Dead Reckoning Brewing Company

05/19/2020

What is Quad-Hopping and Why We Do It?

We've proven to ourselves that long boil times with bittering hops lead to a harshness or astringency in many beer styles. By eliminating the bittering hop addition, our beers have an abundance of hop flavor and aroma without the corresponding harshness that accompanies the typical 60+ minutes of boiling.

Quad-hopping starts with a healthy dose of hops in the whirlpool, "after" the boil, to achieve the appropriate level of bitterness for the style we're brewing. The hops are added to a mesh cage with the hot wort circulated over the top for maximum extraction. Following this whirlpool hop re-circulation we perform a hop sparge to ensure we rinse all of the aromatic oils and flavor from the caged hops.

Midway through the fermentation process we commence dry-hopping. Rather than wait post-fermentation as is the norm, we're convinced that the natural circulation occurring during the fermentation process enhances the extraction of all the goodness from the hops.

Lastly, we spike our IPAs with a hop-tea during packaging for that added 'oomph' of hop flavor, taking it off the charts. We think you'll agree that quad-hopping is the right approach. It's not an efficient or economical use of hops by any means ... and we're just fine with that. You're welcome.

05/19/2020

Our flagship beer. 100% Centennial hops and made right here in the Centennial State. A balanced beer that some would call sessionable, but we simply prefer “quaffable by the pint.” Centennial hops provide a lively pine and citrus blend that drinks like liquid sunshine ... 300 days of sunshine! Loads of hop flavor with a firm, understated bitterness. We think you’ll agree this is pure Colorado in a pint glass; an old-school, West Coast IPA with an inflated sense of Rocky Mountain altitude.

03/24/2020