Winter is bringing in the cold and what better way to freeze are butts off than to do it while drinking a Cold IPA.
Who do we have to thank for the Cold IPA? We really have to thank Wayfinder Brewmaster Kevin Davey who pioneered the Cold IPA beer style back in 2017. With his spin on the IPA category and techniques the style was born. With the help of rice and corn in the grain bill this gave the beer body and mouthfeel all while keeping it dry at the same time. While using Wayfinder’s house lager yeast, this allowed the hops to shine. But what better than to dry hop the beer at the end of fermentation. This all set up todays take on breweries world wide following his foot steps and growing the beer style.
What is a Cold IPA?
The Cold IPA is an IPA that is fermented at lower temperatures rather than what is normally used to ferment an ale. But that would make a it a lager right? Fermenting an IPA at colder temperatures means brewers often use a lager yeast or a combination of a lager and an ale yeast. So no, it’s not an India Pale Lager (IPL). Cold IPA’s are a category of its own.
Cold IPA’s are hop-forward ales with notes common in an IPA, but a beer that’s ultimately crisper, cleaner, and more crushable like a lager.
Top 10 Cold IPA’s on Untappd:
10. Shred Beer Co. – Zero Degrees: 6.5% abv 100% Mosaic and Mosaic Cryo hops bring you vibrant flavors and aromas of blueberry fields, mango flesh, and top shelf herb.
9. Wayfinder Beer – Birthday Beer: 7% During their venture into the desert of Paso Robles for the Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Fest, the brewing minds at Firestone and Wayfinder conjured a plan to make this Cold IPA that’s dip-hopped, dry-hopped, cold hopped, and hot hopped. A variable hop smorgasbord.
8. Green Cheek Beer Co. – It Just Works: On the palate, this thing is very much like their clear and bitter California IPAs, and we really dig it! The color is very pale, with a firm bitterness, and a sticky resin quality that is all fresh douglas fir, and super hoppy aromatics of blueberry muffins and strawberries.
7. Casey Brewing and Blending: 6.5% Cold IPA is a new style of IPA that is fermented and hopped at colder temperatures. Compared to other IPA’s this style allows a unique extraction of delicate hop oils. During the brewing process Casey used flaked corn to create a crisp clean profile that will leave you coming back for more. Hopped with Citra, Mosaic, and Talus.
6. Space Monkey Mafia: This DDH IPA has been fermented cool by using a lager yeast, giving it an out of this world crushability and crisp finish. It has been double dry hopped with Mosaic, Mosaic Cryo, Nelson Sauvin, and Citra using a mix of dry hopping techniques to promote bio transformation and ethereal juiciness. Guava, passion fruit, ripe tangerine, touch of that Southern Hemisphere diesely thiol, and a squeeze of lime finishing crisp and clear. 7.8% abv.
5. Fremont Brewing – Cultivision: 7.5% abv with 60 IBU’s. Pours dark yellow with aromas of pine and other resinous notes with grassy and fresh floral aromas. Slightly sweet with mild bitterness that lingers subtly in medium body; mouthwatering carbonation.
4. North Park Beer Co. – So Hot Right Now: A 7% abv Cold IPA layered with Freestyle Nelson Sauvin Hop Kief, Mosaic Cryo, HBC-586 Cryo, HBC-586, and Freestyle Nelson hops, it tastes like finally nailing your Magnum look, or turning left for the first time. Beautifully clear and bright, this double dry-hopped collab with Flatland is not just delicious, it’s also really, really, ridiculously good-looking. Grab yours while you can, you never know when a freak gasoline fight accident may occur.
3. Fidens – Adam’s Axe: Acollaboration beer with Wayward Lane Brewing, Adam’s Axe Cold IPA is 7% abv with Mosaic, Peacharine and Nelson.
2. Green Cheek Beer Co. – A Salute to Classic Beer Styles Cold IPA: This collab brought together German lager yeast and like cold stuff, and the English Brewer guy brought Citra Cryo, Nectaron, & Mosaic from the future somehow and they created the first ever Imperial Cold DIPA! Yep, they even air freighted this beer super cold in 16oz cans to early California gold miners and this high abv hop bomb became a tradition the week after Thanksgiving.
- North Park Beer Co. – Ice-Fu!: A World Beer Cup 2024 Gold Medal winner! Ice-Fu! to keep you feeling cool and your thirst quenched, no matter the weather! This DDH Cold IPA is bright, crisp, and brilliantly clear. With a flurry of Citra 702, HBC-586 Cryo, Mosaic, and Mosaic Cryo, Ice-Fu! features notes of orange peel, grapefruit juice, blueberry, and a touch of pine. Transport your senses to a wonderland of flavors and experience the invigorating chill with each refreshing sip!
BEER PORN MAGAZINE 