Dig Brew Co. – Waka/Jawaka DIPA

I would say, generally speaking, it isn’t a great move to boast. But today I shall be making an exception.

We at Dig Brew feel that Waka/Jawaka is a big deal.

The basics: Collaborative project with Chef Brad Carter called Studio Z.

New England style double IPA, 8.0%, hopped with Harlequin, CF182 (Opus), Jester T45 & Olicana T45.

You will notice that these are not the usual hops you would associate with a NEIPA, if you have even seen them used before at all. That is because they are all hops grown in the UK and we (craft beer industry in the UK) don’t tend to pay any attention to them.

These are experimental and cutting-edge hops that are the product of many years of work by the Charles Faram hop development programme. The project is still in its infancy and the quantities being produced are incredibly small. For instance, the maximum contract that we were able to secure for the 2020 harvest of Harlequin this year was 10kg. By comparison, if I wanted to, I would probably have little issue contracting 5 tonnes of Citra – paying for it maybe.

Once confined to recipes for ESBs, Best Bitters, Golden Ales, Blondes, Porters etc (all cask) I can tell you that there has been a gear change behind the scenes in hop production in the UK and here comes my boast:

Waka/Jawaka was the first and is currently the only New England style DIPA using these hops, at all, in the world and I think it’ll be in the ring till the final bell with any US/Aus/NZ hopped beer of the same style.

We should all be very excited about the kinds of things we will be growing for drinking in the UK in the next decade, but y’all had better remember who did it first.

Big spicy mango: flesh, skin, seed and all.

Promise to be humble again next week.

8% ABV