White IPA Recipe Discussion

[ArkotRamathorn]

So with the addition of the white IPA category in the 2015 guidelines I've been curious to give this style a try. I have a good idea on how I want to hop this beer with citra and centennial to get that ripe tropical fruit and grapefruit citrus character. My issue is grain bill, spices/citrus zest, and yeast selection.

Should this styles grain bill look like a witbier? Little bit of Pilsner and a bunch of malted/raw wheat. Or can you get away with only a little bit of wheat since the hops/spices/yeast will dominate? Is a little sugar in order for additional attenuation?

Spicing seems like it could be fun to play with. I had Ma Po Tofu the other night for the first time and it really show cases what Sichuan peppercorns can do. Since the Sichuan peppercorns are actually related to coriander that got my brain turning on a brewing idea. Make a white IPA with Sichuan peppercorns and yuzu zest (or some other exotic/tropical citrus zest). So is there a rule of thumb on this? Or just apply witbier logic and treat the white IPA like its a wit.

Most of the white IPA recipes I found on HBT seem to use a neutral yeast for fermentation. I have US05 on hand so it's not a big deal to just go that route but I thought grabbing a witbier yeast or one of the other more characterful wheat yeast would make a more interesting white IPA.

I was thinking a long the lines of:

5# red wheat malt
3# Pilsner
.5-1# raw/flaked wheat
1# sugar

Really heavy whirlpool with centennial and citra hopped to about 60IBU.

3944 belgian witbier yeast

Single decoction for a tiny bit of color and melanoidin. Use some relatively neutral gin to extract some Sichuan peppercorns and yuzu zest/juice and a tiny bit of both in the boil, the rest will be to taste on bottling day.

 

[specharka]

This style is one of my favorites, and somewhat open to interpretation. There's so many directions you can take this beer...big and hoppy, flavorful and spicy, etc. My one piece of advice is to not try to do too much with it -- assertive hoppiness will always dominate delicate Belgian esters and aromatic additions. Citrus can play well with some juicy American hops, but I would advocate for a rounder hop profile than the punchy one that dominates the market today.

Your grain bill looks good, but I would stay away from added sugars...they will dry out the beer too much IME. Just made a Belgian DIPA that is almost undrinkable at 9%. There's just not enough residual sugar to justify it. Love the spice additions though...what exactly is a yuzu anyway?

 

[ArkotRamathorn]

This style is one of my favorites, and somewhat open to interpretation. There's so many directions you can take this beer...big and hoppy, flavorful and spicy, etc. My one piece of advice is to not try to do too much with it -- assertive hoppiness will always dominate delicate Belgian esters and aromatic additions. Citrus can play well with some juicy American hops, but I would advocate for a rounder hop profile than the punchy one that dominates the market today.

Your grain bill looks good, but I would stay away from added sugars...they will dry out the beer too much IME. Just made a Belgian DIPA that is almost undrinkable at 9%. There's just not enough residual sugar to justify it. Love the spice additions though...what exactly is a yuzu anyway?

Looks like a lemon, tastes a little like a lime grapefruit cross. It's different than most citrus you've tried. I might cut the sugar by half and use honey instead.

The Sichuan thankfully isn't as spicy hot as one would think it's definitely more like a punchier coriander. I hope it comes off as a witbier IPA with the uniqueness of the Sichuan and yuzu.

 

[rickyrich]

I brewed this recipe for my White IPA.

65% 2 row
30% wheat
5% flaked wheat

OG 1.075

Use a lot of hops! I think I went with Amarillo, El Dorado, Cascade. It was one of the best beers I've ever brewed.

Cheers!

 

[m00ps]

I like doing an amped up witbier grainbill and fermenting with both Conan and one fo my wit yeasts. This way, it gets as dry as an IPA should be, but also has some wit yeast esters going on. I also add about half the traditional wit spices I normally would in a wit and a buttload of spicy/citrus hops

definitely a hard style to nail. But there aren't too many examples of it yet anyway to compare yours to