By Stefanie Collins, editor b&c
Sydney craft brewery 4 Pines has collaborated with Sydney’s Grain bar to create an India Pale Ale (IPA), for International IPA Day on Sunday 7 August.
Grain bar has a focus on craft distillers and so secured the collaboration to create an exclusive West Coast IPA with head brewer Andrew Tweddell.
Christened “3 C’s”, the IPA was made with hops – Crystal, Chinook and Columbus – sourced from Crosby Hop Farm – family-run craft brewers out of the USA who are first-timers on the Australian market.
4 Pines head brewer Andrew Tweddell and Grain Bar Manager Alexandra Dahlenburg.
The extremely limited edition brew consists of only 10 kegs and is available in Grain from Friday 5 August. Although, once the taps run dry there will be 4 Pines’ Keller Door small batch on offer.
Grain bar manager Alexandra Dahlenburg says that creating the collaboration IPA from scratch was an unforgettable experience.
“To make the 3 C’s IPA, we were involved at every step in the brewing process, from pouring in the hops and measuring out the yeast, to bagging up the spent malt and even cleaning out the tanks,” Alexandra said. “We can’t wait to have the first taste in a few weeks’ time. Talk about celebrating International IPA Day in style.”
Tweddell says that he is looking forward to getting some feedback on the new beer, in particular the new hops.
“We were keen to try some new hops for this collaboration West Coast IPA with Grain bar,” he says. “I’m expecting it to be spicy with citrus aroma and characters, very accessible and drinkable.”
4 Pines has been quite busy, with its latest Keller Door release being bottled as well. Following on from the success of the Black Box range of limited edition dark beers, the Double Cascadian Dark Ale is “jam packed” with hops from the West Coast of the USA for lemon and grapefruit hop notes. With an 8.0 per cent ABV and 85 IBU, the beer also features chocolate roasted carafe malt and is described as “so roasty you can carve it”.