The brief for this beer was to create the perfect partner for CBRB’s superb ramen dishes. Luckily, we’re not short of ramen-heads in the office and to top it off we knew there were two more of New York’s biggest ramen fans heading into Leeds at just the right time; Kevin and Basil of Finback Brewery. We dropped them a line and set about putting together this yuzu IPA, a fruit synonymous with this Asian cuisine.

To complement the sharp, zesty nature of the fruit we wanted a base which was fluffy and rounded but still light enough to contribute to a refreshing drink. We went with pilsner malt and a large portion of wheat, backing them up with small portions of flaked wheat and oats for the base. The idea behind this was to put together a malt profile reminiscent of the Wit-style but that still had all the soft character that would be expected of a Northern Monk – Finback IPA.

We fermented with our house IPA strain and added yuzu juice at the back end. Finally, we dry-hopped with Citra and Mosaic, generously but not high enough to mask the unique flavour of yuzu.