Cold XPA is our unique, Australian nod to theCold IPAbeer style, which was born on the West Coast of the USA about five years ago. Compared to the richer malt body of a regular West Coast IPA, a Cold IPA has a much lighter and drier malt character which is aimed at letting the massive hop flavour and aroma shine. With XPAs lending themselves to plenty of summer beer-drinking occasions here in Aus, we brewed Cold XPA to be more sessionable than regular XPAs, while amplifying the tropical, citrus hop notes we’ve all come to love.
Cold brewing has to do with yeast selection and fermentation temperature. Traditionally, lagers are brewed with lager yeast for longer periods at colder temperatures to create cleaner, crisper beers. Ales, such as regular XPAs, are brewed with ale yeast at warmer temperatures for shorter amounts of time to preserve specific malt and hop flavours. We wanted the best of both worlds, meaning we used a pretty classic ale yeast strain, but fermented it at a considerably lower temperature. This leads to a slower, more gentle ferment that leaves us with a very clean and crisp beer. We then dry-hopped the beer with a huge charge of New World Aussie-grown hops to really take the flavour and aroma to the next level.
It’s the driest of our beers but also one of the hoppiest. Leaning heavily into what our Head Brewer Searlzy describes as 'high citrus', Cold XPA cops massive flavours of orange peel, resin, and lemon rind. Your classic passionfruit and tropical notes are there but in a sharper form. The neutral malt body and dry finish really accentuates and elevates the hop character, making this beer severely drinkable.
Brewed cold, drink colder - grab a 4-pack or 16-pack carton from your local Liquorland, Vintage Cellars or First Choice Liquor store, our online store, or from a tap near you this summer.
