What distinguishes West Coast style IPA's from East Coast?

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Is it the yeast or the hops? I want to brew a pale that tastes more like Hop Notch or West Coast IPA(Green Flash) but without the bitterness. I personally love them hoppy but I want to brew something for my friends/family that tastes great but is more subtle on the palate. Any suggestions?
 
In my opinion it's more in the malt profile. West coast IPAs tend to be bone dry with very little malt character whereas east coast IPAs (think Dogfish Head 90 minute) tend to have a bit more malt backbone to support the hops. If you're shooting for west coast style, substitute some of the base malt for simple sugar to help it attenuate. You might also want to look in to first wort hopping or hop bursting to reduce the harsh bitterness.
 
The yeast can also make a difference, accentuating the malts. Safale 05 is the quintessential West Coast yeast. You could use S-04 (a British yeast) for East Coast, but I think White Labs makes an East Coast yeast (WLP008).
 
Simply reduce the boil hops to something reasonable and late-hop the hell out of it! The more 5 minute hops you add, and the more dry hops you add, the more flavor and aroma you will get.

Choice of hops helps too.
 
I might suggest that west coast is more or less a yeast selection and more of the "designer" hops such as simcoe citra mosaic amarillo and also as stated less malty, where as east coast might suggest a more neutral yeast such as nottingham and more traditional American hops like wilamett cascade cluster and/or prehaps a mix of American and English hops like EKG challenger and fuggles. I would like to also say there are more or darker crystal malts in the East coast versions. If doing a East coast use a traditional English IPA recipe and hop with american hops in the traditional 3 step method. Where as a west coast style might benifit from a hopburst method in the last 10-15 minutes of the boil.
 
traditionally,

east coast: maltier, more use of crystal, not attenuated as low, more "traditional" hops

west coast: drier, more "new" hops (simcoe, amarillo, citra, etc).
 
west coast IPA is very dry, strong bittering charge and lots of late hops. use fruity high alpha hops late in the boil to get the flavor without the harshness. uses mostly two row or pils/2R blend with a sprinkle of light caramel grains.

east coast IPA is more traditional. continental hops or pine/spice oriented hops, less dry, more vienna or munich in the grain bill to bump the malt up. might even use maris otter. possibly some light caramel grain as well.

when i think west coast IPA i think stone's IPA or green flash WCIPA or i'd even put DFH 90 minute on this side. when i think east coast IPA i think victory's hopdevil or smuttynose's IPA.
 
McGarnigle said:
Safale 05 is the quintessential West Coast yeast.
Click to expand...

Only in modern times! :) Sierra Nevada's yeast is the same thing as Siebel BRY 96. BRY 96 is one of two yeast strains that were used at the old Ballantine Brewery in New Jersey long before Sierra Nevada came into existence.

In my humble opinion, the thing that separates West Coast-style IPA from modern East Coast-style IPA is the heavy use of Cascade and other citrusy hops. Modern East Cost-style IPA is more closely aligned with British tradition due to the fact that many of the early East Cost ale microbreweries and brewpub brewhouses were designed by Peter Austin and installed by Alan Pugsley. All Peter Austin-designed breweries use open fermentors and the Ringwood yeast strain, which is a two-strain Yorkshire-style yeast. Peter and Alan had a heavy hand in beer recipe design.
 
^^^ Thats interesting information, I think the east coast link to English style IPA has more to do with tradition and the fact that they(all of the east coast states -Florida) use to be English Colonies......but thats just my opinion, Further more the American hops of newer design did not get to the east coast as often prior to the modern internet due to comunications limitations. So, that being said, the east was by far way less likely to be able to obtain newer hops until maybe 10-15 years ago making English and german Hops more common as was brewing styles. Since the west coast is generally where the American hops were being produced the most they had the advantage of getting newer products first. Same goes for yeast strains. Again all of this is just my opinion.
 
We don't get a lot of East Coast IPAs here. This may be why I find my under attenuated IPAs and DIPAs so refreshing. I get bone dry IPAs (stone, sculpin, port, tapit) all the time and they don't seem special anymore. As soon as I pop open one of mine that has finished in the teens and has some malt character, I fall in love all over again.
 
EarlyAmateurZymurgist said:
Only in modern times! :) Sierra Nevada's yeast is the same thing as Siebel BRY 96. BRY 96 is one of two yeast strains that were used at the old Ballentine Brewery in New Jersey long before Sierra Nevada came into existence.

In my humble opinion, the thing that separates West Coast-style IPA from modern East Coast-style IPA is the heavy use of Cascade and other citrusy hops. Modern East Cost-style IPA is more closely aligned with British tradition due to the fact that many of the early East Cost ale microbreweries and brewpub brewhouses were designed by Peter Austin and installed by Alan Pugsley. All Peter Austin-designed breweries use open fermenters and the Ringwood yeast strain, which is a two-strain Yorkshire-style yeast. Peter and Alan had a heavy hand in beer recipe design.
Click to expand...

Where did you get that information re: Peter and Alan? Very interesting, I'd like to read more.
 
i don't think there is necessarily an east coast ipa - there is american ipa and there is west coast style ipa

there are plenty of breweries that brew traditional american ipas all over the country including on the west coast and plenty of west coast style IPAs made on the east coast now

west coast ipas focus heavily on hop flavor/aroma, particularly the citrus/C hops, above all other aspects. a neutral yeast is ideal but there are some WC Ipas that feature some yeast character.

IMO heady topper is a west coast style IIPA that has plenty of yeast character that pairs well with the hops brewed on the east coast and something like Lagunitas IPA falls more into the traditional IPA category, more balance, way more body and malt profile.
 

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