Weedy's Double is Getting a Facelift

For the last 2 years, we've known that the Weedy's Double IPA recipe was in need of a change, but we've been able to delay the need. 2 years ago, we were told that we would no longer be able to get Citra hops from our supplier due to high demand and low quantity. We have watched as the resale value of Citra has gone from $12 per pound to $30 per pound.  In the past, we have made some pretty crazy prices for ingredients in order to make the highest quality beer possible, but at $30 per pound, were forced to draw the line. We were lucky enough that we were able to get enough Citra for two batches of Weedy's this year since we were on a waiting list just in case there was extra available.

Running out of Citra actually did come as a bit of a surprise since we did have it on contract for a few years. However, the reason for the shortage was made apparent recently. With the release of New Belgium's Citradelic, I ran some quick math. Using some very generous estimates, I estimated that they would be using between 50,000-100,000 lbs of Citra in the coming year. There was already a shortage before they began brewing Citradelic, so while it is unfair to point the finger only at New Belgium, the truth is there are hundreds of breweries that would have loved to have Citra available to them that would have brewed beers that are much more exciting than Citradelic is.

As a result, we have had to face some really difficult questions... Should we stop brewing Weedy's (one of our most popular beers)? Should we try to find a hop substitute? Is it time for a full on recipe change?

In regards to stopping brewing the beer, we would be forced to do so if we couldn't come up with a recipe that was better than the original. Just being as good as the original would not be enough. Finding a hop substitute is not a real option either. Galaxy is a hop that is very similar to Citra (and arguably, Mosaic is similar as well) but neither of those hops are more readily available than Citra now.

The idea of changing a successful recipe is always a difficult thing to wrap our heads around . Many breweries (even large craft breweries) will change recipes for this exact same reason as we are now, but instead of being open about it, they try to hide it. As consumers, when we notice the change, it is all too often that we are disappointed. For that reason, if we are going to change the recipe I decided that the beer can't just be as good as the original, it needs to be better. In addition, I want to be very open about the fact that we have changed the beer. I really believe our consumers deserve to know that.

Sidetrack rambling: Something interesting about the original recipe is that we never intended for it to become a regular beer when we first brewed it. I wanted to brew a small batch of a Double IPA for the taproom back in 2011. I used a recipe that was very similar to some recipes that I had brewed at home when I was 19 years old and the beer sold shockingly well. A 1 barrel batch was soldout in 3 nights. Naming the beer was also pretty funny... When I kegged the beer and put it on tap, we didn't have a name for it. I suggested putting it on the board without a name and just calling it "Double IPA." Doug thought I should get credit for the beer and he put my name in front of it. After seeing how well it sold in the taproom, Pants and Chris (Alabama sales rep) decided we should put it in bottles and Chris suggested keeping the name as it was. So there I was, 21 years old with a Double IPA with my name on it available in bottles at grocery stores.

So now we are faced with the task of giving a very popular beer an upgrade. Over the next few weeks, I will be brewing some homebrew batches (breaking out the old homebrewing equipment!) and experimenting with a few theories I've been working on. In the last few weeks, I've tried about 20 different Double IPA's and I've been taking notes on specific things that I think are good and bad about each beer. In addition, I've been reading reviews on BeerAdvocate, RateBeer, Untappd, and on other blogger's posts.

Through my research, I've learned some very interesting things about hop varieties and some specialized yeast strains. I believe completely that with the experiences I've had in the last 4 years, education from brewing school, and with the new products available to brewers today that I will be able to develop a recipe that blows the original out of the water. This is going to be a wildly fun project for me and in addition to experimenting with new hop varieties and yeast strains, we will be experimenting with different fermenter shapes and designs which will allow us to utilize flavor compounds that no other brewery in Alabama (or that I know of in the Southeast) is capable of reproducing. Stay tuned over the next few weeks as I keep updates on the experiments!