West Coast IPA

There are no core brands at this small Oakland neighborhood brewery, only core styles. Yet the space to experiment, play, and learn has led to an evolution in process and ingredients—an evolution validated by major medals and high scores.

Jason De La Torre, cofounder and brewer at Ogopogo in San Gabriel, California, describes this West Coast IPA as “crisp, punchy, resinous, and dank.” Using modern methods and hop products, it includes doses of Incognito in the whirlpool and Cryo in the dry hop.

Brian “Hutch” Hutchinson, cofounder and head brewer at Cannonball Creek in Golden, Colorado, shares the thinking behind their target carbonation levels for West Coast IPA, session, IPA, and pale ale.

The team at Cannonball Creek in Golden, Colorado, wants its award-winning West Coast–style IPAs and pale ales to pour bright and clear. In this clip from his video course, cofounder and brewer Brian Hutchinson explains their method for finishing and clarifying before service at the brewpub.

Brewers who dry hop their beers today need to be aware of hop creep and its tendency to produce diacetyl and related off-flavors. Here, cofounder and brewer Brian Hutchinson explains how Cannonball Creek circumvents it in their pale ales and IPAs.

Brian Hutchinson, cofounder and brewer at the Colorado brewpub that’s won a slew of medals for its hop-forward beers over the past 13 years, details their approach to achieving high-impact flavor and quality at small scale.

Patrick Bourque, head brewer at Kiitos in Salt Lake City, says they brewed this IPA to showcase fonio’s unique flavors—such as passion fruit, lychee, and white peach—and how those flavors meld nicely with the flavors and aromas of modern hop varieties.

You don’t want your water to get in the way of hop-saturated flavors. Here, North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair sketches out a few different water profiles that depend on style—and why he might adjust those profiles, depending on choices made elsewhere.

North Park founder and head brewer Kelsey McNair shares his approach and various techniques for achieving fully saturated hop flavor in IPA, West Coast pilsner, or any hop-forward style.

Russian River cofounder and brewmaster Vinnie Cilurzo shares this recipe for a beer to celebrate the 25th birthday of one of his favorite hops.

Shaun Kalis, cofounder and brewer at Ruse Brewing in Portland, Oregon, shares this recipe for a fresh-hopped version of their bright, West Coast–style, Mosaic-heavy IPA.

This award-winning Northwest IPA is a flagship for Von Ebert in Portland, Oregon, with a berry-forward hop flavor driven by lots of Mosaic, plus Simcoe and Strata in the dry hop.

Michal Minarik, cofounder of Firstep Beer in Slovakia, shares this recipe for their bottom-fermented IPA with a “central European twist”—a beer that recently won Best of Show at the King of Craft competition in Budapest.

Inspired by the tasting notes of the beer writer Michael Jackson, Breakside in Portland, Oregon, recently brewed this West Coast–style IPA to honor Jackson and raise funds for the Michael Jackson Foundation for Brewing & Distilling.

Evan Price, cofounder and head brewer of Green Cheek in Orange, California, details how pH, water chemistry, hop varieties, and grain choices are all among the knobs you can turn to shape your ideal perception of bitterness in West Coast–style, hop-forward beers.

How did we get here? Green Cheek cofounder and head brewer Evan Price traces the recent history of IPA in the West Coast style, as it’s moved away from caramel and fully embraced pilsner malt.

From a word on water to dry hopping, fining, and carbonating, cofounder and head brewer Evan Price shares an overview of Green Cheek’s process for West Coast–style beers.

Does the world need a new style of IPA? Never mind, don’t answer that—instead, we’ll let Beachwood brewmaster Julian Shrago respond with this recipe for what he calls a “hyper IPA.”

Evan Price, cofounder and head brewer of Green Cheek in Orange, California, explains the thinking behind using different chloride-sulfate ratios for their West Coast pilsners, IPAs, and double IPAs.

Evan Price, cofounder and head brewer of Green Cheek in Orange, California, lays out the thinking and process behind their bright, bitter, and highly drinkable West Coast pils, IPA, and double IPA.