This episode of the podcast was recorded live from Odell Brewing Sloans Lake as part of our recent Brewery Workshop: New Brewery Accelerator event in Denver, Colorado. The three panel guests—Jake Gardner, Director of Brewing Operations for Westbound & Down (https://westboundanddown.com), Marni Wahlquist, Head Brewer for Odell Brewing (https://www.odellbrewing.com) Sloan’s Lake, and Sean Buchan, Owner and Head Brewer for Cerebral Brewing (https://cerebralbrewing.com)—represent a compelling cross-section of IPA from Denver and the rocky mountain region. All three brewers have GABF medals to their name, and Westbound & Down is fresh off GABF 2023 gold in West Coast IPA and Silver in NZ IPA.
In this episode, the three cover the gamut of IPA, from hazy to clear, and discuss ingredients, techniques, and general approaches that define their IPA brewing programs. Over the course of the discussion, they touch on:
the impact of hazy IPA on West Coast IPA
selecting hop lots to span different IPA styles
maximizing hop saturation with modern hop products
designing malt support in contemporary IPA
drying out West Coast IPA without sacrificing body
avoiding the trap of sweet-on-sweet in hazy IPA
choosing bittering hops for smoothness
maximizing hop quality despite not being able to select hops
the reversion to the mean of drinkability in hoppy styles
And more. Brewing IPA might not be the most profitable thing for a brewery to do, but it speaks to why so many brewers and consumers are attracted to craft beer in general As Jake Gardner says, “Westbound & Down’s history is not a good one to show how hop product can make you more money. They’re just a way we light money on fire to have tons of fun. But that being said, there’s a business strategy in that too. Our customer base is along for the ride.”
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