Think pink

Pink Boots Society releases a collaborative brut IPA

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The Wisconsin chapter of the Pink Boots Society for woman brewers recently released its second collaborative brew this year. It’s a challenging new style, the brut IPA.

What is it? Pink Bruts IPA, a collaboration beer from the Wisconsin Pink Boots Society.

Style: The brut IPA started turning up on the west coast a couple years ago, in response to the growing popularity of variations on IPAs (the black IPA, white IPA, session IPA and the New England IPA). The brut IPA is very effervescent with distinctive dryness; it’s nearly opposite the topical juicy sweetness of the New England IPA. Brut IPAs are intended to be hoppy, but with a focus on aromatic qualities, remaining clean, crisp and dry on the palate. They are straw to light golden color, and commonly fall between 5 to 7.5 percent ABV.

Background: Members of Wisconsin’s chapter of the Pink Boots Society came together on July 19 at Capital Brewery in Middleton to create Pink Bruts IPA. The beer’s initial release date coincided with a Great Taste of the Midwest pre-party at the brewery earlier this month, it is now beginning to make its way into the Madison market on draft.

Capital brewmaster Ashley Kinart-Short hosted her Pink Boots colleagues in making the beer. Kinart-Short has reservations about the New England IPA, but not the brut style: “I’m not crazy about the latest tropical and sweet fruity flavor trends, but I truly enjoy [IPAs] when presented extremely dry and crisp,” she says.

Kinart-Short sees the brut as a unique technical challenge. Sugar conversion, fermentation and the use of enzymes help achieve those dry qualities. “There’s more biochemistry considerations involved in making a brut IPA than most beers, and that makes it fun and different for a brewer,” says Kinart-Short.

The recipe starts with a light grist of pilsner and wheat malt, donated by the Briess Malt and Ingredient Company of Chilton. It also features a special blend of hops. To get the desired aromas to emerge from the beer without harsh bitter flavors the hops were added later in the brewing process.

But the brut is distinguished from other hoppy brews by its dryness. Kinart-Short and colleagues add an enzyme to the fermenting beer to further break down starches into sugars which are more fermentable, reducing residual malty sweetness and lightening up body of the beer. Thus, the brut ends up light, crisp and dry, somewhat like a brut champagne. “To me it’s a fun beer to make. You get the flavor and aroma of the hops with a super light-body and a bone-dry finish,” says Kinart-Short.

The hops used in Pink Bruts are a proprietary blend from Yakima Chief Hops of Yakima, Washington, with Loral, Glacier, Mosaic, Sabro and Simcoe. That mixture has a wide range of floral, citrus, herbal, earthy and piney character. The hop supplier changes the blend each year depending upon feedback from the Pink Boots Society, and it also donates part of the proceeds from sales of the Pink Boots Blend back to the society’s scholarship fund to support more women entering the brewing industry. Last year, sales contributed about $40,000 nationally to support programs for woman brewers.

Brut IPAs are beginning to be seen around Madison, reflecting regional and national trends. Brewers are continuing to experiment with different hops, malts and techniques to achieve that signature dryness. All that unsettledness leads to differences among bruts, which tends to feed a lot of speculation by craft beer enthusiasts that the style is a fad.

Pink Bruts finishes at 4.9 percent ABV and an estimated 5 IBUs. The beer sells in Capital’s Biergarten for $6/glass and $20/growler (refill). Also watch for it to appear in the brewery taprooms of participating Wisconsin members of the Pink Boots Society.

Tasting notes:

  • Aroma: Light hints of herbal and piney hoppiness.
  • Appearance: Clear yellow-golden color. A modest soft white head.
  • Texture: Light- to medium-bodied, bubbly-crisp.
  • Taste: Herbal and woody hoppiness are up front; they transition to notes of pine and floral citrus.
  • Finish/Aftertaste: Firm crisp dryness with light lingering herbal and woody hoppiness.

Glassware: In the Capital Biergarten, Pink Bruts is served in a wide-mouthed 16-ounce plastic cup that really doesn’t do this beer justice. It’s much better in a Willi Becher or even a champagne flute. Both offer a tall body to show off the clear golden color and its effervescence, while the slight inward taper of the lip will focus the hoppy aroma.

Pairs well with: brie and light seafood. The brut IPA is a beer to appreciate for being bubbly, crisp and clean in hop character.

The Verdict: Pink Bruts has the distinctive dry finish that one looks for in the brut IPA. While I was hoping for a little more from the aromatics, there’s really plenty of solid hop flavor with hints of herbal, grassy woodiness that give way to citrus and pine. That lends a sharp crispness accentuated by the dryness of the finish. It also ends up at 4.9 percent ABV, which is on the lighter end of bruts, but that adds to its light and easy drinking qualities. For those curious about brut IPAs, this is a good one to try.