Skull Coast Ale Company Set To Release "Maelstrom IPA"

March 31, 2010 - PRLog -- South Carolina craft brewer, Skull Coast Ale Company, is proud to announce the imminent arrival of its debut ale, Maelstrom IPA. India Pale Ales were originally brewed at a higher gravity to survive long voyages in the 1700s. Today, IPAs are produced to quench the thirst and tantalize the taste buds of craft beer lovers and “hopheads” everywhere.

Maelstrom IPA only uses the finest ingredients on the market. We start with a number specialty malts, including Maris Otter, Victory and Carastan, to give this 7% ABV ale a massive body and perfect color.

This drier, less caramelly, foundation provides the perfect platform for our proprietary hop addition schedule, adding premium Northwest hops almost constantly over 90-minutes. We start early and often with Simcoe and Columbus, layering them in with numerous hop additions to create a smooth, balanced bitterness. We then give it loads of flavor with pounds and pounds of Cascade hops, and finally bring out the aroma with the pretty Palisade hop.

We don’t stop the hop additions at the kettle. We add another pound per barrel of “dry hops” during conditioning to give even more aroma. These 25 additional pounds of hops are a combination of five (5) complimentary Northwest hops to give it a one-of-a-kind hop punch and complexity.

With all the additions from the kettle through “dry hopping”, it clocks in at an astounding 85 IBUs. It’s easy to see why it’s called, the “Maelstrom IPA.”

Maelstrom [pronounced “Mail-strum”] is a powerful tidal whirlpool or swirling vortex with a considerable downdraft in the ocean. A visual representation of a Maelstrom can be seen in the climax scene of the “Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End.” For our purposes, we consider our IPA a “Delirious Descent into a Maelstrom of Hops.”

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About Skull Coast Ale Company: The Skull Coast Ale Company creates big, bold, high-end ales that celebrate the people, culture and history of the Carolinas during the Golden Age of Piracy. http://www.skullcoastales.com