Brewing West Coast IPA with Russian River | The Craft Beer Channel

We couldn't just brew any old beer as our first in the Brudio - and we couldn't just brew it with anyone, either. And so we are delighted to say that we've teamed up with none other than RUSSIAN RIVER to brew the ultimate homebrew West Coast IPA recipe. Join us and Vinnie for a chat about bitterness, balance and why a test batch is always a good idea.
Get the recipe we are talking through here (UK only): www.themaltmiller.co.uk/produ...
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[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

So what's your favourite west coast IPA beer geeks? And who's tried brewing one?

[@citixen]

Duration's very first commercial release of Dripping Pitch was perfection. It's never quite achieved the same heights again - though remains very good. But that first year.. whether it was recipe, or just the hop year - I don't know.. but it was incredible.

[@zeveroarerules]

Not sure if I know of a better one than Pliny. Stone has a great one too and I think Northern Monk had a superb one in their patrons line. But a pliny is always a treat.

[@Kye1000]

I just kegged a clone of Bells Two Hearted Ale last night, never tried the original! been massively into Verdant and NEIPA style over the last year or so (and still am) and trying to mix it up a bit, inpired by you guys! awesome video btw and amazing insights 👍

[@citixen]

@@Kye1000 if it's the MM clone, it's super good. And very close to the original. You'll enjoy that! 👍

[@batbrewer3756]

Pliny and Blind Pig for me. I brew WCIPA fairly frequently, sometimes based on the old Green Flash WCIPA. I've also stopped using crystal and replaced it with Munich (for several years now) because it doesn't go stale / show signs of oxidation so fast. I've also replaced half the pale malt with Pilsner to lighten the colour, purely for aesthetic reasons. Looking forward to Vinnie's take on things (only watched the first few minutes so far....)

[@TheBruSho]

Always fun to hear from experts, would love to see more stuff like this

[@slaw38]

I loved how when the guy opened the can of beer, the glass being held by the other bloke started leaning towards the beer.

[@FatherEarth93]

Imagine if you will. Three guys who met at Jamie Oliver start a Beer KZbin Channel without knowing what the future is going to bring. Now you have your own Brewdio in which you are brewing a collaboration with one of the 'Idol brewers' you could only dream of. You guys are living the dream.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Haha cheers man, we certainly are!

[@MichaelAndersen_DK]

Thank you SO much for releasing the full interview. Really appreciate it - cheers!

[@TheSilentknyght]

I haven't brewed in a while, but this is the first time I heard about negative attributes with crystal malt. Switching to Munich to avoid these is mind-blowing.

[@mrougelot]

The joy emanating from both of you in the first 3 or 4 minutes…it’s so genuine it’s almost contagious. So happy for you guys, congrats, it makes me proud to be a (small) patreon.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Thanks so much for your support!

[@ianlaker9161]

I was shouting STARTER! Just before you mentioned it Jonny. I have to say, I never consider it a pain. It's routine for me and I love the thought of a big batch of lively healthy yeast being chucked in. I did a clone of Firestone Walker's Union Jack IPA just in time for Christmas and am still enjoying it now. Well pleased and in fact, a bit of time has improved it. Actually 3% of crystal malt in there. Two massive charges of Centennial, Cascade, Simcoe and Amarillo at dry hop but for no more than three days each. As ever, great video and Vinnie gave us homebrewers some great advice. I'll enjoy the full version.

[@NikitaVorontsov]

That's incredible! Big congratulations on teaming up with such a big name!

[@filthybstard]

Dude, what a scoop and colab! So interesting hearing Vinnie talk some of the science into brewing. Awesome content guys!

[@danielgrant1725]

Great vid! Looking forward to part 2!!!

[@mayrakoira5397]

Very nice! Can't wait for the follow-up video! I think I'm gonna be brewing this later this spring

[@keifereef9673]

What a great vid chaps! Looking forward to the next instalment

[@CBEAST088]

I was really looking forward to this! Definitely have to give the full interview a listen. Maybe on my car ride home. Great job guys!

[@DudesBrews]

More content like this please! Love me a West Coaster, Tracks recent Centennial WC Dipa was awesome

[@andymcd79]

Such a good video. Really enjoyed it

[@hardyardsbrewers1225]

Well done, a collaboration with Russian River... how good! Ahhh beer... bringing people together.. looking forward to the tasting of the next one 👍🍻🍻 cheers, Mike.

[@DouglasCleary]

Wow! Congrats. I've been to both the brewpub and the new Windsor brewerey - worth a visti it you can swing it.

[@amon-rasungod7684]

Another great video guys. Always appreciate the hard work and great information. And perfect for a hop head like me

[@StillIt]

Congratulations on the new setup team very cool!

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Thanks so much, love your channel!

[@StillIt]

@@TheCraftBeerChannel If you ever keen for a collab . . . . Somehow. . . Let me know

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

@@StillIt Would LOVE to find a way to do it. Will have at think!

[@iflanzy]

That talk with Vinnie was really insightful. I know a lot of American homebrewers have been steering away from Cystal malts for the last few years but no one ever had a good reason for that except to say "well that guy did it and his beer tasted good." So now I know a *real* reason. I might have to take this grain bill to compare to my own while using El Dorado, Idaho 7, and Azacca hops. My normal grain bill for a malty, west coast IPA is 57.% pale malt, 39.3% White Wheat, and 3.6% biscuit malt and using the same yeast as yours so this will be somewhat different.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

That's lots of wheat for a westie! Does it come out clear and crisp?

[@CBEAST088]

Just used Idaho 7 for the first time this week! Really loved the fruity smells it gave off. Can’t wait for the finished results.

[@anthonywalkling8365]

I moved away from crystal because I felt like it was masking the aroma of the hops and sometimes even clashing making the beer cloying and less easy to drink. Good to know I'm also reducing oxygenation too though.

[@AdamKeele]

Mitch Steele said he moved away from it because as the hop aroma and flavor drops off, caramel malts tend to punch through sooner than Munich or Vienna malts. It was mainly for better shelf life, which also speaks to the oxidative effects. There was a classic caramel, malty blast once the hops fell off letting you know it’s past its prime.

[@oneminutebeerreviews6628]

Made one years ago, single hop in the boil Citra but then dry hopped with Chinook Centennial and Cascade (all the C's), went well, someone one high up on the number of beers rated on (ratebeer) drank it side by side with a Kernel and said it stood side by side quality wise (which i was chuffed with)

[@jonnytables]

Russian River is my neck of the woods! Cheers 🍻

[@TIm-brew]

Great video I like the thoughts and consideration and imperfection in the video. Very relatable as home brewer wanting to tweak pretty much everything in a recipe for another attempt, I was surprised how dark the beer looked maybe the lighting didn’t help.

[@w1l122]

Great video, recently been craving more west coast IPAs something with a bit of bitterness to take me back to when i first tried good beer. If only i had seen this video before and followed advice from the man himself. Brewed a west coast IPA a couple weeks based on a recipe from brewing classic styles using a small amount of light crystal malts and munich malt. Turned out great really took me back but slightly darker than thought, a deep orange colour classic to the style I suppose, also hadn't heard of the link between crystal malt and oxidation so will try dropping the crystal out next time. I've also started to add more hops into the boil as compared to brewing an NEIPA, which haven't turned out so well for me recently so i may leave them to the experts. Nice to get back to using the classic 'C' hops aswell and better for the wallet. Will be trying to brew a pliny clone as my next brew (and first ever DIPA) taking these tips onboard. Cheers !

[@Big-Harry]

be interesting to see how it turns out

[@anthonyscalese5455]

Awesome Video! Been saying for 2 years now West Coast IPA will be back! Happy Hops is my favorite of the 3... Def my next brew is a West Coast IPA.... 🍻🤙.. trying to get some North Park West Coast IPAs.... Supposed to be one of the best going right now!!

[@blackmetalden]

DDH Pliny may be one of the best west coast DIPAs I've tried, a runner up in Breakside out of the PNW. They make some amazing stuff. Gelatin is your best friend for clarifying the IPA, pretty sure Russian River used it in the early days before the had commercial filtering/clarifying.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

They did indeed but keen to make sure the recipenis vegan

[@daveswinburne7946]

I still think my favourite British "Westy" is still Bristol Beer Factory's 'Southville Hop'. If you can get your hands on some cans I'd HIGHLY recommend it. 😎👌🍻

[@HopsANDgnarly]

Super cool to hear Vinnie talk about ditching crystal and using cryo and T90 of the same type to get better flavors. Does anyone know if they use a centrifuge? Sounded like he hinted to that talking about removing yeast to let the dry hops shine. I was so bummed when it ended! Stoked for the next one 🍻

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

He does indeed have a centrifuge!

[@josbeerreviews9783]

Again amazing footage! Love these kind of video's .. you guys do travel a lot right? 🤩👍🍻🍻

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

We certainly used to!

[@paulthepom]

Plenty of west coast IPAS over here in Australia!

[@samcongdon3747]

Great video. Where did you post the full interview?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Hit the card that shows as I say it and it's there!

[@Will-jd2br]

Why is everyone hating on crystal? Good old crystal 60L has never let you down in your pale ales.

[@anthonywalkling8365]

Because it hides hop aroma and can for me at least make the beer cloyingly sweet and yet unpleasantly bitter and less fun to drink. If you like it you should use it though. It's be pretty boring if we all loved the same things.

[@garydyke1]

Interestingly the water profile /treatment hasn't been mentioned . I would of though this would be critical to nail the style

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Well just you wait for ep 2... and indeed watch the full interview with Vinnie!

[@stripeyjoe]

Great timing as I was planning a West Coast for my next brew, in fact was planning two with the same grain bill but different hops. After watching this I will probably swap the Crystal for Munich and look to put more hops into the boil... What were your grain percentages in the end? The MM recipe only has the grain names not the weights. For a 25l batch, 5.9% & EBC of 13.8: 5.6kg Golden Promise (86.8%) 300g Crystal Light (4.7%) 300g wheat malt (4.7%) 250g dextrose (3.9%, added to dry the beer out a tad). 60 minute boil with 15g of Apollo at 30 mins (21 IBU) Then both brews have the same schedule for a three hop combo (splitting a 100g bag of each over three additions): 15g each @ 10 mins 30g each 20 min 80C hopstand 55g each dry hop towards end of fermentation. The two different hop combos for would be: Amarillo/Centennial/Simcoe Mosaic/Cascade/El Dorado Water profile will be hop forward, 100ish Ca, 50ish Cl, 300ish SO4, 40ish HCO3 - based loosely on Randy Mosher's APA profile. Yeast either BRY 97, M66 Hop Head (as I've got a pack in the fridge), Vedant IPA or US-05... Not sure yet!

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Full recipe will be published ASAP! Sorry

[@modgrip805]

Murphy and Son have THE BEST finings in super F. That shit works wonders.

[@Embracerer]

Should be very interesting to follow your journey with this beer. About the slight cold-haze (I assume) you're experiencing, what kind of finings did you use? Did you cold-crash post fermentation? And are you serving it straight out of a pressurized fermentor?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

You'll find out in next week's video!

[@adammyren8279]

A lovely westie ❤️ (Tongue in cheek) Did Brad buy his shoes in the same store as Shaun's mom in This is England? 😉

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Brad loves a left-field accessory.

[@bradevans2793]

touché adam 😂

[@richharper8159]

I'd be more worried if you nailed it first time! Ha - Good luck!

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

It was without doubt the trickiest brew we've done. So much technical stuff to get right compared to the previous episodes.

[@chrisnewton9788]

Did you not make any water adjustments, add any pure oxygen prior to pitching or use any finings? All makes huge improvements to your homebrew. My latest brew was a west coast and am extremely happy with my hop/bitter bomb 😄. Good luck with the main brew

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

We did indeed use finings and always adjust out water. More on that next week!

[@AdamSlyter]

It's refreshing/weird to hear "we need more West Coast IPAs here and everywhere" because the craft beer scene in the US has been *screaming* for brewers to make anything other than West Coast IPAs for like a decade, which I'm sure you've heard haha. It definitely shifted in the last few years to NE IPAs and fruited sours, but I'll never turn down a Pliny, Sierra Nevada, or any of the really good Centennial or Mosaic single hop stuff.

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Ha! Yeah craft beer is a wild ride. We move on so fast, and then yearn for the simpler times of.... 5 years ago.

[@terryhodkin6071]

Great video. I don't homebrew mostly because of space and time. But what is a starter? Sorry probably a stupid question

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Doing a lot on that in next week's video...

[@BenRiley1804]

I’ve just had a look at the recipe kit on the malt miller website for this. If I was to scale the recipe down for a 15 L batch, do you think one pack of the yeast would be enough?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

I'd expect so, though I'd make a starter to be safe

[@anthonywalkling8365]

Buy more yeast. Imperial or omega both have 3x as much yeast as whitelabs so you can get enough yeast without paying much more money.

[@daveswinburne7946]

Looks like a lovely 'old school' "Westy" amber colour?

[@taybrews]

Where do you buy your Cryo hops from?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

We got ours direct from YCH (who are a Patreon) but I believe cryo is soon to be available to homebrewers

[@anthonywalkling8365]

Try using a different yeast whitelabs only have 70 billion cells per vial. Try using omega or imperial. They have 200b cells which should be plenty for 30l at 1.060. I've never understood why whitelabs and wyeast don't give you enough yeast to pitch a 5% beer.

[@stephenlaw1782]

Did Brad go to Rada??

[@irrlicht6997]

A question regarding the recipe, I'm not quite sure I follow the fermentation schedule (looking at maltmillers site)... it says: - Pitch yeast and ferment at 18C til 1014 then raise to 21C It also says: - DRY HOP when reaching 1.014 - Dry hop at 15C and hold for 48 hours. Cold crash and hold for 24 hours So... when is the temp. raise actually to be done? After the dry hop?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Oh that's weird. Don't dry hop at 1014 or 21c. Dry hop at FG and at 15c.

[@irrlicht6997]

@@TheCraftBeerChannel Thanks that makes sense. Looking forward to the final recipe!

[@santiagokaderian544]

I was googling the history of Russian River (historically)...I loose 30 minutes... xD

[@SkunkyBrew]

Ive never had Pliny, but Ive heard it's close to Bell's Two Hearted Ale. Is that true? Also mind-blowing that two English Lads have had Pliny before me, and I live in the States!?

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

They have their similarities in drinkability, malt depth and bitterness but very different hop profiles and Pliny is a bit stronger.

[@anthonywalkling8365]

Russian river make good beer but I do think they are hugely overrated personally. I live in the bay area and most of the real beer heads think there are better ipas out there than even pliny the younger. Barebottle do a beautiful triple IPA with prickly pear. I would rather drink that any day.

[@SkunkyBrew]

@@anthonywalkling8365 I live in NJ, so I dont get too many smaller West Coast breweries here. A lot of Rogue and Stone. Heck, Anchor Steam has been harder and harder to get lately.

[@anthonywalkling8365]

@@SkunkyBrew yeah. A lot of the really good stuff doesn't leave the area much. Tavour apparently sometimes have some of our good local breweries available nationwide. I was a member but they don't show you your own local beers because you can just go to the brewery. It's a bit pricey but if you want to try some small local breweries from other parts of the country it's pretty good. They are good about sending out fresh beer too.

[@jmsnystrom]

What would you now change in your Brew studio?👍

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

Great question! I'd probably raise the fermenters up to make getting to the dumping valve easier...

[@stephenlaw1782]

Damn pricey making a HB version

[@HD-fc9kh]

£56 on Malt Miller - that is scandalous for a kit

[@TheCraftBeerChannel]

It isn't for 8kg of malt and 600g of hops...

[@HD-fc9kh]

It’s 550g of hops, too