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Jesse Houck Re-Routing Golden Road’s Flagship IPA

Suddenly headed in a different direction
Suddenly headed in a different direction Photo: Golden Road Brewing

Two of the signature beers produced by Golden Road Brewing, the well-funded Atwater upstart, are undergoing a bit of recipe tweak from Jesse Houck, the brewmaster that replaced Jon Carpenter earlier this year. The company’s flagship Point The Way IPA, an attempt to water down mutate the traditional West Coast IPA into a lower-alcohol session beer, will see its recipe changed to create a slightly stronger brew. Houck tells The L.A. Times that he’ll drop the beer’s caramel malts for an ale that is “drier, lighter in color, [and] cleaner,” possibly bringing its 82 rating on Beer Advocate up a bit in the process while still keeping things sessionable.

Houck will also introduce the brew to new 12-ounce cans, shrinking them slightly from their original 16-ounce vessels, while also giving the brewery’s Wolf Among Weeds IPA a remake using malted rye for a little more spice.

The new hire, a veteran of Drake’s and an original candidate for the Golden Road position, says, “There’s a lot of breweries where they say, ‘Don’t touch any of these. These are working for us.’…This being a younger company, I have more opportunity to innovate and create change.”

With a new brewmaster, Golden Road’s beers get a makeover [LAT]

Jesse Houck Re-Routing Golden Road’s Flagship IPA