Guinness Debuts Nitro IPA

Marnell drew an analogy to the use of oak barrels by California vintners during the rise of Napa Valley chardonnays. “It became this fight to see who would have the most oak in their chardonnay,” he said. “What eventually ended up happening, people said, ‘You know what? I don’t want something that’s over-oaked. I want to go back to something that’s just enjoyable and enjoy it for what it is.’”

The hop choices for aroma are interesting because they reflect worldwide origins. The fruity Topaz hops originated in Australia. Celeia is a variant of the Styrian Golding bittering hops from Slovenia. The English-born Challenger brings a spicy, floral note and Cascade adds the American floral and citrusy approach.

The English Admiral hops used in the boil, which are familiar to many a classic IPA, are earthy and high in alpha acids. Topaz and Celeia are added in the whirlpool and the Challenger, Cascade and Topaz are used in dry-hopping to elevate the floral, citrus aromas.

Peter Simpson, the lead brewer at The Brewers Project, said in one of the company’s YouTube videos that the dry hopping is done in such quantity that a vessel had to be built to circulate beer through an ultra-hopping phase and then reintroduce it to a larger quantity of beer during conditioning. Otherwise, he said, each batch would require 375 kilos of dry hops to be transferred to each bright beer tank.

Nine different hop varieties were tried until the final combination was chosen. The brewers also went through ten different recipes.

In the big picture, The Brewers Project is about changing the perception of Guinness, said Marnell. The company wants to be known as a brewer, not just the maker of one popular stout. “When I say Guinness, you think Guinness Draught immediately,” he said. “That beer didn’t exist until 1959. If I had said Guinness to you in 1958, you would have thought of a very dry carbonated Irish Stout. Back in the 1700s, if I had said Guinness to you, you’d have pictured red ale. So Guinness has always been about evolving and changing with the beer times. Guinness is about bringing classic brewing techniques and marrying them with the most modern technology possible.”

The strategy that began in the U.S. with Guinness Blonde American Lager is part of a worldwide effort. “At the moment in different regions of the world we’re trying to focus on what that market is looking for,” said Marnell. “Currently in Ireland we have Hop House 13 Lager, which is really providing a good alternative to Guinness drinkers in the summer. We’ve also got two bottled beers, Dublin Porter and West Indies Porter. They were originally supposed to be for Ireland and the U.K. but it looks like they’ll be coming (to the U.S.) in several months.”