Intelligent Design, if you’re unfamiliar, is a series of beers where one of our brewers gets to play in the sandbox (metaphor, there is no sandbox at Surly Brewing) and make their beer, their way. #3 is from brewer Robbie Denaway. It’s called Galactic Descent. It’s *shuffles papers, looks closely, looks again*
…a hazy IPA.
We’ll let Robbie tell the rest of the story.
NAME: Robbie Denaway
TENURE: I’ve been at Surly for three years. I was hired as a brewer in March 2015 at the Brooklyn Center location, and I’ve worked there ever since.
Like many other professional brewers, I started as a homebrewer. I worked at Northern Brewer for more than a year before going professional by enrolling at Siebel Institutes of Brewing Technology. Once I returned from Chicago, I landed an assistant brewing gig at Flat Earth Brewing before catching on at Surly.
BACKSTORY: I’ve always been a hop head. Hops are my favorite brewing ingredient by far. Naturally, I decided to make a hop-centric one for my Intelligent Design beer. Surly is already known for our IPAs, so I wanted to make something different. I’m a fan of Northeast IPAs for their balance, body, & juicy flavors, so I decided to tackle making Surly’s first NEIPA.
Northeast IPAs are juicy and hazy in nature. The yeast I chose is synonymous with the style–Conan yeast was made popular by the originator of the style, The Alchemist’s Heady Topper. The yeast produces a full-bodied beer with esters that enhance the flavor of the hops. The hops I chose are my two favorites, Citra and Australian Galaxy. Both are very tropical and citrus-forward. I used mostly Citra in late additions to the boil and a boatload of Australian Galaxy in the dry hop. The malt bill is rather simple, using a combination of Canadian 2-row and Simpson’s Golden Promise. In addition, I used a fairly large amount of rolled oats and flaked wheat to add a creamy texture to the beer.
THUMBNAIL: Galactic Descent is a hazy, full-bodied, balanced, juicy, tropical IPA clocking in at 6.6% ABV.
Thanks, Robbie. You can find Galactic Descent on tap in the Beer Hall starting March 14.