BJCP and Style Guidelines
Beer "styles" are not laws of nature; they are descriptive frameworks written by humans to bring order to a sprawling, evolving craft. The most influential of these frameworks is the BJCP Style Guidelines, produced by the Beer Judge Certification Program. This note explains how the BJCP and similar bodies categorize IPAs and assign the vital-stats ranges used throughout the IPA Styles domain.
Three frameworks dominate: the BJCP Guidelines (used by homebrew competitions), the Brewers Association Style Guidelines (used by the Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup), and internal styles breweries use themselves. They broadly agree but differ in category names and limits.
#How the BJCP Treats IPAs
The BJCP scatters IPA-family beers across several categories rather than collecting them in one place:
| BJCP grouping | Includes |
|---|---|
| Pale American Ale family | American Pale Ale, blonde |
| IPA category (21) | American IPA, English IPA, and Specialty IPA sub-types |
| Specialty IPA (21B) | Black IPA, Red IPA, Rye IPA, White IPA, Belgian IPA, Brown, Brut IPA |
| Strong American Ale | Double IPA (Imperial IPA) |
Newer styles entered the guidelines later or remain in provisional and "experimental" categories: the New England IPA (added as "Hazy IPA"), Cold IPA, Sour IPA, and Milkshake IPA.
#The Vital Statistics
Every style entry specifies measurable ranges. The four core metrics:
- OG / FG: original and final gravity, indicating fermentable sugar and attenuation; see Recipe Formulation.
- ABV: alcohol by volume.
- IBU: bitterness; see IBU and Perceived Bitterness.
- SRM: color, from pale to black.
A guideline range is a typical window, not a rule. Many celebrated commercial IPAs fall outside their nominal category. The lag between a style emerging and being codified is real; see Modern IPA Diversification.
#Why Style Boundaries Matter
In competition, a beer is judged against its declared style: a clear, brilliant West Coast IPA entered as a New England IPA would score poorly for being "out of style," not for being a bad beer. See Tasting and Evaluating IPAs and Sensory Training and Panels.
For drinkers, style guidelines are a vocabulary for what to expect. For brewers, they are a starting reference. For the Specialty and Experimental IPAs frontier, they are simply the last edition's snapshot.
#Continue Reading
- IPA Style Comparison Table: the vital-stats ranges in one table
- IPA Styles: the navigational hub
- Tasting and Evaluating IPAs: judging beer to style
- IPA Festivals and Competitions: where guidelines are applied
- Style Index: alphabetical reference