Since we do all of this hops discovery and analysis on the site, it makes sense to use it for something. Mike went back through all of our previous hops posts and found ones that had a certain profile. He used these hop varieties in his latest brew under the heading of NEIPA Innovation. When you have enough information, you can fine tune a hop forward beer to the profile you want. Check out this video where we discuss the recipe and the aroma/flavors of this beer.

Lime Focused NEIPA That’s More Like Orange

The Flavor Focus

The focus that Mike had for this New England IPA was to find hops that had lime as a descriptor as a part of their aroma/flavor profile. The varieties that he choose were Cashmere, Wakatu, and Sabro.

He also tuned his grain bill to showcase the hops prominently. He wanted to keep the mass of hops low so that the hop bite wouldn’t be present in the beer. By using a simple list of light grains, he feels he was able to do that.

Let’s examine the recipe.

Grain Bill

10 pounds of Briess Brewers Malt
2.5 pounds of Flaked Wheat
0.5 pounds of Carapils

1 pound of table sugar

Hops

.75 ounces (21 g) of Nugget hops at 60 minutes to go in the boil
1 ounce of Cashmere hops – added as a whirlpool hop
1 ounce of Wakatu – added as a whirlpool hop
1 ounce of Sabro LUPOMAX – added as a whirlpool hop
1 ounce of Cashmere hops – dry hop in the keg
1 ounce of Wakatu – dry hop in the keg
1 ounce of Sabro LUPOMAX – dry hop in the keg

Yeast

One pouch of A07 Flagship yeast
One packet of Fermentis S-04

Water

Tap water with a little bit of gypsum:

5 grams in kettle
5 grams in the mash

Outcomes

Original Gravity: 1.061
Starting Gravity: 1.010
%ABV: 6.69%

NEIPA Results

Mike’s focus on hops of a certain flavor profile helped him to produce a beer with an intense, juicy, citrus note. Although he was going for lime, the predominate flavor profile was orange. Not that it’s a bad thing, it was quite enjoyable.

He was looking to use less hops in his beer to avoid any ‘green’ hop bite and he was successful. The addition on Nugget for bittering was present but not harsh, although that typically isn’t the cause of the problem. Mike was trying to maximize hop flavors without having to add a pound of pellets to the beer. With just three ounces added at the whirlpool phase and in the keg, he accomplished what he set out to do.

If there is one thing that I took out of this beer experience is that you can always innovate known styles. Heck, you can innovate on unknown styles too. Homebrewing gives you the freedom to use ingredients and techniques to produce beer that you want to drink. You can even whip up a little NEIPA Innovation if you want.

BREW ON!