With all the growth in the consumption of IPAs and their thousands of different (and creative) ways of elaboration, we would say that the IPA stopped being just a style and has become a style family, that is, grouping together many different varieties or "substyles".
But, before starting to talk about each one of them, we want to emphasize that this expansion of the IPAs is due to the Americans, since they have been responsible for interpreting and developing this style in a special way, Exploring to the maximum the sensory possibilities that the hops of the Pacific coast of the Northwest of the United States treasure. Thanks to the potential of these hop varieties, capable of developing citric, fruity and resinous nuances, the American IPAS have managed to differentiate themselves from the British IPAs, which they are more floral, spicy and earthy.
Meeting the hoppy relatives
Let's now start talking about some of the descendants of the IPA family:
English IPA
This is the "original IPA", which follows the sensory profile of the beer created in England in 1821 (as we discussed in the previous post When did IPAs emerge? ). Basically, this style has a more marked hoppy character, medium body and a balance that favors bitterness. The earthy, slightly floral and woody touch of British hop varieties is very recognizable.
American IPA
The modern version of the English IPAs, its main sensory trait is the great intensity of the American hops ( Cascade, Chinook, Columbus/Tomahawk, Centennial...) in aroma and flavor, which they provide a hoppy character that can be citric, floral, perfumed, pungent, resinous, pine and/or tropical fruits such as mango or pineapple.
West Coast IPA
It is within the family line of the American IPAs, the IPAs of the Costa Oeste of the United States (West Coast IPA) were born as a basic reference to the model of the American IPAs created during the 1980s (brewed by Scotsman Bert Grant at his brewpub in the hopping area of Yakima, Washington state), but today it's practically synonymous with American IPA.
New England IPA or NEIPA
It is also within the family line of American IPAs, these are the IPAs of the East Coast of the United States. A variant characterized by being very cloudy, fruity, silky and slightly bitter, with an almost orange-yellow color, in such a way that it resembles more a tropical fruit juice than a beer. This is currently the variation that dominates the market the most and is causing a stir among #beerlovers.
Hazy IPA
Hazy means hazy in English, so they are known for being hazy IPAs (no mystery). To obtain a cloudy IPA you can use significant percentages of oats and wheat in the mash, as well as special yeasts that are kept in suspension and consecutive additions of dry hopping (we explain this process at the end of the post).The sensory aspect is similar to the NEIPA, but differs many times by the level of the body
Milkshake IPA
This is a version of IPAs that includes lactose as an ingredient, along with oats, barley or wheat flakes and different types of fruit to obtain its flavor, aroma and appearance. So this type has a hazy color and sweet taste, creamy texture and full body. The Milkshake IPA is considered a sub-style of the New England IPA, but is not yet recognized by the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP).
Black IPA
This is a combination between the character and depth of the roasted and roasted nuances of the dark malts with the resins of the hops, some say it would be a search for the perfect combination between a Stout and a American IPA. The name Black (black in English) India Pale (pale in English ) Ale is a bit contradictory (black and pale beer at the same time?), but in the end the use of acronyms is much more representative than just the word " pale".
White IPA
Another combination of two beer worlds, in this case it includes wheat as a cereal in the milling used to make it, that is, an apparent mix between an American IPA and a Belgian wheat beer (witbier).
IPA Network
Another variant of the style has been the Red IPA, which includes the use of caramel malts that provide reddish tones to the color of the beer. We can also say that it would be a version of the very hoppy Irish Red Ale. In general, it is a version of the American IPAs with a more malty (and tasty) flavor, but without being sweet or heavy.
Belgian IPA
Let's say that it could be defined as a mixture from the best of 2 worlds: an America IPA combined with a Belgian Tripel, the result is an IPA with tropical aromas of hops with the classic spicy and fruity aromas of Belgian beers. It should be noted that this style can have 2 variants: beers made by Belgian brewers based on their styles and adding extra hops O
Double or Imperial IPA
A version of West Coast IPAs in a big way, i.e. with more added hops, then more bitterness (above 60 IBU), balanced with more addition also of malts (although they appear in greater quantity, they are not protagonists at any time). Also, they are IPAs with more than 7.5% ABV, which is why they are sometimes called Imperial (a term for beers that carry a higher alcohol content than the standard style). Although the name refers to a double IPA, its meaning is not literal, it is simply due to the fact that it exceeds the base style.
Triple IPA
Created during the "race for the hoppiest IPAs" in the early 2000s, a Triple IPA or TIPA means outperforming DIPAs on every level: going further in terms of alcohol , strength and, above all,
loads of hops, especially in dry hopping TIPAs have a hopping character similar to that of DIPAs, but have a denser body, almost
like a syrup and that is accentuated by the hop resins.
SessionIPA
Brut IPA, the "Hop Champagne"
Created as a counterpoint to the successful NEIPAs, the Brut IPA was the brainchild of Kim Sturdavant, (of Social Kitchen and Brewery, San Francisco) in the late 2017. His idea was to launch an extremely dry IPA which he baptized with the name “Hop Champagne” since said dryness was reminiscent of the famous French drink. Despite being quickly adopted by the craft sector, this style failed to maintain the same level of acceptance as its rival and has now lost market presence. But its creation is registered here :)
A famous method for flavoring
Dry Hopping
This is a brewing technique that works by adding hops during maturation and, once fermentation is complete, another final load of hops is introduced to give the beer its aromatic nuances and accentuate dryness on the palate. It is important to note that this is quite common since hops have great aromatic potential, which makes the beer even more attractive.
You can find more technical information about IPAs on the official page of BJCP. We continue together to demystify all the details of the great India Pale Ale brewing family. CHEERS!
