb Flaked Corn
1 lb Lactose (Milk Sugar)
1 lb Maltodextrin
1 lb Rice Hulls
0.5 lb American - Vienna

Hops

1 oz Centennial Pellet -- First Wort
1 oz Warrior Pellet -- First Wort
1 oz Warrior 90 min Pellet -- Boil
1 oz Amarillo 15 min Pellet -- Boil
2 oz Cascade 12 days Pellet -- Dry Hop
2 oz Citra 7 days Pellet -- Dry Hop

Mash Steps

Protein Rest Infusion 122 F 20 min (Actual 123 F)
Sacch. Rest Infusion 152 F 60 min (Actual 150 F)
Mash Out / Batch Sparge Infusion 170 F 10 min (Actual 169 F)

Other Ingredients

1 tsp Black Pepper Corns 15 min Spice Boil (Toasted and crushed)
1 oz Dried Ginger 15 min Flavor Boil
0.5 oz Coriander 15 min Spice Boil (Toasted and crushed)
6 tsp Yeast Nutrient 15 min Boil
6 lb Whole Macerated Clementines (Oranges) 1 min Flavor Boil
2 oz AP Flour @ Flameout

Yeast

White Labs - Trappist Ale Yeast WLP500
Temp> 65 F 5 Days / 68 F until complete

Target Water Profile: MPBC

RO Water with additions: 13.5 Gallons water pH (apprx 6.0)
16g Calcium Chloride Dihydrate (LHBS)
16g Gypsum
4g Epsom Salts
*** Above additions as water treatment
9g Calcium Carbonate (As Chalk)
*** Mash addition

Mash Notes:

3.5 Gal @ 135deg (Mash in) 20min – pH apprx 5.2
2.25 Gal @ 212deg (Sacchrification) 60min – pH apprx 5.1
3 Gal @ 212deg (Mash out) 10min – pH apprx 5.2 (After Chalk addition)
7.5 Gal @ 170deg (Sparge)
(Approx. 12.75 Gal Collected Wort)
2.78Gal Absorption / 1.5 Gal Boil Loss


Priming

Method: Corn Sugar Amount: To 3.0 Vco2
Will use WLP300 @ Bottling (x2)


….Will let you know how it comes out. The wort was super tasty with the spice / clementine additions and the ginger rounds out the profile. This one should be pretty darn tasty and with a color of roughly 3 SRM and the AP flour at flameout the color is a nice light cloudy blonde/white…. I can’t wait!

Cheers,

-JM

kchomebrew said:

I can tell you I've made the white IPA with American yeast and a Belgian wit style grain and spice recipe with simcoe and citra hops at flame out and dry hop and its awesome. Tasted quite nice. I guess the Belgian strain des chutes uses is subdued in aroma and taste. Anyway,do a 10 gal batch and split 5 gal with Belgian and American and see what happens

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I love citra and simcoe hops. I made awesome IPAs with these two. I have never heard of or even thought of making a white IPA, but sounds fricken awesome! I was actually planning to do a belgian wit Friday. Now I think I am going to make a 2 batch day and do traditional wit and a white IPA!!! glad I saw this post!

The only ones I've tried are Sam Adams' (Whitewater IPA, I think) or New Holland White Hatter. I don't know if the Whitewater is a year-round or seasonal, but White Hatter is fairly easy to find and tastes decent.

I'll set the bottom of the bar.
Saranac White IPA..

Had it tonight. Not very good. Let's say a 4 out of 10

I've had several. Hop selection is critical to work with and not clash against the Belgian yeast character. Anchorage's Galaxy IPA is great. I enjoyed the aforementioned Chainbreaker on a Portland trip earlier this year.

Not that it's accessible, but Boxing Cat in Shanghai made a great one last summer using WLP400. I wish I could recall the hop bill. I think Citra was in the mix which is the primary hop of their pale ale.

Ok. Is a white IPA supposed to be w Belgian wit yeast? Seems to me it would work better w US05, so you could do a wider variety of hops without worrying about clashing with yeast. I think of it more of a wheat IPA on the lower end of the IBU spectrum. I guess it can be whatever you want. Before someone successfully made a white IPA the first time, sticklers were probably saying "you cant do an IPA with all that wheat and such light color!"

A white IPA is a fusion of witbier with IPA. If one doesn't use a witbier, or at least Belgian, yeast, then it's difficult to say that it's witbier-derived, isn't it?

sptaylor70 said:

A white IPA is a fusion of witbier with IPA. If one doesn't use a witbier, or at least Belgian, yeast, then it's difficult to say that it's witbier-derived, isn't it?

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No need to be snarky. It could just as easily be an IPA based on an American wheat ale.

Although maybe that would be called wheat IPA. I don't know. I think I will experiment w both. I am intrigued.

We finally tracked down the Chainbreaker and really enjoyed it. I've been seeing a lot of all-grain clones, but I don't suppose someone has come up with an extract version?

locusta said:

We finally tracked down the Chainbreaker and really enjoyed it. I've been seeing a lot of all-grain clones, but I don't suppose someone has come up with an extract version?

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I believe there was a recipe for it in a Zymurgy issue last year. I will see if I still have it.

Harpoon is releasing a white IPA this weekend in our area (Hudson Valley/Connecticut). Not sure how big the distribution will be but looking forward to it.

Saranac White IPA is not good. You can tell because it says "Saranac" on the bottle.

...Digs aside, it's one of the less mediocre beers Saranac has to offer. I still wouldn't advise going looking for it.

Has anyone tried the Ghostrider white IPA out of Utah? It's really really good. Better than the others I've tried, to be honest. More recently have had Sam's whitewater and Lagunitas sumpin'. The Ghostrider is much better balanced.