Release: Hop Brutality Black IPA

As part of our San Diego Homebrew Summer program, a dozen local breweries are producing recipes from local homebrewers at their breweries during the sunny season. The next to debut will be Hop Brutality, a black IPA partially conceived by Mahler, then selected by the guy who provided him his first homebrew experience eight years ago, Daren Rudy. Rudy has since gone pro and, earlier this year, opened a nano-sized commercial brewery called Ataraxia Aleworks. That’s where this pair enjoyed a friendly reunion while brewing a pro version of Hop Brutality, which will tap at Ataraxia Aleworks’ tasting room in Kearny Mesa tomorrow, July 17. Make plans to check it out and keep scrolling to get even more background on this beer, including an impressive award the recipe garnered recently.

Hop Brutality | Black IPA

Commentary from Ataraxia Aleworks co-founder and Head Brewer Daren Rudy

It was pretty fun working with homebrewers. That’s how I got my start in the brewing industry, so it was a nice reminder of my brewing roots. The excitement I have had over the past couple months being ale to bring my own old homebrew recipes to life was amplified by seeing homebrewer watch their recipe brewed on a small professional brewhouse. With all the advancements and information made available in brewing and homebrewing over he past several years, there are seriously some quality recipes being created and beers being brewed in batches as small as five gallons at home.

Q&A with homebrewer Max Mahler

How did you develop this recipe and what led you to submit it for consideration?

This recipe was actually the brainchild of my friend, Harold “Roldy” Williams, whom I brew with, and it won us a gold in the IPA category at last year’s San Diego County Fair homebrewing competition. That was part of the reason I submitted it, but I also did so because it’s a very unique and rare style of IPA. Everyone wants to make a juice-bomb nowadays, but I prefer something that’s balanced with a bit of malt, and to me, this recipe fits that bill.

How did it feel having your recipe selected as part of San Diego Homebrew Summer?

It felt great. We have brewed once on a nanosystem with the now defunct Escondido Brewing and that was a fun experience, so it was great to be able to do it again. Especially knowing that a long-time buddy was going to host my beer on-tap.

What are some fun memories from your brewing session at Ataraxia Aleworks?

The most laborious part of the brewing process was shoveling all the spent grain back out of the mash tun. That was a lot more work than in a homebrew setting. By the end, we were scooping it out and getting it all over the place. Ha!

What’s the most exciting aspect of having your recipe brewed by a commercial brewery?

I’m excited for all my friends to try my beer on a professional system. Many of them like Hop Brutality, so I want them to have it served on draft at a real brewery. This experience was great and I hope San Diego Beer News continues to make events where homebrewers can do things like this!