Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

‘Brewing Eclectic IPA’ is a New Book For Hophead Homebrewers

Lee Heidel
By
Brewing Eclectic IPA: Pushing the Boundaries of India Pale Ale by Dick Cantwell

There’s no denying that the most popular style of craft beer is the India pale ale or IPA for short. In the heady early days of craft brewing, IPAs gained traction simply for providing a bitter hop-forward drink that gave extra bite to a beer. But as the IPA market has exploded, current varieties now include everything from creamy milkshake IPAs to low-alcohol session IPAs, even a niche group of black IPAs. Instead of merely providing astringency, the hops used in IPAs can enhance citrus, resin, and pine flavors. The palate-priming aromas of an IPA can also conjure memories of flowers, spices, and/or fruits, depending on the variety.

Recommended Videos

The creativity in the commercial brewing scene owes a huge debt to the homebrewing community. After all, many professional brewers were home brewers first. Without the constraints of appealing to the general public, homebrewers can focus on their personal tastes and follow passions to extremes. At the same time, amateur brewers can also be intimidated by such a diverse landscape of hop-forward beers. That’s where the new book Brewing Eclectic IPA: Pushing the Boundaries of India Pale Ale comes in.

Brewing Eclectic IPA book cover
Brews Publications

Author Dick Cantwell is no stranger to the world of beer. As a homebrewer, then co-founder and head brewer of Elysian Brewing Company until its sale to Anheuser-Busch, Cantwell was influential in changing the beer-drinking public’s expectations of IPAs. In Brewing Eclectic IPA, he provides 24 recipes that allow home brewers to jump in and flex their brewing skills. In addition to listings of ingredients and processes, the underlying science is also addressed so the avid home brewer can confidently craft his or her own recipes based off the principles.

Related

The one word that would sum up these recipes is unique. The Thai Iced Tea IPA, for example, was inspired by Pasteur Street Brewing in Vietnam and includes additions of oolong tea alongside Fuggle and East Kent Goldings hops. A single-hopped Sour IPA recipe was crafted with assistance from Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales. But with every shock of the new, there is a background that establishes why these recipes work, from herbal reactions to wood aging techniques.

Brewing Eclectic IPA: Pushing the Boundaries of India Pale Ale is a fun, quick, and informative read. The recipes are not ideal for true beginner home brewers, as a knowledge of all-grain practices is required, but brewers and beer enthusiasts of all levels can learn more about what makes their favorite beer style, the IPA, truly exceptional.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Lee Heidel
Lee Heidel
Lee Heidel is the managing editor of Brew/Drink/Run, a website and podcast that promotes brewing your own beer, consuming the…
Jameson Releases Two New Caskmates Editions
jameson caskmates hyperlocal editions revolution bale feat

In recent years, the immensely popular Jameson Irish Whiskey has gone way beyond its well-earned reputation as the shot you throw back with a cheap beer at your local dive bar. You can and should still do that, to be clear, but the brand has also released some interesting and more complex new expressions in recent years, including the Caskmates series.

For Caskmates, the distillery partners up with small breweries and gives them used whiskey barrels to age their beer. These beer-seasoned barrels are then returned to the distillery and refilled with mature Jameson for a short finish during which the whiskey picks up new flavors. The first two Caskmates used IPA and stout casks from local Irish breweries. The new releases are collaborations with small American breweries Bale Breaker (Yakima, WA) and Revolution Brewing (Chicago, IL), and are part of the Caskmates Hyperlocals series. Both breweries traveled to Ireland to brew their beer and create these seasoned barrels, instead of brewing here in the U.S. and shipping the barrels to the New Midleton Distillery just outside of Cork.

Read more
The Highest ABV Beers Brewed in the U.S. and Where to Get Them
dogfish head 120 minute ipa

European beer drinkers have a myriad of options when they want to get smashed. Take Scotland-based Brewdog. It produces Tactical Nuclear Penguin, an imperial stout that measures a whopping 32 percent alcohol by volume (ABV). It also puts out Ghost Deer, a Belgian strong pale ale that comes in at 28 percent ABV. Germany’s Schorschbräu produces beers that push the alcohol boundaries even higher, going all the way up to 57 percent in its rotating Schorschbock release.

Related Reading:

Read more
Saint Archer Brewing Company’s New Tropical IPA is Coming Soon and Coming In Big
Saint Archer Brewing Company Tropical IPA

San Diego's Saint Archer Brewing Company was founded in 2013 and in just two years it became the first craft brewery to be acquired by MillerCoors, an honor to be sure, but a dubious distinction in the eyes of many purists. Don't judge until you sip, however, and don't worry: the brewery remains operated as a true craft operation and they produce a slew of superb beers.

Saint Archer, which currently brews 40,000 barrels of beer annually, is noted especially for their IPAs, of which they currently offer four: Hazy IPA, Session IPA, Mosaic IPA, and a regular IPA. (They also make a Pale Ale, alongside other beers like a Blonde Ale, a Mexican lager, and a Raspberry Gose.)

Read more