Baird / Ishii / Stone Japanese Green Tea IPA

When our old friends Toshi Ishii and Bryan Baird approached us about brewing something special for Japan relief efforts, we of course jumped at the opportunity. We created this very special IPA, brewed with 100% Maris Otter Malt and Belgian candi sugar. Once we decided to tie it all together with the addition of Japanese Sencha green tea in a dry hop, the rest of the recipe came together easily. We included hops that we believed would blend well with the tea flavors, and we went non-traditional, at least in the sense of American IPAs. After bittering with Warrior hops, we used Crystal and New Zealand Pacifica for flavor. And then for the first dry hop, we again used Crystal and Pacifica, and added a brand new hop variety, Aramis, from the Alsace region of France. Then we went all Japanese for the second dry-hop, with Sorachi Ace whole leaf hops, and the Sencha tea. It’s always fun to use new ingredients and new hop varieties, and for that, I say to Toshi and Bryan: “Domo arigato!”

Mitch Steele, Head Brewer
Stone Brewing Co.
May 2011