What Defines a Brut IPA?
Here are my three rules:
1) It must be extremely dry. Ideally in the 0.0 Plato to 1 Plato range.
2) It must be as light in color as possible. An SRM of 2 is the target. That’s the same appearance as an American Light Lager. The low color is achieved through use of adjuncts like rice and corn.
3) It must be delicious. This style is highly technical; pay close attention to your bitterness level, yeast health, and fermentation.
Other Notes:
This style of beer isn’t just about numbers on a recipe sheet, it’s also about perception. Here are some things to keep in mind:
Ethanol contributes to mouthfeel and body. I highly recommend keeping the abv range between 6.0% and 6.5%. Anything higher than 7% abv will begin to showcase sweetness and body from ethanol to a degree the beer is no longer perceivably dry.
Beta-Glucans contribute to mouthfeel and body. Barley and oats are high in beta glucan, whereas corn, rice, and wheat are considerably lower. I recommend using 20-30% of flaked rice or flaked corn in your formula.
Yeast Selection also impacts mouthfeel and body. Neutral ale yeast, such as “Chico” yeast is a great candidate. Lager strains produce especially crisp results! Avoid using strains that would be suitable for “Juicy” beer styles, or classic English strains in general. Even if the product has low residual sugar, the beer will still have a perceived richness.
Does it have to be clear? I honestly don’t have a strong opinion on this, but I do think that clear Brut IPA will appear more refreshing.
Carbonation Level can have a great impact on the crispness of the product, just like sparkling wine. In 2018 I did a wonderful collaboration with HenHouse Brewing called “The Third Volume” where the point was to package the entire batch of beer into cans with a very high level of carb (3.0 volumes of Co2 vs. a standard 2.5). 3.0 Volumes of Co2 would be problematic for many draft systems, so by putting it all in cans we bypassed this obstacle. The extra carbonation worked incredibly well!