NovaBirra Holy IPA

The Holy IPA is our tribute to hops. A golden, straightforward beer with nothing to hide: we’re after the aromatic expression of Chinook and Mosaic, and a clean bitterness that calls for the next sip. Here’s how to brew it at home.

The whole balance plays out between a modern malt base — just enough to carry the body — and a generous hop load split across the boil, whirlpool and dry hopping. Every addition earns its place.

/ The ingredients

Quantities for 25 litres in the fermenter. Adjust the volume: the proportions recalculate automatically.

Original gravity 1.056 (14 °P) · final gravity 1.011 (2.7 °P) · efficiency ~72%.

/ The brew

1. Mash — Crush the malts and mash at 67-68 °C for 60 min, until the starch has fully converted to sugars.
2. Mash-out & lautering — Raise to 76 °C to stop enzymes activity, then sparge the grains at 78 °C to recover as much sugars as possible.
3. Boil (75 min) — Bittering Chinook from the start. Irish moss 10 min before the end, then the second Chinook addition 5 min before flame-out.
4. Whirlpool (25 min) — At flame-out, add the Mosaic and Chinook while stirring up a vortex, cover and let it rest 25 min.
5. Fermentation — Cool to 21 °C, pitch the US-05 yeast and let it ferment between 21 and 25 °C.
6. Dry hop (15 days) — Add the Chinook and Mosaic to the conditioning tank, then keep it cold for 15 days to extract the essential oils and clarify the beer.
7. Bottling — Traditional bottle conditioning with 8 g of sugar/L and Fermentis F-2 yeast. See the dedicated article →
8. Conditioning — 2 weeks at 21-22 °C, then enjoy well chilled.

/ Tasting

On the nose, you get an explosion of tropical fruit — mango, passion fruit — underlined with citrus. On the palate, the bitterness is clean and crisp, carried by a medium body and a dry finish that’s terribly thirst-quenching.

A great IPA is bitterness that snaps without ever biting.

Serve between 6 and 8 °C, in a tulip glass that intensify the aromas. Drink it fresh, while hops are at their peak.