Recipe: Hop Diggity
Mother Earth Brew Co. shares the recipe for yet another of its hop-heavy wonders
Our second-annual Homebrew Summer program had such a fantastically high level of participation from San Diego County breweries—with over 30 of them taking part—that we’ve had to extend it into the fall. So you can keep checking back to San Diego Beer News each week for homebrew-scaled versions of popular beers from local brewing companies, as well as recipes from homebrewers that are being produced on a professional scale and put on tap around town.
Today’s gift to amateur fermentationists is the second, count it, second homebrew-scaled pro recipe submitted by the same brewery. Many thanks go out to Vista’s Mother Earth Brew Co., which is following up sharing the DIY instructions for its beloved Boo Koo IPA with the recipe for their even hoppier full-time double IPA, Hop Diggity. This lupulin-laced gem is fresh off a silver-medal win in the Imperial India Pale Ale category at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival, making it a special gift to help homebrewers up their hoppy-beer game. This is precisely the generosity of spirit from the local brewing community that has allowed us to extend Homebrew Summer. And we’re not quite done yet, so check out this recipe, then keep coming back to see what else we have in store for you!
Hop Diggity is a brewer favorite, so seemed like the right choice when asked to share recipes. In this case, we focus on high-quality Centennial, Mosaic and Citra hops, and heavy brewhouse hopping, to create a flavorful and balanced double IPA. With a lower ABV (alcohol-by-volume), IPA brewers need to focus on creating balanced bitterness by reducing brewhouse hop additions. With a double IPA, we get an opportunity to push more hops into the brewhouse and not worry about high bitterness. Hop Diggity used two-and-three-quarter pounds per-barrel of hops in the brewhouse to lace the beer with pine, tropical and dank hop flavor while fermentation and terminal dry-hopping lay down big hop aroma. Exceptional balance makes great beers stand out from the pack. As a rule of thumb, I shoot for IBUs (international bittering units) to match ABV. For example, an 8.1% IPA would be perfectly balanced at 81 IBU.”
Chris Baker, Director of Brewing Operations, Mother Earth Brew Co.