21A American IPA
Rice Ale
ABV6.7% OG1.063 FG1.013 IBU70Grain bill
| Gladfield Light Lager Malt | 3.95 kg | 66.6% |
| Flaked Rice | 1.32 kg | 22.3% |
| Gladfield Vienna Malt | 0.66 kg | 11.1% |
Adjuncts
| Koppafloc | 1 g @ 10 min |
| Yeast nutrient | 5 g @ 10 min |
Hop schedule
| Hop | 60 min | 30 min | WP 75°C | DH#1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mosaic | 15g | · | · | 30g |
| Krush | · | 30g | · | · |
| Nelson Sauvin | · | · | 30g | 20g |
Yeast
| LalBrew Pomona | 2 packets |
Water additions
| Calcium Chloride | 4 g |
| Magnesium Sulfate | 2 g |
| Calcium Sulfate | 1 g |
| Lactic acid | — |
Tasting notes
2025-07-27
Fermentation profile
Gravity
Temperature
About This Beer
An ale-format take on a rice lager: flaked rice to lighten the body and dry the finish while keeping IPA hop character intact. Aiming for something clean and light-bodied with moderate dank and tropical notes, between a lager-clean pale and a full-weight IPA.
Light Lager Malt as the clean neutral base. Flaked rice is the key adjunct, flavour-neutral and high-extract, and the ingredient that shifts the finish from round to crisp. Vienna adds a touch of warmth to keep it from going thin.
Three hops across all stages: Mosaic for an earthy tropical backbone, Krush for kiwi fruit and tropical mid-palate, and Nelson Sauvin for white wine and gooseberry.
Fermentation
Pomona at 18.5°C, dry hopped early on day 2 on a gravity trigger to capitalise on biotransformation. Stepped up to 21 to 22°C for cleanup. Pressure built to around 18 psi by day 10 before cooling to 3°C ahead of transfer on day 15.
Packaging and tasting
Packaged 15 days after brew day, carbonated to 2.4 volumes.
Tasted at kegging: very drinkable, light bodied with a balanced sweet-dry character and a moderate skunky-dank hop note.
The rice concept worked, coming out cleaner and drier than a malt-only grain bill would. Pomona’s biotransformation pushed the hop character beyond what the addition rates alone would suggest.
Owen brewed a maize version of this the following week.