When chatting about beers with Tokyo Aleworks, we realised that we both enjoy a good clean West Coast IPA. Putting a focus on our shared appreciation for Comet hops, we decided on brewing a West Coast IPA with Rye malt. We've always thought of Comet hops las a bit of a “baby Citra”, presenting very citrus forward notes with some resinous pine character. When it comes to West Coast IPAs, nothing quite beats the Simcoe/Citra pairing, so we paired the Comet with a healthy dose these complimentary hops, with Simcoe plus just a little Cryo Citra in the dry hop. The base beer was kept very West Coast in style, opting for Standard 2-row barley for the base malt using a blend of malted and flaked rye for some spice character. This beer has a very crisp dry finish, fermented out with a California ale yeast. This gives the beer a punchy citrus character with dank, resinous pine backbone expected from a West Coast IPA. The lack of any caramel malts gives the beer a very light colour, while the hops give it a present but not overbearing bitterness. This beer was very much a “brew what you want to drink” beer. We've been craving a good clean West coast IPA, so this one will be kept at the ready!