“Just like chefs or musicians, all brewers have their templates they’ve established for themselves through the years,” says Tony Lawrence, the brewmaster and co-owner at Boneyard Beer in Bend, Oregon. For him, the ideal IPA template is clean, crisp, and very dry, but not necessarily bitter, with a light grain bill that makes way for assertive hops aroma and flavor.
“Sweetness isn’t my thing,” he says. “The hops aren’t allowed to pop as much as they could if they weren’t masked by that crystal malt in IPA. I personally don’t like sweet, wet beers. I like them drier, crisper, and cleaner.”
As you can tell, Lawrence is not a “crystal malt guy.” He believes that brewers can build body in their beer recipes with mash temperatures, DextraPils, and Munich malt in lieu of crystal malt.