Subscriber Exclusive
Recipe: Allagash Hop Reach IPA
Released only last year, Allagash’s first year-round IPA is a modern take on classic American versions—golden, juicy, with hop-derived notes of pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, and pine, balanced by refined bitterness and a dry finish.
Photos: Courtesy Allagash
All Access Subscribers can download the Beersmith and BeerXML version of this recipe.
Subscribe today.
Founded in 1995 in Portland, Maine, Allagash is known especially for its witbier and other Belgian styles. However, after a lengthy R&D process and plenty of input from the staff, the brewery released Hop Reach in 2023 as its first year-round IPA.
Senior R&D brewer Patrick Chavanelle describes it as a modern take on the classic American IPA, golden in appearance, with a panorama of juicy, hop-derived flavors—including pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, and pine—all balanced by refined bitterness and a dry finish.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.056 (13.7°P)
FG: 1.006 (1.6°P)
IBUs: 45
ABV: 6.8%
Make & Drink Better Beer
Subscribe today to access all of the premium brewing content available (including this article). With thousands of reviews, our subscribers call it "the perfect beer magazine" and "worth every penny." Your subscription is protected by a 100% money back guarantee.
Founded in 1995 in Portland, Maine, Allagash is known especially for its witbier and other Belgian styles. However, after a lengthy R&D process and plenty of input from the staff, the brewery released Hop Reach in 2023 as its first year-round IPA.
Senior R&D brewer Patrick Chavanelle describes it as a modern take on the classic American IPA, golden in appearance, with a panorama of juicy, hop-derived flavors—including pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, and pine—all balanced by refined bitterness and a dry finish.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.056 (13.7°P)
FG: 1.006 (1.6°P)
IBUs: 45
ABV: 6.8%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
6.3 lb (2.9 kg) Briess base malt blend
1.4 lb (635 g) local pale malt
1 lb (454 g) unmalted white wheat
13.5 oz (383 g) flaked oats
10 oz (283 g) Briess Carapils
8.5 oz (241 g) Briess Bonlander Munich 10°L
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.12 oz (3.5 g) Nugget at 60 minutes [5 IBUs]
2 oz (57 g) Mosaic at whirlpool [23 IBUs]
1 oz (28 g) Idaho 7 Cryo at whirlpool [17 IBUs]
2 oz (57 g) Citra Cryo at dry hop
2 oz (57 g) El Dorado CGX at dry hop
3 oz (85 g) Cascade at dry hop
YEAST
Omega Yeast OYL-009 West Coast Ale II
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 151°F (66°C) for 60 minutes. Recirculate until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as needed to get about 7 gallons (26.5 liters) of wort, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 60 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. After the boil, do a whirlpool step: Stir or recirculate to create a vortex, add whirlpool hops, and allow 20 minutes to steep. Chill the wort to about 67°F (19°C), aerate, and pitch the yeast. Start fermentation at 68°F (20°C), allowing a rise to 72°F (22°C) when the beer has dropped to about 1.036 (9°P). On Day 6 or 7, or when the gravity has dropped to about 1.014 (3.6°P), dump the yeast (or rack to secondary) and add the dry hops. Dump the hops after 4 more days. Once the beer has passed a forced VDK test, chill to 35°F (2°C). Package and carbonate to about 2.65 volumes of CO2.
BREWER’S NOTES
Water and pH: We add 5 ppm of calcium sulfate at the start of the boil. Pre-fermentation, we aim for a 5.0–5.1 pH; consider an acid addition if yours is higher.
Malt: Our base malt blend is 50/50 pilsner and pale malt. For the local addition, we use pale malt from either Blue Ox or Maine Malt House.
Dry hops: We dry hop at ~2°P above terminal; the timing may vary depending on your fermentation rate. We’ve found that dry hopping too late increases the delay in the development of hop creep.
