A golden beer with a thick, persistent head, it smells of citrus and conifers. On the palate, one can feel the freshness of citrus, with a hint of resin and a clean bitterness.
Twelfth beer from Brasseurs des Collines, fourth in the Collines de Bonne series… So, what has the contemporary world inspired us to make this fourth one? A Collines de Bonne West Coast IPA.
What animal embodies our West Coast IPA? A small, fast-moving animal, a small predator from our Collines that is said to be very cunning. The fox depicted on the can is just like the beer itself: biting and acerbic, but also exceptionally elegant, brilliant and refined. The choice of green as the color for the visual reminds us not only of the hops, but also of the vibrant atmosphere of the American West Coast with its fluorescent glow.
West Coast IPAs originated in California in the 1990s and exploded in popularity in the 2000s, spreading around the world. Long before the current breakthrough of Northeast IPAs, in the 2010s, few were the breweries that didn’t have their own West Coast IPA. With their sharp bitterness and usually golden-blond color, these beers offer a slight roundness that softens the bitterness of the light crystal malts they contain. The hops deliver powerful citrus notes of grapefruit, lemon and tangerine, sometimes accompanied by coniferous notes.
On a base of Innomalt’s modern Pilsner malt, we’ve added a small amount of their M2 to this beer. With its honeyed, biscuity notes, it complements the dominant hop character. For bitterness, Houblonnière Lupuline supplies the magnum, which accounts for most of the product’s 80 IBU. Generous late-boil hopping with Nugget and Centennial hops from the same hop house imparts obvious citrus, herbal, lemon and grapefruit aromas, while Rakau from Houblon des Jarrets noirs draws us into a coniferous dominance. The beer also features double raw hops of Centennial, Chinook, Cascade (Lupuline) and Rakau (Jarret Noir) to confirm the aromatic intent of the hops. Labo Solution brassicole’s West Coast yeast finishes the job to give us a dry, refreshing beer!
