From the team at Colorado’s Westbound & Down, we share a homebrew-scale recipe for their Spirit of the West, winner of consecutive silver medals at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival, the 2023 World Beer Cup, and then once again at the 2023 GABF.
From thiols and survivability to advanced hop products and specific varieties, Westbound & Down director of brewing operations Jake Gardner explains what they want from hops in their West Coast IPAs.
It’s all about freshness and the preservative powers of antioxidants. Here, Westbound & Down director of brewing operations Jake Gardner explains why they believe they’ve gotten longer-lasting, more aromatic IPAs by choosing hops picked earlier in the harvest.
Make it snappy! Westbound & Down director of brewing operations Jake Gardner explains how shooting for a relatively low finishing pH can help your West Coast–style IPAs taste better for longer.
Westbound & Down director of brewing operations Jake Gardner won’t tell you how to write your West Coast-style IPA recipe. But he will tell you how to make yours better—with more pronounced hop aroma and flavor that lasts longer in the package.
