What this is
A New Zealand–inflected red IPA, brewed four times between April 2024 and May 2026. It is not a West Coast IPA with crystal malt added. The malt bill is doing real work: Aurora and Shepherds Delight build colour and bready depth, Toffee carries mouthfeel, and the hop schedule is pitched to sit over that rather than bury it.
Target is 1.060 to 1.011 for 6.4%, dry enough that the red malt reads as structure and not sweetness.
The spine and the variable
Three things have not moved across any brew in this lineage: American Ale at 4.2 kg, Shepherds Delight at 0.4 kg, and a 60-minute bittering charge of 25 g. Everything else has been under test at some point.
The grain bill converged early and then stopped. Vienna came down 1.6 → 1.3 → 1.0 kg over the first three brews and has stayed at 1.0 since. The accent-malt slot was searched once (nothing, then Redback, then Toffee) and settled on Toffee. Rye was carried through the first three brews at 0.2 kg and then dropped without being missed.
That leaves the hops as the live variable, and Eclipse Wheat as the one grain still being adjusted. If you want to change something, change the hops. The malt bill is finished.
How it got here
West Coast RIPA I (April 2024) was Mosaic and Riwaka over a heavier Vienna load, 1.063 to 1.012 for 7.0%. Good, but the malt sat forward of the hops.
II (June 2024) pulled Vienna back to 1.3 kg and tried Redback in the accent slot. First appearance of Eclipse Wheat, at a token 50 g.
III (September 2024) is where the grain bill landed: Vienna to 1.0 kg, Redback out and Toffee in, Aurora up to 0.4 kg, Eclipse Wheat doubled to 100 g. Every subsequent brew uses this bill.
Fresh Hop Red IPA (March 2026) forked off III for the harvest and is documented separately, but two things came back from it. Pacific Jade took over the bittering slot from Mosaic, and Krush pellets came in alongside the fresh hops and stayed. Both are in the recipe above.
Red IPA (May 2026) is the current canonical. Robin’s first solo all-grain batch, brewed with assistance, and the fourth iteration of this recipe. The hop schedule was rebuilt around Krush with Mosaic and Simcoe in support, split evenly across a 10-minute addition, a 75°C whirlpool and a day-3 dry hop. Eclipse Wheat came down to 70 g. Hit 1.060 to 1.011 exactly.
Where it goes next
Eclipse Wheat at 70 g against 100 g is the open question, and one more brew should close it. Beyond that the interesting ground is hop selection, not schedule: the 25/60/100 g split across boil, whirlpool and dry hop has been stable enough across two brews to treat as the frame.