Low Gravity IPA

Isn't that just a pale ale? Short answer, no. Long answer, in the 1970's a craft beer revolution was started by home brewers in their garages, kitchens, and backyards. The generation of Charlie Papazian brewers (home brewer's between 1970's and today who grew up brewing with Charlie Papazian books) paved a way for better beer across the country. As home brewers started opening brewery's new styles were created. Most famously, Sierra Nevada, creating the American style Pale Ale. Today's brewer's are pushing style "guidelines", brewing fermented versions of musical mash ups (Belgian IPA, phenolic yeast with American hop varieties). American brewers brew without the history and dogma of traditional brewing regions. In Germany, the rich scientific brewing tradition is at odds with an ageing population and a youth culture moving towards spirits and alcopop. In a recent article it stated, "Today's youth do not think of beer as fashionable. The trend is moving toward alco-pops, or alcoholic mixed drinks." According to Koenig, Germans spend more on wine than beer. Alco-pops are popular in the states as well, but the home brew movement in the states gave way to a new beer culture with over two thousand breweries open and tens of thousands more home brewer's. Just like discovering a new band, food, or finding a new beer style that you like, it can be exciting. With this next generation of drinkers and brewers we're able to digest the extreme beer aught years and keep moving forward. Where a session IPA is becoming the "new pale ale". 


Lew Bryson has been pushing the low alcohol beer movement for years, and more and more it seems like it's finally taking hold. A cool thing is happening. The opposite of the extreme years. Where, instead of taking traditional styles and making them bigger and bolder (higher abv and more hops) brewers are lowering the abv but challenging ourselves to not lose flavor. The rise of table, session, "everyday" beer styles is exciting. Thus today's batch of beer, a Low Gravity IPA. Target is a four point three percent pale ale with the hop rate and character of an IPA. It's more challenging to make a flavorful beer that's lower than five percent and still be malty and flavorful than brewing seven percent pale ale brewed with double ipa hop rates. IPA is the most popular style by sales across the county. It's been an obvious style candidate to shrink. Examples such as Lagunitas Fractional IPA, Otter Creek Hop Session, and Founder's All Day IPA. With brewery's like Notch Brewing whose only focus is on producing beer lower than five percent Lew Bryson should be happy to know that the full flavor session beer tipping point has taken hold. Let's just hope it lasts. What style do you think will be the next style that we'll be making munchkin versions of?

The challenge to lower gravity beers is to prevent them from being thin and watery. First off mash in warmer than one hundred and fifty two up to one hundred and sixty. Mash temperature is very important to the sugar profile of the wort. Just a few degree mash difference will change the final gravity a few points. Another way to add malt flavor and character is to use base malts that provide more flavor than boring old pale two row. Use heirloom English malts such as Maris Otter and Golden Promise. A good go to is German malts such as Vienna and Munich that provide a more bread-y flavor from being toasted longer than most base malts. I also like to use a larger percent of dextrin malt when brewing low gravity ales and lagers. For example for this beer today I'm using twenty percent cara-pils malt. Seventy percent Vienna malt and ten percent flaked wheat. I also mashed in very warm at one hundred and fifty seven degrees. This low gravity IPA today needs a malt backbone to handle all the hops. Depending on your water you may also want to add brewing salt to your water to provide more mouth feel for your low gravity style mash ups.

Super Galena hops for bittering to forty international bittering units. CTZ hops for flavor addition at thirty minutes. With a late kettle addition of Centennial and whole leaf Citra. I've dry hopped the beer on day two of fermentation with Nelson Sauvin. I'll be dry hopping the heck out of this even more with yet to be determined hops. Fermented with Safale US-05.

11 comments:

  1. If a beer is over 4% it's NOT @sessionbeer. Period.

    Education; http://www.dingsbeerblog.com/?p=632

    You're welcome.

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    1. Ding, I forgot to mention your nazi like take on session beer in my post. Sorry about that. The history of Britich pub culture isn't applicable to modern American craft brewing industry, which I could remind you is doing much better than English craft brewing.

      Words can change meaning over time and that's okay. Here in America we make our own rules. I would say the consensus here is beer under five percent is "session" beer. Keep on fighting the fight though.

      You're welcome.

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  2. I think the biggest problem is that most craft breweries hide flaws in the bigger beers like an IPA. Personally I think some beers are forced into the market to meet demand. These Breweries, not knowing how to produce a solid low gravity beer are afraid of them. On the other hand, I'm glad you listed Founders All Day IPA, it is a fantastic beer and brewed perfectly. (I haven't had the other examples listed)

    Your beer sounds awesome BTW. I have been playing with a low gravity almost all late hop beer over the last year and I am steering towards Munich more than crystal malt for the perceived mouthfeel. I'm interested in hearing how it turns out.

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    1. I like cara-pils, Munich, Honey malt, and biscuit/aromatic malt in hoppy beers much more than any crystal/caramel malt. The crystal malt oxidation flavor overtakes the hop aroma and flavor. In my opinion it's better to just leave crystal malts out of american pale hoppy beer recipes.

      Love your blog by the way! Well thought out, creative beers. cheers

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    2. Thanks for the kind words.

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  3. I am liking this new trend to session beers!
    20% Cara-pils! I've always have an aversion to cara-pils but I have made some pretty thin beers. Do you think doing a full-volume mash BIAB produces thinner beers?

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    1. Kelly, BIAB alone wouldn't produce a thinner beer. The mash temperature will dictate that. It's important to keep the mash temp above 152*f to produce a good body with using any carapils. What temperature doing you guys mash rest? Also try shortening the mash rest, most breweries don't rest for longer than :30 to :45 minutes. Anything longer is dogma.

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  4. Cheers to more session beers being brewed! Mine came out about 3.75% http://www.bizybii.com/?p=133

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    1. Brian,
      How have I not seen your blog before? Great stuff!

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    2. Thanks man! Wish I had more time to add to it! I have a huge amount of posts that are just drafts. Someday...

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  5. I'm all in favor of sub-4% session beers. I suspect the American taste for higher gravity beers is a backlash against the years of abuse heaped upon us for producing diaphanous lagers- we're a bit touchy and over-compensating. Either that or we've timed our "sessions" so inebriation coincides with we've running out of things to talk about.

    Maybe the Brits have more to talk about (or a higher tolerance for repetition)thereby needing a lower grav session beer to accommodate longer running sessions.

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