Chill Factor Cold IPA All Grain Recipe Kit Northern Brewer

Chill Factor Cold IPA

The latest sub-style of the ever-morphing IPA has arrived, and it is seriously cool. Chill Factor, our take on the popular Cold IPA, is just that. A clean base of moderately flavorful North Star Pils malt and a brisk dash of rice helps keep overly malt-driven flavors on ice, but when you factor in the bombastic citrus, pine and tropical fruit character of Centennial and Mosaic you end up with an easy sipping beer of glacial proportions.

Cold IPA Brewing Notes:

• Style: Cold IPA, IPA
• Fermentation Range: 60-64°F
• Original Gravity: 1.062
• SRM: 3.7
• IBU: 60
• ABV: 7.1%

Cold IPA Tasting Notes:

• Aroma: Medium-low fresh bread malt aroma is overshadowed by a huge nose of tropical fruit, grapefruit citrus, and faint pine notes.
• Appearance: Light to medium golden straw color with a brilliantly white foam head and very good clarity.
• Flavor: Super clean, dry, and neutral malt base with medium-low flavors of freshly baked bread and water crackers. Medium-high bitterness is accompanied by a huge wave of fruit-forward hop flavors of tropical mango, stone fruit, grapefruit, and moderate earthy pine character. Clean fermentation profile with low fruity yeast-derived esters.
• Mouthfeel: Medium body and quite dry on the palate. Moderately sparkling carbonation.

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Notes from Brad, Northern Brewer Head Brewer:

“The IPA has evolved again! Cold IPA is the latest derivative in the constant transformation of perhaps the most widely adapted beer style there is. At its core, a Cold IPA is a beer crafted to showcase hops, while keeping all other facets of the beer a bit muted, but still absolutely present, in order to provide a completely hop-forward yet balanced flavor experience. To accomplish this goal, there are (in general) three techniques used to create this sensation. First, a simple grain bill is used, generally consisting of a neutral flavored American base malt with a significant portion of the fermentables coming from rice or corn. Next, a clean yeast strain is used and can be either an ale or lager strain fermented in a temperature range to offer both vigorous performance and clean flavors. The third technique is a generous dry hop addition, generally during active fermentation to create the big hop character found in the finished product. When all of these techniques are used in tandem, the result is reminiscent of a traditional west coast IPA, but with accentuated hop character and a lower malt presence.

Chill Factor Cold IPA utilizes all of these production methods, and the result is awesome. Coming in at about 60 IBU and 7.1% ABV, this beer really packs a punch both in the flavor and alcohol strength fronts. To keep the malt bill as simple and clean-flavored as possible, only Rahr North Star Pils and rice are used, without the addition of any caramel or crystal malts that would only serve to thwart the goal of a dry finish, and would create an obstacle for the hop flavors to really shine. In this case rice is used instead of corn to keep the flavors as neutral as possible, as large additions of corn can push the grain flavor profile to border on a classic American pilsner or cream ale, which is not quite what we are going for here. The total of two hop additions used may sound a little skimpy, but will provide bracing bitterness and ample flavor during the whirlpool addition and the dry hop addition during active fermentation cranks up the hop aroma to insane levels. The last piece of the puzzle here is the yeast. To keep flavors neutral the advice for this style is to use a clean ale strain at a low temperature, or a clean lager yeast at a slightly elevated temperature as long as it does not produce a whole lot of esters or sulfur compounds. This is where Fermentis W-34/70 lager yeast comes into play. Since this yeast strain is already very clean, exhibits low sulfur production and has a wide temperature range it is the perfect candidate for this style. Fermenting with this yeast at 62F offers a great balance of clean fermentation-derived flavors and a strong fermentation to ensure the beer attenuates well to create the appropriate dry finish. ”