Hazy, intensely aromatic, 8% double IPA from The Alchemist in Stowe. Drink from the can; do not pour. Considered the beer that started the New England IPA category.

John and Jen Kimmich founded The Alchemist as a Waterbury brewpub in 2003 and began canning Heady Topper from a new Waterbury cannery in 2011; production expanded to the Stowe brewery and visitor's center in 2016. The unfiltered haze, the floral citrus aromatics from late hop additions, and the 'drink from the can' instruction on the label became blueprints for an entire category of US craft beer. Sister IPA Focal Banger followed in 2014.

Where to eat Heady Topper double IPA in Burlington

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Make it at home

Serves 20720 hrAdvanced

Ingredients

  • 5.5kg American Pale 2-row malted barley
  • 500g flaked oats (for haze and mouthfeel)
  • 500g malted wheat
  • 250g Carapils or carafoam (for body)
  • 28g Apollo hops (16 percent alpha acid, for first wort)
  • 28g Simcoe hops (12 percent alpha)
  • 28g Citra hops (12 percent alpha)
  • and 28g Centennial hops (10 percent alpha) for whirlpool at 80 degrees Celsius
  • 56g Simcoe + 56g Citra + 56g Galaxy + 28g Mosaic for dry-hopping (split across two additions)
  • Conan yeast (the strain originally cultured from a Pacman/Heady source; available from Yeast Bay or as Vermont Ale, GigaYeast GY054 or Imperial A04 Barbarian) or substitute London Ale III (Wyeast 1318) for similar haze and esters
  • 22L filtered or RO water adjusted with 5g calcium chloride
  • 2g calcium sulphate
  • 1g magnesium sulphate (the NEIPA water profile: high chloride, low sulphate)

Method

  1. Mash the crushed grains in 17L of strike water at 67 degrees Celsius for 60 minutes (the slightly higher mash temperature builds the soft body NEIPA needs).
  2. Sparge with 8L of 75 degrees Celsius water, collecting around 24L of wort into the kettle.
  3. Add the 28g Apollo as first wort hops; bring to a hard boil for 60 minutes (no other bittering, the long whirlpool hops will add structure).
  4. At flame-out, cool to 80 degrees Celsius, add the whirlpool blend (28g each Simcoe, Citra, Centennial) and steep 30 minutes; this is the structural step that gives NEIPA its hop fruit without harsh IBUs.
  5. Chill the wort fast to 19 degrees Celsius (using an immersion or counterflow chiller).
  6. Transfer to a sanitised fermenter; oxygenate well, then pitch a healthy starter of Conan yeast (about 250 billion cells).
  7. Ferment at 20 degrees Celsius for 4 to 5 days, allow a 2-degree free rise to 22 degrees in the final day.
  8. On day 4 of fermentation, dry-hop with 56g Simcoe + 56g Citra (push, not stir, to avoid oxygen ingress) and leave 4 days at 19 degrees Celsius.
  9. Add the second dry-hop charge (56g Galaxy + 28g Mosaic) 3 days before packaging; soft-crash to 12 degrees Celsius after 24 hours of contact.
  10. Keg or bottle with absolute oxygen exclusion (closed transfer, CO2-purged keg, no head space); carbonate to 2.4 to 2.6 volumes.
  11. Cold-condition 7 to 10 days, then drink fresh from the can (or keg) within 4 weeks for the canonical Heady Topper aromatic profile.

Editor tip. Heady Topper is famously sensitive to oxygen and time; brewer John Kimmich says 'drink from the can' because oxygen exposure in a pint glass dulls the aromatics fast. The Conan yeast strain is the single most important variable; substituting another strain changes the character significantly.

Common allergens: Gluten (barley malt).