ISU students brew winning IPA for Backpocket Brewing

By Good Info News Wire

December 17, 2024

ISU students brewed up “Alien Juice Party” IPA, winning a challenge with Backpocket Brewing. Find out how to try it yourself!

In an innovative blend of academia and craft brewing, Iowa State University students are turning classroom knowledge into commercial reality. A groundbreaking collaboration between ISU’s brewing science program and Backpocket Brewing has transformed traditional coursework into a real-world competition, with the winning beer recipe set to hit taprooms across Iowa.

Student brewers craft commercial IPA in unique academic challenge

Twenty undergraduate students in ISU’s “The Science and Practice of Brewing” course competed in teams to develop a new American IPA for commercial production. The winning creation, dubbed “Alien Juice Party,” will soon be available at Backpocket Brewing locations throughout Iowa.

Luke Jipp, head brewer at Backpocket Brewing, tasked students with creating a beer that combines elements of both hazy and West Coast IPA styles. “For us, the new American IPA takes more flavorful hops from the hazy IPA style, showcasing flavors such as citrus, passion fruit, or mango, and combines it with the slightly higher bitterness and drinkability of a West Coast IPA,” Jipp told the Iowa State University News Service.

From classroom to commercial production

The winning team, consisting of five students from diverse academic backgrounds, including engineering, agricultural business, and cybersecurity, developed their recipe in ISU’s state-of-the-art brewing laboratory. The 2,800-square-foot facility provided students with professional-grade equipment to experiment with different brewing techniques and ingredients.

The victorious Alien Juice Party IPA, named for its use of Galaxy hops, features a distinctive citrus-forward flavor profile with reduced bitterness compared to traditional IPAs. Team member Trenton Major noted that scaling recipes for commercial production presented unique challenges: “The primary difference between home and commercial brewing is production scale, and throughout this process, we’ve been able to learn a lot about the considerations that come into play.”

Public launch and availability

Beer enthusiasts had the opportunity to sample the student-created IPA at a release party on December 13 at Backpocket Brewing’s Pin & Pixel location in Johnston. The brew will be available on tap at Backpocket’s locations in Coralville and Johnston, with distribution expanding to their Dubuque location on December 20.

Educational impact

Robert C. Brown, who leads the ISU brewing science program, highlighted the educational value of this industry partnership: “This semester, Backpocket Brewing challenged our students to apply what they are learning about brewing to develop a new IPA for commercial production, and the competitive opportunity has taken student enthusiasm and learning to a whole new level.”

The program combines principles from chemistry, biology, food science, and engineering, offering students hands-on experience in both laboratory and commercial brewing environments. The course includes both lecture components and extensive laboratory time, providing a comprehensive understanding of brewing science and technology.