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Recipe: Firestone Walker Another Life Cold IPA
“This refreshingly crisp cold IPA takes inspiration from our friend and former Firestone Walker brewer Kevin Davey,” Sam Tierney says. “It can be brewed two ways: one with rice adjunct to lighten the body, or another with a lower-FAN, extra-pale German pilsner malt for similar effect.”
What is a cold IPA, really? We’ve explored that topic plenty in the pages of the magazine and on the podcast, but we always come back to Kevin Davey’s description of it as “wester than West Coast”—i.e., it should have the hop flavor and bitterness of a West Coast–style IPA, but also the crispness and drinkability of a pale lager. Davey’s design includes body-lightening adjuncts (rice) and lager yeast, fermented at ale-like temperatures... but are there other ways to get to that destination?
In our Spring 2023 issue, we published a Brewer’s Perspective piece from Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Brynildson. In it, he makes a compelling argument that a cold IPA doesn’t necessarily need the adjuncts to be a cold IPA, and that it can be all-malt—but it still must be well attenuated, dry, and crisp in body and finish. In other words, no matter how you get there, it still has to be “wester than West Coast.”
To test the argument, we include a fresh cold IPA recipe from Sam Tierney, head brewer at Firestone Walker’s Propagator in Los Angeles. There are two ways to brew it: Go with the rice, or go with the extra-pale pilsner. (And if you brew either one or both, we’d love to know how it turns out.)
Also be sure to check out Tierney’s own piece, Lagers in All but Name, on the long-running commercial practice of using lager yeast to make ale—more support for the idea that when it comes to style or even just to success, it’s the final product that matters most.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.009
IBUs: 60
ABV: 6.1%
What is a cold IPA, really? We’ve explored that topic plenty in the pages of the magazine and on the podcast, but we always come back to Kevin Davey’s description of it as “wester than West Coast”—i.e., it should have the hop flavor and bitterness of a West Coast–style IPA, but also the crispness and drinkability of a pale lager. Davey’s design includes body-lightening adjuncts (rice) and lager yeast, fermented at ale-like temperatures... but are there other ways to get to that destination?
In our Spring 2023 issue, we published a Brewer’s Perspective piece from Firestone Walker brewmaster Matt Brynildson. In it, he makes a compelling argument that a cold IPA doesn’t necessarily need the adjuncts to be a cold IPA, and that it can be all-malt—but it still must be well attenuated, dry, and crisp in body and finish. In other words, no matter how you get there, it still has to be “wester than West Coast.”
To test the argument, we include a fresh cold IPA recipe from Sam Tierney, head brewer at Firestone Walker’s Propagator in Los Angeles. There are two ways to brew it: Go with the rice, or go with the extra-pale pilsner. (And if you brew either one or both, we’d love to know how it turns out.)
Also be sure to check out Tierney’s own piece, Lagers in All but Name, on the long-running commercial practice of using lager yeast to make ale—more support for the idea that when it comes to style or even just to success, it’s the final product that matters most.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.009
IBUs: 60
ABV: 6.1%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
8.8 lb (4 kg) North American pilsner
2.2 lb (1 kg) flaked rice
OR
10.3 lb (4.7 kg) Weyermann Extra Pale Premium Pilsner
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.33 oz (9 g) El Dorado at 70 minutes [15 IBUs]
0.33 oz (9 g) El Dorado at 10 minutes [9 IBUs]
1 oz (28 g) El Dorado at whirlpool [14 IBUs]
1.5 oz (43 g) Citra at whirlpool [22 IBUs]
1.5 oz (43 g) each Centennial, Chinook, Citra, El Dorado at dry hop
YEAST
Fermentis SafLager W-34/70 or similar, such as Imperial L13 Global or Omega OYL-106 German Lager I
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 145°F (63°C) for 45 minutes; raise to 154°F (68°C) and rest for 15 minutes; then raise to 162°F (72°C) and rest for 15 minutes. Check for conversion with iodine (see On the Road to Conversion), then mash out at 169°F (76°C). Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6 gallons (23 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 70 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. At the end of the boil, stir or pump to create a whirlpool, add whirlpool hops, and allow to steep 20 minutes. After the whirlpool, chill to about 56°F (13°C). Oxygenate the wort—we target 16–17 ppm O2—and pitch the yeast.
Ferment at 59°F (15°C), then raise to 64°F (18°C) for a diacetyl rest when the gravity has dropped to about 1.024. At terminal gravity, dump the yeast or rack to secondary and add the dry hops. After 3 days, remove the hops or rack again. Chill to 31–32°F (0°C) over 2–3 days. Once cold, fine, centrifuge, or filter to clarify. Package and carbonate to about 2.6 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Water: We use reverse-osmosis (RO) water and add minerals to target about 90 ppm of calcium, with a 2:1 ratio of gypsum to calcium chloride. We target a mash pH of 5.4 by adding phosphoric acid, then we adjust the wort to pH 5.1 at the end of the boil.
Enzymes: If you take the all-malt option, you can try adding amyloglucosidase to the mash to increase fermentability to levels comparable to the more diastatic North American malts.
Adjuncts: If you feel like using flaked corn instead of rice or want to try a cereal mash with corn grits or brewer’s rice, go for it! In the end, we’re just looking for a clean, dry IPA with a very light malt character.
