Session New England IPA

Sometimes you need a beer fast. A beer that will impress a crowd, be easy to drink and be ready in 12 days. This is that beer. This recipe is a session version of our New England IPA (NEIPA) that touts just as much juice and hop forward aroma as it's bigger brother. We're adding a just touch of lactose to this recipe for extra body and juiciness to make this 5% beer taste fuller yet still be easy drinking.

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Style & Targets
Session New England IPA
5% ABV @ 5 gallons

Ingredients
6 lbs US 2-row malt
2 lbs white wheat malt
2 lbs flaked oats
4 oz Crystal 120L
4 oz lactose
1 oz Centennial hops (60 minutes)
1 oz Mosaic hops (whirlpool)
1 oz Citra hops (whirlpool)
1 oz El Dorado hops (whirlpool)
1 oz Citra hops (Dry Hop, 3 days)
1 oz El Dorado hops (Dry Hop, 3 days)
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1 tsp Irish moss (great bulk deal over here!)
1 pkg Safale-04

Procedure
Bring 16 quarts of water to 158 F in your boil kettle and combine with the grains, shooting for a target mash temperature of 148 F for 60 minutes.
After the 60 minutes have passed, add 1.5 gallons of 170 F water to the mash and drain. Once drained, add 4.25 gallons of 170 F water, let sit for 10 minutes before draining again.

Boil Schedule
60 minutes - 1 oz Centennial
15 minutes - 1 tsp Irish moss
10 minutes - 4oz lactose
0 minutes - Flameout & cool wort to 165 F
(@ 165) F - Add the whirlpool hops. Since we don't have an actual whirlpool, we'll just give the wort a good stir as we add the hops and let it sit at around 165 F for 20 minutes. This addition at such a low temperature will impart almost exclusively aroma and no bitterness.
(-20) minutes - Cool wort to the pitch temperature of 68 F, transfer to the fermentation vessel and add the yeast.

Give this lovely beer 5 days before you add the dry hop addition. Fermentation will still be going on but that's ok, in fact the biotransformation that can occur will only increase the juicy characters of the dry hopping. After the dry hop addition has had 3 days to sit, carefully package it with as little oxidation as possible. Consume this beer fresh! Hoppy beers taste best within 2 weeks of packaging.