What in the Wild World of Sports is a White IPA?

Continuing on in my 2015 tour-de-beer-styles (that I happen to be brewing or getting ready to brew), I give you the White IPA. In the simplest of terms, a white IPA is a Belgian witbier that is over-hopped to IPA strengths, or an IPA that is made with Belgian yeast. Depending on the subtle intricacies of what you’re brewing, either can be an accurate over-simplification.

In order to understand this hybrid style, first you must understand the component parts. Obviously, an IPA is ale brewed with pale malted barley and higher than standard additions of hops, creating a very complex beer with flavors and aromas ranging from bitter to citrusy to sweet. Witbier is an ancient (over 400 years old) style of Belgian ale that uses a 50/50 blend of malted barley and unmalted wheat to create a light-bodied and hazy beer. Witbiers also contain combinations of spices and aromatics like curacao orange zest and coriander seeds to add further complexity.

The combination of the above styles first occurred commercially in 2010, when Deschutes Brewery of Bend, Oregon collaborated with Boulevard Brewing Company of Kansas City, Missouri to create a beer called Conflux No. 2. The brewers sat down together to write the recipe and then returned to their respective breweries to brew the beer. The beer created a lot of buzz as it was produced in very limited supply and was extremely hard to find. One reviewer wrote:

“The beer lived up to the hype. We found it to be a very complex beer with tons of assertive spice character that complemented its hop-forward IPA DNA.” – John Michael Verive, Beer of Tomorrow (April 18th, 2012)

Since Conflux No. 2 dropped a new world of craft beer possibilities onto a thirsty industry in 2010, many other craft brewers of note have joined the fray. The Boston Beer Company created a version with apricots added called Sam Adams Whitewater IPA. Deschutes has followed up their initial collaboration with their own white IPA called Chainbreaker White IPA. Founders Brewing Company (Grand Rapids, MI) and Green Flash Brewing Company (San Diego, CA) collaborated on a white IPA called Lynch Pin White India Pale Ale. Other delicious examples include Otter Creek Brewing's (Middlebury, VT) Fresh Slice White IPA, Saranac Brewing Company’s (Utica, NY) White IPA, Sierra Nevada's (Chico, CA) Snow Wit White IPA, Anchorage Brewing Company’s (Anchorage, AK) Galaxy White IPA and El Segundo Brewing Company’s (El Segundo, CA) White Dog IPA.

Now in 2015, the style is proliferated to the point that I think it’s here to stay. IPAs quickly dominated the craft beer landscape as the industry grew through the 90s and beyond, and nowadays, the push is to experiment with other-worldly ways to build on that success. Black IPAs, Red/Rye IPAs and White IPAs are being brewed more and more every year as demand for something different increases in the marketplace. It might be time to stop thinking of this as a sub-style or hybrid variant and give this style a capital “S.”

You should immediately drop what you’re doing (reading this blog) and go to your local craft beer point of sale, or to your local brewers assuming they have a white IPA on at the moment, and check out this delicious take on your favorite IPA (or witbier). You’ll be glad you did.

Here's a white IPA I found in the wild... absolutely perfect.

Here’s to craft-brewed happiness… Cheers!