What Is Cold IPA

The History of Cold IPA

Cold IPA is essentially a refinement of the West Coast IPA, incorporating techniques and ingredient combinations from lager brewing.

Cold IPA originated with Kevin Davey while serving as head brewer at Wayfinder Brewery in Portland, Oregon. He first released the beer in October 2018 as "Relapse IPA" and later renamed Wayfinder Original Cold IPA. It gained popularity in the beer market in 2022 and 2023. At the 2022 American Craft Beer Festival, Firestone Walker released their new Hopnosis IPA, demonstrating a unique approach to brewing a cold IPA.

Wayfinder describes Cold IPA as "more West Coast than West Coast," suggesting that the great West Coast IPA is the soul of this style. The flavors and aromas produced by lager yeast fermented at lower temperatures don't mesh well with the richness of American hops. In particular, the sulfides produced by lager yeast and fermentation often clash with the sulfides in many hops. Beer has a certain sulfide threshold, exceeding which can lead to unpleasant sensory experiences (making the beer unpalatable). Therefore, David set out to develop a beer more elegant than an IPA, more palatable than a dry-hopped lager, and a deadly rival to the New England IPA (NEIPA). Wayfinder's Cold IPA differs from West Coast IPA in that it utilizes rice or corn adjuncts, like those found in American lagers or cream ales, ferments at higher temperatures with low-sulfur lager yeast, and uses biotransformation to add hops during fermentation. Its overall bitterness is lower, similar to a brut IPA, making it more drinkable and balanced. It has exceptional hop aroma, a clean and assertive bitterness, and a bold, clean finish that leaves drinkers craving for another sip.

Sensory Characteristics

Cold IPAs have similar flavor profiles to West Coast IPAs, typically with a lighter color, a drier mouthfeel, and a smoother texture. Their alcohol content is similar, ranging from 6% to 8%, with initial and final gravities often lower to enhance the dryness. Their apparent bitterness level is comparable, but they finish dry, and their actual bitterness (IBUs) may be slightly lower (45-70).

Cold IPAs can be even lighter in color, especially with the addition of rice. Color can be as low as 2.5 SRM, but should not be considered golden. Cold IPAs are very clear, though unfiltered versions may have a slight haze.

The malt flavor is relatively neutral and should not have any caramel notes. Bitterness is noticeable, ranging from medium-high to high, but ideally a clean, non-throat-piercing bitterness. Hop flavor and aroma should be strong and can take many forms. Many versions have added tropical fruit notes through biotransformation, but all classic American IPA hop descriptors apply. A fresh, dry-hopped flavor is typical.

The body is low to medium-low, with high carbonation and minimal alcohol. The fermentation profile can be relatively neutral to slightly fruity, complementing the hops rather than competing with them. Sulfur content from any source (including water) should be relatively low to avoid competing with hop sulfides.

From a sensory perspective, Cold IPAs differ slightly from West Coast IPAs, but the differences are so minor that they do not require adjustments to the American IPA style descriptor. I question whether, given similar scores between Cold IPAs and American or West Coast IPAs, judges can reliably distinguish between them in competition.

Brewing Ingredients and Methods

Wayfinder uses corn or rice adjuncts—these adjuncts have the same starch composition as barley, containing 75% amylopectin and 25% amylose. The lack of husks results in a lighter beer with less soluble protein. Firestone Walker uses all-malted grains and employs a German-inspired staged mashing process. Both beers offer similar sensory profiles, but the ingredients alone don't fully define a cold IPA.

Malt is typically light-colored, two-row barley from North America, which provides a less intense flavor. I recommend adding a small amount of German Pilsner malt. Excessive additions of specialty malts can result in a beer that's too dark. The trend in modern West Coast IPAs is to avoid crystal malt (also known as caramel malt) entirely, and cold IPAs don't use it either.

Lager yeast is often used, but the higher fermentation temperature helps remove sulfides. The classic German SafLager W-34/70 yeast is well-suited for cold IPAs. Neutral ale yeast or Kölsch yeast can be used as alternatives or blended with ale yeast, but fermentation temperatures are lower than ale fermentation temperatures, resulting in a low-sulfur, clean, well-fermented beer.

Calcium chloride is used for water adjustment to maintain a low final sulfur content.

Hops are inspired by hazy IPAs and can be dry-hopped during active fermentation for biotransformation or by various late-hop addition techniques, with no restrictions. The choice of hops is up to the brewer to capture the characteristics of a modern American IPA.

I want to emphasize that the above method does demonstrate how modern ingredients and techniques are being incorporated into cold IPAs. This helps support the view that the American or West Coast IPA evolved into a cold IPA. Brewers are now moving away from crystal malt and emphasizing alternative late-hop methods.

Homebrew Cold IPA

My recipe incorporates some modern IPA techniques pioneered by Kevin Davey and Matt Brynildson. It uses a light, neutral-colored American base malt and rice. A stepped mash is used. For hop selection, I use Mosaic® hops exclusively, with a small amount of Cryo™ hops, a nod to Firestone Walker. I ferment at a higher temperature using lager yeast, hop during fermentation for bioconversion, and traditional dry hopping.

This recipe offers some flexibility. Any light, neutral malt combination can be used as the base malt, and corn can be substituted for rice, as rice helps maintain the beer's light color. A staged mash is preferred for dry, high-decay beers, but if you're limited to a single-step mash, keep the temperature low—65°C.

Excessive bitterness isn't necessary with a Cold IPA, as this is a dry beer, with hops added later for maximum aroma. If frozen hop concentrate (Cryo™ hops) is unavailable, regular hops can be used instead, using a two-stage dry hopping method.

Any low-sulfur yeast can be used, and a clean, neutral ale yeast can be blended in. Some people use Kölsch yeast, which may have a slight sulfur flavor. The higher fermentation temperature is more to reduce sulfide production by the lager yeast rather than ester production. If ester aroma is desired, the temperature can be slightly raised to 18–20°C.

Our goal here is to brew a light-colored, dry, clean beer with a strong hop aroma and a smooth mouthfeel. The hop aroma should be strong, and the overall flavor should be relatively neutral. This beer will appeal to lager lovers, especially those who enjoy hoppy lagers.

Brewing Steps

Use reverse osmosis (RO) filtered water. Adjust the pH of the brewing water to 5.5 with phosphoric acid, and add 1 teaspoon of calcium chloride to the mash.

Use a staged mashing method. Mash the malt at 55°C for 10 minutes, then raise the temperature to 63°C and hold for 45 minutes, then to 70°C and hold for 15 minutes, and finally to 76°C and hold for 15 minutes. Slowly filter and collect 24.5 liters of wort. Hops from the initial hop charge should be added to the kettle before filtering.

Boil the wort for 75 minutes, adding hops at the designated time. After the boil is complete, cool the wort to 71°C and add the hops from the spinner stage. Stir and let it sit for 20 minutes before proceeding.

Cool the wort to 15°C, add yeast, and ferment until complete, allowing the temperature to rise to 18°C. After two days of high-activity fermentation, the first batch of dry hops is added to the fermenter. Once fermentation is complete, dry hop again and wait three days. Finally, the beer is bottled or kegged, with sugar added to allow for a second fermentation, or it is kegged and carbonized with carbon dioxide.