Many craft beer aficionados have heard the story about where the name “India Pale Ale” (or IPA’s) comes from. In short, to supply the colony in India, British breweries made ales with increased amounts of hops, taking advantage of the plant’s antimicrobial properties to ensure that the beer would survive the long trip. The American version of the IPA is more robust than the English version and also uses American-grown ingredients. But before I get into to brewing an American IPA, I’d like to share a little more about some of the history behind the style.
I recently picked up Ray Daniels’ book, Designing Great Beers, and learned a couple interesting tidbits about pale ales and IPAs. First, that pale ales were a product of the Industrial Revolution. The advent of steel allowed British maltsters to build better kilns, which gave them increased control over their product, which in turn made pale malts possible. Secondly, that these pale ales were considered beers for high society, while the lower classes stuck with the dark beers, like stouts and porters.
I found this quote, from 1934, to give an interesting perspective on the popularity of the style:
“[The India Pale Ale] is carefully fermented so as to be devoid of all sweetness, or in other words to be dry; and it contains double the usual quantity of hops; it therefore, forms a most valuable restorative beverage for invalids and convalescents.”
I don’t know about you, but I always feel better after an IPA! Now, back to brewing!
The BJCP Style Guidelines give us some parameters for brewing the American IPA (style 14B). The overall impression of the beer should be “an American version of the historical English style, brewed using American ingredients and attitude.” Whatever you do, don’t forget the attitude!
Here are the more easily measurable characteristics for an American IPA:

• IBUs: 40-70
• Color (SRM): 6-15
• OG: 1.056-1.075
• FG: 1.010-1.018
• ABV: 5.5-7.5%

Now, let’s look at some of the specific ingredients you might use for brewing your own American IPA:
Grain Bill

• All-Grain: Start with a well-modified US 2-Row Malt for the base of your grain bill (70% or so). Then use 1-2 pounds of Crystal Malt (20-40L) for color and caramel malt flavor. If you want, try a little (up to 5%) of Munich, Vienna, or Biscuit Malt for added complexity.
• Extract: If brewing with extract, use light or pale malt extracts and consider steeping some crystal malt for flavor and color. Consider the Muntons Connoisseur Kit Type India Pale Ale kit, which contains malt extract that has already been hopped.

Hops

• An American IPA should be brewed with US-grown hop varieties. Consider using Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, Chinook, and/or Willamette. Use 1-2 ounces during the boil for each of your bittering, flavor, and aroma additions. For increased hop aroma, dry-hop your beer by adding an ounce or two of hop pellets to the secondary fermenter.

Yeast

• Use a classic American ale yeast, such as Safale US-05 or Wyeast’s #1056 American Ale. American IPAs should have a “neutral” fermentation character, so be sure to keep the fermentation temperatures within the acceptable range for your chosen yeast strain.

Follow the above guidelines and profiles for brewing an American IPA, and you’ll have a beer that is tasty and to style. What’s your favorite IPA? Do you have an American IPA recipe you’d like to share in the comments below?
Til next time…Cheers!
—–
David Ackley is a beer writer, brewer, and self-described “craft beer crusader.” He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

As with wine, beer will often benefit from barrel-aging. Depending on the type of wood used to make the barrel and whether the barrel was previously used or not, barrel-aging homebrew offers an additional realm of complexity, with flavors ranging from oak, vanilla, and toast, not to mention the characteristics of the wine or spirits that previously occupied the barrel.
Though homebrewers can certainly obtain barrels for aging their beer, an easier and more cost effective method is to let the beer age on wood chips. Oak is the wood of choice, and brewers can get French or American white oak, each of which offer a slightly different flavor profile. Additionally, these oak chips may be toasted, which will lend the beer notes of coconut or vanilla. Plain, or non-toasted oak offers more of a “raw” wood flavor. The oak should be sap clear. This is typically done by allowing it to sun-dry for 18 months to 3 years.

So what types of beers work best for oak-aging?
Generally, the best beers for oak-aging are more robust beer styles. Imperial and barleywines are good choices, as the higher gravity lends itself to longer aging. The intensity of the flavor in more robust beers can also more easily stand up to the oak flavor without getting covered up. Some of these stronger styles may be aged for months before developing the appropriate balance. That’s not to say I haven’t had great oak-aged saisons and IPAs. It can be done, but achieving the right balance is a more delicate operation.
To avoid over-oaking your homebrew, you might try one of two different strategies:

• Option 1: Add 1-2 ounces of oak chips to your beer in the secondary fermenter. Taste the beer periodically, every week or so, and rack the beer off the oak chips when the taste is to your liking.

• Option 2: Remove 1 gallon of beer by racking it into a 1-gallon glass jug with 2-4 ounces of oak chips. This will result in strongly oaked beer, which can then be blended back into the main batch at the ratio that tastes good to you.

What about mixing in wine or spirits when barrel-aging homebrew?

If you’re into craft beer, you’ve probably come across beer aged in all kinds of different barrels: red wine, white wine, bourbon, tequila, brandy. If you’d like to add the flavor of a wine or spirit to your wood-aged beer, simply soak the oak chips in about a cup of your wine or spirit of choice for a week or more. Then strain out the oak chips and place them in your secondary fermenter. If desired, you can blend in some of the reserved wine or spirit to taste. The best way to do this is to pull out a small sample of beer and then dosing it with small amounts of the wine or spirit. Then you can calculate how much to blend back in to the larger batch. Err on the side of caution – you can always add more, but you can’t take it out.
Barrel-aging homebrew – with or without wine and spirits – introduces a new skill set to the brewer’s palette: tasting and blending. Barrel-aging may be more of an art than a science, so for best results, taste your beer as it ages on the oak and if needed, blend together multiple oaked and un-oaked batches to get the flavor your want.
Do you barrel-age your homebrew? What are some of your favorite beer styles for barrel-aging?
—–
David Ackley is a writer, brewer, and craft beer marketing consultant. He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

If you’ve ever thought about using yeast nutrient in your beers but haven’t, then you may want to reconsider. There is little-to-no downfall in doing so and the additional costs are minuscule.
Yeast is the magical microorganism responsible for turning sugar into alcohol. Without yeast, we would have no beer, wine, or cider. And in order to do their jobs well, those billions of yeast cells have certain requirements. They’re not about to do all the hard work of fermenting your beer without a little something in return!
Though yeast are happy to eat up a bunch of sugar in just about any situation, there are some conditions that affect just how well they thrive. Temperature, for one, is important. Yeast can be killed when either too cold or too hot. When it comes to beer yeast, they tend to do best within a relatively narrow temperature range. Luckily for homebrewers, the ideal temperature for ale yeast is right around room temperature.
Another important factor in yeast performance is yeast nutrition. Since malt provides most of the nutrients yeast needs to ferment a batch of beer, yeast nutrition is usually covered when homebrewers progress beyond the basics.
In order to thrive, yeast need not just sugar, but also elements like nitrogen, fatty acids and sterols, amino acids, and vitamins. When yeast lack these ingredients, such as when brewing with large amount of adjunct grains and sugar, we begin to think about using yeast nutrients in the beer. Personally, I’ve found that yeast nutrient is a worthwhile addition to every batch of beer I brew.

Types of Yeast Nutrient and How to Use Them

• Brewer’s Yeast Nutrient – One of the chief contributors to a healthy fermentation is nitrogen. It is most often lacking when brewing a beer with a high proportion (more than 10%) of sugar or rice. Nitrogen-based yeast nutrients are usually added to a beer before fermentation, though they may also be helpful in resolving stuck fermentations. Typical dosage for beer is 1 tsp. per three gallons.

• Yeast Energizer – Yeast energizer is specifically designed for enhancing and speeding up fermentation. It has a slightly different mix of ingredients than yeast nutrient, providing what yeast needs a little later in the fermentation process. So, it is often added part way through fermentation and is especially useful in a stuck fermentation situation. Typical dosage is 1/2 tsp. per gallon.

Properly using yeast nutrients when brewing beer will frequently reduce fermentation time and produce cleaner tasting brews. Many brewers are in the habit of adding yeast nutrient to every batch.

Are you in a habit of using yeast nutrient in your beers? Why or why not?
—–
David Ackley is a writer, brewer, and craft beer marketing consultant. He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.

With the spring and summer seasons come the harvest of strawberries, peaches, blueberries, and more. Why not experiment a bit and make something a little different – your own seasonal brew? These warmer months are ideal for adding fruit to beer.
Before you start throwing apples and oranges in the brew kettle through, it’s a good idea to think about how much fruit to use and where to add it in the brewing process.
Here are some suggestions for adding fruit to beer:
First, try a few commercial fruit beers and think about how much fruit flavor you want in yours. Several craft beers on the market are made with fruit, with flavors intensities ranging from barely noticeable to a full-frontal assault. An example is 21st Amendment’s Hell or High Watermelon.
So do you want just a hint of fruit flavor, or something more dominating? Think about where you want to be on that range for your batch of fruit beer. Depending on the fruit in question, you may want to start with half a pound or so of fruit per gallon and work your way up from there.
Next, pick your beer recipe as your base style. Fruit beers work well with pale ales and wheat beers, but also dark beers in some cases. Raspberry works well in stouts, especially when combined with chocolate. Pick out a recipe kit that you think might fit with your fruit of choice, or develop your own recipe.

Peel, puree, or juice?
Next, think about how you want to add fruit to beer. In some cases, such as when brewing a Belgian Wit, a little citrus peel is enough to impact the flavor of the brew. Orange is the most common, but why not experiment with lemon, lime, or grapefruit? Adding peel will likely contribute more bitterness than fruit flavor.
In my experience, adding fruit to beer in secondary fermentation is an effective way to get fruit flavor into a beer. The exact method for preparing the fruit will vary depending on the fruit in question and whether it’s fresh or frozen fruit you are adding to the beer. Fresh fruit should be peeled, frozen, and thawed, while frozen fruit should just be thawed to avoid shocking the yeast in the fermenter.
You could also add fruit juice or puree to the secondary fermenter. I suggest using 100% juice without preservatives or artificial colors and flavorings. Start with a cup or so of fruit juice or puree in a 5 gallon batch for a subtle flavor, or more for something more intense.
Whether you add whole fruit, pureed fruit, or fruit juice to your beer, keep in mind that some of the sugars in the fruit will ferment, raising the alcohol content of your homebrew and possibly adding fermentation time to the process.

Fruit Extract
Another way of adding fruit to beer is to use fruit extract and add a few drops to each beer bottle on bottling day. You may want to take a sample of beer and play with ratios to figure out how many drops each bottle should get.

Fruit Liqueurs
Fruit liqueur can be used as both a flavoring and a priming agent. Instead of priming with corn sugar, the sugar found in liqueurs is enough to carbonate your beer. Marty Nachel points out that “One 750ml bottle contains just about enough sugar to prime a 5-gallon batch of beer. Because the actual sugar contents of any liqueur depends on the company that made it (although it more likely has too little sugar than too much), you may want to add another ounce or two of dextrose to be sure.”
Have you every tried adding fruit to beer? How did it turn out? Share in the comments below!

Hops are the flowers from the plant known as humulus lupulus. The hops plant sends up vines (technically “bines”) in the spring, which may climb as high as 20 feet or more. Since only the flowers are used in the brewing process, only the female hops plants have commercial value for brewers.

Where Do Brewing Hops Grow

Brewing hops grow best between the latitudes of about 35 and 55 degrees. This translates to a strip ranging across roughly the northern two-thirds of the US and most of continental Europe. If you live in this zone, you may be able to grow hops yourself.
Many traditional beer styles are characterized by the variety of hops that grow in a given region. For example, American ales, such as American IPAs, typically exhibit characteristics of hops grown in the Pacific Northwest – notes of citrus and pine are common. The majority of brewing hops grown in the US come from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. Examples of American hops include Cascade, Centennial, Columbus, and Willamette.
There are a number of hop varieties specific to continental Europe. The noble hop varieties (Hallertau, Tettnang, Saaz, Spalt) all come from Germany and the Czech Republic, and are most often found in traditional European styles like German ales, German lagers, and Czech lagers. Many Belgian beers feature these same hops, as well as Styrian Goldings from the region of the former Yugoslavia.
The UK is another popular hop growing region. Fuggles, East Kent Golding, and Bramling Cross are natural choices if brewing English bitters, porters, barleywines, or stouts.
In recent years, brewing hop production has increased in the southern hemisphere. Hops grown in places you might not expect have started to hit the market: Chile, Argentina, New Zealand. Sierra Nevada pays tribute to some of these distant hop growers with their Southern Hemisphere Harvest IPA.

From the Growing Fields to Your Home Brewery
At the end of the growing season, hops are harvested by machine or by hand, then processed either into pellets or packed in whole cone form. They’re usually pressed into bales for easy shipping and storage.
At some point in this process, the hops may go to a broker who effectively buys the hops from farmers and then distributes them to the various buyers: breweries, homebrew shops, and other hop suppliers.
Throughout this process, hops must be stored cold in order to preserve their flavor and bittering characteristics. This makes sure that by the time the hops hit your brew kettle, they’re just as fresh as they were when they left the field!
Have you ever grown your own hops? What are some of your favorite hop varieties?
—–
David Ackley is a writer, brewer, and craft beer marketing consultant. He holds a General Certificate in Brewing from the Institute of Brewing and Distilling and is founder of the Local Beer Blog.