Steve Koenemann

Beer Style: India Pale Ales and Double IPAs

For someone that calls themselves “The Vermont Hop Head”, you had to figure that it would only be a matter of time before I waxed poetically about some hoppy beer and I have managed to contain myself long enough. While I would willingly tell you that I enjoy many types of beer, it is the hoppy ones that have my keen interest. Sitting near the top of the highly hopped beer world are the beers of the beer style called “India Pale Ale” as well as its more potent derivative, the Double or Imperial IPA. In today’s article, I will give you a look at some of the history of this important beer style and then take a peek at some examples that I have experienced so far.

History

The earliest IPAs descend from the pales ales that were being brewed in Britain in the the early 17^th century. These so called “pale ales” were brewed from malted barley that had been produced in a process that created a lighter colored malt; thus the name. The original “pale ale” was the October beer produce by the common folk of the region. This well-hopped brew was intended to be aged for 2 years after brewing. It is common knowledge that the East India Company traders worked with several brewers (Bow Brewery first; then the Allsop, Bass and Salt breweries) in the Burton region to “export” their more alcoholic and strongly hopped brews to the British colonies in India… and the “India Pale Ale” was born. The chemistry of the water found in the Burton region lent itself to producing this type of beer. Now this was before the Suez Canal, of course, so the journey from Britain to India was a long, hazardous one; traveling down the west coast of Africa, around the Cape of Good Hope and back up the east cost of Africa to India. Refrigeration was not possible during this journey nor was it available once the beer arrived in India, so the beer had to be hearty enough to withstand the rigors of the journey and be drinkable once it arrived… something that could not be expected of most types of beers of the time. The preservative and antiseptic qualities of the alcohol and hops found in this type of beer helped it to survive this arduous journey relatively unscathed. The export of this IPA beer to India continued for about 100 years.

Modern IPAs

The modern IPAs tend to be classified as either “British style” or “American style”. Those that fall into the British category are likely to have lower alcohol content (OG less than 1040). Examples of this would be Green King IPA and Wells Eagle IPA. There are also some British brewers which are producing the more alcoholic “American style” IPAs; Meantime IPA and Dark Star IPA are good examples of these.

Since the original American style IPA, Ballantine IPA (out of production since the 90′s), we Americans have taken IPAs to new heights and have even evolved two basic types of American IPAs; “East Coast” and “West Coast”. Both of these can be still classified as IPAs, but the variation of hops between the two tends to produce citrus/grapefruit hops flavors in “West Coast” type and more woody/pine hop flavors in the “East Coast” type. Over time, however, brewers from both coasts and in between have produced many examples of both types for our enjoyment. I tend to prefer the “West Coast” style and the intense citrus/grapefruit hop goodness, but I am just not that picky about my hop-infused beers and most any good IPA will do it for me.

The “Double” or “Imperial” variety of IPAs (also refered to as DIPA or IIPA) are quite simply IPAs on steroids… more alcoholic punch (typically 8-14% ABV or more) and many more IBUs (International Bittering Units); a measure of the amount of “hoppiness” in a beer. For me, there is nothing better (beer-wise) than a properly chilled glass of a top shelf IIPA.

Some Examples of IPAs/IIPAs From My RateBeer collection…

If you look at the list of my RateBeer ratings, you will see that 107 of the 924 ratings are either IPAs (73) or IIPAs (34)… roughly 12% of my collection… and by far and away the most of any style or type beer that I have rated.

Some of my favorite IPAs (most of these tend to follow the “West Coast” flavor profile):

• Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
• Magic Hat HiPA
• Rogue Yellow Snow IPA
• Alchemist Rapture
• Double Mountain Hop Lava

For Double/Imperial IPAs, my favorites include:

• Alchemist Ouroboros

• Stone Ruination IPA

• Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA

• Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA

• Rogue Imperial IPA

There is little doubt in my mind that there are still many great examples of this, my favorite, style of beer yet to be explored and, for me, it will be a worthwhile and enjoyable journey to find them and drink them ALL!

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