Looking for "Classic" West Coast IPA Recipe

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

elproducto

Supporting Member
HBT Supporter
Joined
Jul 26, 2010
Messages
1,219
Reaction score
144
Location
Ontario
My favorite style is WCIPA, #makeipaclearagain.

Lately I've been brewing them with some newer hops like Citra and Mosaic, usually combined with Simcoe and they are phenomenal.

I'd like to brew something with classic hops (Cascade, Cent, Chinook, etc.) but I think my palette has been ruined by Citra/Simcoe, the classic hops just seem underwhelming.


Any suggestions appreciated, no hazies thanks.
 
Ignore me if I’m misinterpreting your question, but are you asking for non-classic hops that work in an IPA but don’t taste like Citra?

If so: Strata. Or Lotus (but not together, ew.)

Or if you really want to ruin your palate but good, Sabro.
 
I think the trick to getting classic hops to hit as hard as the new school stuff is to compensate for total oils in late/dry hopping. The new stuff is oil heavy so if you just go by figures like ounces/gallon or gram/liter for late hopping, it's going to underwhelm. Hit it late with Cryo/Lupomax for a lot of resin and not so much grassy BS.
 
Almost 20 years of drinking IPA has done that I'm afraid.

Ah - a youngster then! 🤣

I fondly remember the IBU Wars as a willing participant. My own "Lupulin Shift" fully shifted once I started growing my own Chinook/Cascade/Centennial and needed ways to use it (answer: use way more per batch! :rock:) IPAs with on-paper IBUs over 100 were routine near the end of that run.

But I can still appreciate "softer" offerings - indeed, I think the NEIPA was created for those of us who flew maybe a little too close to the sun and needed something toned down a bit and way juicier to put out the lingering fire...

Cheers! ;)
 
I myself am after the old school brews and found that this combo makes a IPA with just the rite amount of grapefruit pith for me. 5.5 gal into fermenter,so I end up with 6.5 in BK. 1 oz Chinook at 60, 1 oz ea. centennial, cascade, CTZ at 15 min, 1 oz ea. same as 15 min. but add Amarillo. then the same at flame out. I do a 10 min whirlpool to sanitize pumps and hoses when it gets to 180* i add 4 more ozs of the flame out addition. I don't need to dryhop. I've let this sit overnite to settle and still have a green fermenter when transferred. Yes 12 ozs in the BK all free balling!
 
West coast all the way, but the hell with recipes. Just throw whatever you want in. Dry hop, flameout, whatever. All comes out good. I may have hit my overload with citra on my last few batches, and maybe even mosaic. Try some montueka, Azzaca, McKenzie, strata, and mix with some classic C’s like chinook for bittering. Your mileage will be low for dry hopping the classic C’s, but give it a try mixed with newer hops. Not quite old school but some variety. I can’t stand simcoe cat piss so none of that or el dorado for me.
 
sounds like hop head disease to me.

best way around this is to stop only drinking highly hopped beers. start off with a dark rich stout being bitter by roast (helps if you like black rich coffee but most hop heads like cream and sugar etc to mask the coffee bean). Then move on to something a little lighter like a good semi hopped red ale; these beers seem to me a bit out of touch considering the higher hop content and lack of balance in most commercial examples. Then do a complete turn and drink some brown ales, something like a moose drool for example, very light hopped and nice malty balance. you could start drinking some cream ales and pilsners but at this time your taste should have reversed.

Of course, this is a sarcastic post and I never understood any of the hop crazed beers or why they seem to be so popular with tastes of the majority.

tomorrow with my pork chop I will be enjoying a 20oz can of Two Hearted Ale.

Also traditional American Hops make great hoppy beers but usually pair better with malt flavor. The west coast light malt flavored high hopped beer is a craft beer taking on the market similar to what big breweries did with light beer.
 
Is that stone IPA recipe a solid one?
I'm also interested in brewing an old-school classic soon.

There was also a HB recipe on here from 2008 that got a lot of good feedback at the time and also did well in competition.
However there has been no posts in the thread for over 5 years.
It might be worth looking at even if the process seems a bit outdated now.
He did however skip the 60 min hop addition and replaced it with a large 30 min addition so it was probably (I guess) one for the first IPA recipes on here to shift the hop schedule in that way.
I have my version in Beersmith since 2016 but never got around to brewing it, might give it a go soon 🤔

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/my-2-time-gold-winning-american-ipa.81478/
 
Last edited:
My favorite style is WCIPA, #makeipaclearagain.

Lately I've been brewing them with some newer hops like Citra and Mosaic, usually combined with Simcoe and they are phenomenal.

I'd like to brew something with classic hops (Cascade, Cent, Chinook, etc.) but I think my palette has been ruined by Citra/Simcoe, the classic hops just seem underwhelming.


Any suggestions appreciated, no hazies thanks.
You can easily make an all Cascade WC/IPA beer that will produce as much, if not more flavor/bitterness than Citra/Mosaic. 88%ish 2 Row/Pilsner, 8%ish Munich, and 5%ish Crystal 60 or lower. All Cascade with maybe some Magnum for bittering. I shoot for 50 IBU, and it's a flavor bomb. US05.

Or even this guy ;) https://sierranevada.com/blog/our-beer/pale-ale-homebrew-recipe#recipe-jump
 
Last edited:
I would use this as my guide. He interviews Vinnie and homebrews something like blind pig. Looks like a great beer over all. Recipe formation come near the end of part 1.

 
Back
Top