Beer Style Guide: Get to Know Cold IPA with Em Sauter
The newest beer style on the block, although it was first brewed back in 2018, is the Cold IPA. Cold? Aren’t all beers cold? The name Cold IPA is an homage to macro lager marketing slogans of the 1980’s and 1990’s because they made the beer sound appealing while also being incredibly vague. Example—the “triple hops brewed” slogan of Miller Lite. And, as its creator tells it, who doesn’t want to drink a beer with cold in the title?
History of Cold IPA
Cold IPA is another beer style that has a very simple history thanks to its founder Kevin Davey, who, at the time, was the brewer at Wayfinder in Portland, Oregon and now brews in McMinnville, OR with brewer Lisa Allen at their own project, Gold Dot Beer. Davey calls the Cold IPA creation, “a bit Wester than West-coast, it’s crisp and sessionable, but strong and sneaky. It’s Cold IPA.” The style has really taken off and now is available around the world! I had two locally brewed Cold IPAs in South Africa recently.
How Cold IPA is Made
Cold IPAs are brewed with 25-40% rice or corn, adding 100% fermentable sugars to the grist and thus making them dry, with apparent attenuation as high as 88%! They are then fermented with lager yeast at ale temperatures (around 65F) and are dry-hopped with usually classic American “C” hops like Chinook or Centennial at the tail end of primary fermentation like when brewing Italian pilsners, allowing for biotransformation. Davey says the sweet spot for Cold IPA is 7% ABV.
But wait a minute Em, isn’t that just an India Pale Lager or IPL? The simple answer is no. IPLs are lagered and Cold IPAs are not. IPLs are also usually all malt. IPLs are also fermented at colder temperatures like normal lagers. Because of the biotransformation and fermentation temperatures, there’s way more fruitiness in this beer that comes from the hops and yeast. It feels more complete than an IPL and more well-rounded.
Cold IPA Tasting Notes
With Cold IPA, you’ll get heavy hop flavors like grapefruit peel, pine, and tropical fruit flavors. When I had Davey’s original Cold IPA recipe, it was way more floral in aroma and flavor and it was a nice surprise. It’s an IPA so the hops are the star of the show here. You’ll get a little ester fruitiness and slight cracker malt from the grain profile but it’s all about the hops. Cold IPA does a great job showcasing hops as its grain bill is so light so it acts as a blank canvas.
Cold IPA Pairing
Cold IPAs are a great backyard BBQ beer and work well with tailgating foods such as burgers, BBQ chicken and veggie burgers. It’s also a great food with bar foods that are fatty like mozzarella sticks or poutine. The balanced bitterness also makes it an ideal beer for foods with a sweet bent like pound cake with fresh strawberries and cream. It’s a really versatile food beer.
Beers to Try
Wayfinder Original Cold IPA
Wayfinder Original Cold IPA
Kevin has left Wayfinder and a new brewer (the highly talented Natalie Rose Baldwin) has stepped in. I’m unsure if she will make Cold IPA in the future but I hope they do or that Natalie will put her own spin on it.
Fremont Legend Cold IPA
Fremont Legend Cold IPA
Seattle, WA based Fremont got in on the Cold IPA trend in a big way and now brews two of them including Legend, which is available year-round in cans and draft. Legend is made with Citra, Centennial and Strata hops. https://www.fremontbrewing.com/legend
Your Local Brewpub
Yes, the cop out answer but when I scrolled looking for breweries that made a Cold IPA, SO MANY came up! How could I choose when you should go down to your local brewery yourself and see if they are making one (hint- they probably are).