USA: Boston Beer Co. reformulates beer recipe

Boston Beer Co., the maker of Sam(uel) Adams and the second largest craft brewery in the United States, has reformulated the recipe of one of their most popular flagship beers. As a result of Project Lupulus, a four-year experiment, the pioneer of craft brewing in the U.S., has added some new hop varieties to its standard recipe of Rebel IPA, their signature beer in the category first launched in 2014.

In collaboration with Yakima hop breeders, a proprietary hop variety, called HBC 566, was developed, which is exclusive to Boston Beer. In addition, the new recipe adds an experimental hop variety for bittering, called HBC 682. As a reference to the old recipe, Rebel IPA is still brewed with some of the original hop varieties including Cascade, Centennial, Simcoe® and Chinook.

Together with an altered malt bill, the reformulated beer has a "more intense juicy, tropical and citrus flavor supported by a leaner body and a crisp, clean finish to optimize the hop character," as the brewery has stated in a press release on Thursday.

 “This is the first time we’ve significantly changed the recipe of a flagship beer,” said Boston Beer co-founder Jim Koch. "Like with the original Rebel IPA recipe, this release isn't a palate-scorching hop-bomb. Our goal was to showcase the intricate aromas and flavors of hops, especially with new, experimental hop varieties HBC 566 and HBC 682. Not that long ago, it was a challenge just to find quality, flavorful hops and now, we're developing our own proprietary hop with unparalleled lemony-lime, orange and eucalyptus notes. It's wild to think how far the brewing industry has come and that today, a beer can evolve," said Koch.

The new Rebel IPA will be available nationwide on draft and in six-packs of bottles. Additionally the new Rebel Juiced IPA, which debuted in draft on Halloween 2016 is now also available in bottles and cans as part of the Pack of Rebels variety pack. These packs also include also include Rebel Grapefruit IPA and Rebel White Citra IPA.

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