Juicey IPA? Hazy IPA? NE-IPA? OPA?

[lexuschris]

Hey all,

Brew Fest is upon us, and I just wanted to post something in the recipe category here about hazy, lazy, juicy, fruity, IPAs. Yes, I hate the term juicy... and NE-IPA seems equally lame. I don't want my beer to taste like cotton candy, fruit loops, or jolly ranchers.

However, I did attempt to brew a clone of Ranger Creek OPA. An Oat Pale Ale from Texas, which I enjoyed in my last trip to San Antonio. In my mind, it was just a APA with 15% oats.. and it was tasty!

What I ended up brewing was from their list of ingredients on their website, and I did my best take on proportions. They claimed an 'english yeast', but that really sounded odd to me. So, I split the batch and fermented half of it with WLP002, and half with WLP051.

I'll be bringing both to the fest this year, so you can try them too. However, the WLP002 is really tasty, with lots of fresh orange/grapefruit flavor. I will NOT say its juicy... but you can make you're own minds up on that. Its not that hazy either, just a bit. However, it does really pop of citrus hop flavor, and I like it.

So whatever you call it, if it tantalizes the taste buds.. drink it and don't worry about the fruity name.
--LexusChris

10 gallon batch:
Mash @ 152-F
18.5# US 2-row Pale malt
3.9# Malted Oats
1.7# Caramel 60L
1.75oz Centennial @ 60min
2.00oz Centennial @ 15min
1.00oz Citra @ 15min
1.00oz Centennial @ 0min
1.00oz Citra @ 0min
3.00oz Centennial Dryhop 4 days
3.00oz Citra Dryhop 4 days
WLP002 and/or WLP051

[maltbarley]

Thanks for the juicy details, Chris!

I'm looking forward to trying them.

[BrewMasterBrad]

That's a lot of hops. Not sure if I can handle that much Citra juiciness.

[JonW]

I like most things IPA and the NE versions are mostly good. Yes, most of them are hazy, but I don't think many of them are juicy. I wasn't really sure what juicy meant until I finally had one that was definitely juicy. RIIP has done a couple that I thought were juicy. The juiciness was a wetness that left my palate wanting to take another big gulp - like how drinking orange juice feels. At the same time though, the beer was not overly sweet, nor was it dry, but at 7%, it was balanced and the mouth feel made me want to chug it down. Juicy is definitely a descriptor that works for those beers - but I really think there are very few that are truly juicy.

[bwarbiany]

That's a lot of hops. Not sure if I can handle that much Citra juiciness.

Looking forward to it, but Citra is not exactly my favorite hop as well...

I'm sure I'll still prefer it to about ~95% of the beers at the fest though