MASHOUT MAGAZINE

Cold IPAs are my favorite IPA to both drink and brew. Probably because I love brewing lager beer, so anytime I get to use lager yeast, I’m happy. There’s just something about the crispiness of a Cold IPA that I really enjoy. I’ve brewed a handful of them over the years and each one has turned out different, with one thing always staying the same — the yeast. I exclusively used Lunar Crush from Omega in every batch, except for the experimental Black Cold IPA I brewed, where I used 34/70. Now that Omega no longer packages Lunar Crush for homebrewers, it was time to find a new strain that could help me brew flavorful Cold IPAs while also unlocking thiols and biotransformation. The one thing about Lunar Crush was that it’s a Pat-B strain, which doesn’t require mash hopping.

What are thiols?

“Thiols are intense aroma compounds that evoke grapefruit, passion fruit, and guava and are found in a variety of tropical fruits, wine grapes, and hops. These thiol compounds exist in two forms — free forms, which are highly aromatic and volatile, and precursor forms (also referred to as bound thiols). The precursor forms, abundant in malt, are non-aromatic and require yeast with β – lyase biotransformation activity to release them.
Source: Top Crop”

Fermentis has released a new dry yeast called SH-45, designed to be the ideal yeast for increasing hop thiol release in lagers.

“Philippe Janssens, R&D Technical Manager at Fermentis, says, “SafLager™ SH-45 immediately stood out for its impressive capacity to release hop precursors, more specifically its ability to release free thiols from glutathionylated (G-) precursors found in raw materials such as hops.”

Brewery trials
In our pilot brewery trials, we experimented with dry hopping during fermentation to allow direct contact between the hops and the yeast. This brew was dry hopped equally with Citra, Amarillo, and Hallertau Blanc at a dosage rate of 200g/hL in the kettle, 15 mins before the end of boil, then again at 200g/hL on the second day of fermentation. SafLager™ SH-45 produces a fresh lager, with notable citrus and tropical flavors coming from the hops, as well as a perceptible thiolic character (sauvignon/green vegetal).

This strain’s ability to enhance thiol biotransformation means brewers can use less hops to achieve the same effect — or push it even further with more. After reading everything I could find on SH-45, it felt like the obvious next yeast to try for a Cold IPA. Thanks to the Mashout Boyz partnership with Fermentis, I was able to get my hands on some and decided to put it to the test sooner rather than later.

Since this is my first time using it, I went a little subtle on the hops — keeping thiol-forward varieties to a minimum. I know, I spend all that time talking about thiols and then chicken out. But I wanted to brew a clean, modern, fruit-forward Cold IPA with just a hint of thiol influence. Plus, I didn’t have any NZ or Southern Hemisphere hops in the freezer anyway. Think Nelson Sauvin, Motueka, Nectaron, Riwaka.

Throughout this article I’ll document and update everything as the beer moves through fermentation and all the way through conditioning.

The recipe:
72% efficiency
Batch Volume: 6 gal | 23 L
Boil Time: 60 min
Mash Water: 6.32 gal | 24 L
Sparge Water: 2.43 gal | 9 L
Total Water: 8.75 gal | 33 L
Boil Volume: 7.32 gal | 28 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.058
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.013
IBU (Tinseth): 57
BU/GU: 0.89
Color: 3.9 SRM | 7.7 EBC

Mash
Temperature — 150 °F | 66 °C — 60 min

Malts (15 lb | 6.8 kg)
12 lb | 5.4 kg (80%) — Montana Craft Malt 2 Row
3 lb | 1.36 kg (20%) — Flaked Torrefied Rice

Hops (16.75 oz | 475 g)
0.75 oz | 21 g (30 IBU) — Chinook 12.7% — First Wort
5 oz | 142 g (18 IBU) — El Dorado 12.7% — 20 min hopstand @ 170 °F | 77 °C
4 oz | 113 g (10 IBU) — Huell Melon 8.6% — 20 min hopstand @ 170 °F | 77°C
4 oz | 113 g — Exp D5-055 13.4% — Dry Hop — day 7
2 oz | 57 g — Huell Melon 8.6% — Dry Hop — day 7
1 oz | 28 g — El Dorado 12.7% — Dry Hop — day 7

Yeast
2 pkg — SH-45 80%

Fermentation
Primary — 60 °F | 16 °C — 7 days
Diacetyl Rest — 65 °F | 18 °C — 4 days
Cold Crash — 38 °F | 3 °C (3 day ramp) — 3 days
Conditioning — 36 °F | 2 °C — 28 days

Looking at this recipe it is important to note that Chinook is not a meaningful thiol source. El Dorado is moderate at best with the ability to contribute some. Huell Melon could be a light contributor, not really known for thiol potential. The wild card here is going to be the Experimental D5-055. It has high total oil content and is an intense variety that is bursting with big flavors of citrus and sweet fruit, such as ruby red grapefruit, pink pomelo, overripe pineapple, citrus and bright tropical intensity… which is important because grapefruit, citrus peel, and tropical fruit notes often correlate with thiol expression (like 3MH / 3MHA).

ONGOING UPDATES:

• 3/27/2026: Yeast was pitched into wort at 60 °F | 16 °C and blow off tube had bubble activity after 8 hours.

• 3/31/2026 Day 4: the beer is still currently fermenting and bubbling away.

• 4/2/2026 Day 6:Raised from 60 °F | 16 °C to 65 °F | 18 °C for Diacetyl rest.

• 4/3/26 Day 7: Dryhop addition of El Dorado, D5-055, and Huell Melon

• 4/6/26 Day 10: Started lowering temperature for cold crash.

• 4/8/26 Day 12: I kegged the Cold IPA. Aroma of tangerine citrus, stone fruit with some pineapple. Taste was mostly the same. Tangerine, stone fruit with some subtle pineapple. Bitterness a little more pronounced that I hoped. Hopefully will mellow out as it sits in the keg.

• 4/13/26 Day 17: Aroma is more pronounced, of stone fruit, pineapple and some citrus. Flavor of stone fruit and citrus, and some bitterness that sits gently on the back of the tongue. Still needs some time in the keg… will check back in two weeks.

  

• 4/28/2026 Day 32: Aroma is nice, clean, stone fruit and citrus.
  Bright, crisp, and dangerously crushable.
  This Cold IPA hits with waves of citrus, melon, and tropical candy from El Dorado, Huell Melon, and EXP D5-055. Straightforward grain bill of MCM 2 Row and flaked rice. All fermented clean and dry with Fermentis SH-45.

  SH-45 delivered a super clean fermentation with a dry finish that really sharpens the hop expression. This yeast is a hybrid-style lager strain designed for clean, hop-forward beers. It ferments crisp and neutral with high attenuation, making it a perfect fit for styles like Cold IPA or NZ Pils.
  
  Peer review from my friend Spencer on 5/5/2026: Nose and taste has bright hop flavor. Finish kind of hits the back of the throat and gives a bitter ending with some dryness.

  

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By Jordan, Billy’s Tavern Homebrewing

Jordan is a California native. When he is not brewing he can be found drinking beer with friends, duck hunting, and getting lost in a good book or video game. When he is not out on an adventure with his wife, he can be found at home with his two lovable dogs. Stay up to date by following him on Instagram.