Origins of the Double IPA
As the West Coast IPA pushed bitterness ever higher in the 1990s, brewers ran into a problem of balance. The solution was simply to make the beer bigger. The result was the Double IPA (or Imperial IPA), and its origin story has an unusually clear point of birth.
#Vinnie Cilurzo and the First Double IPA
The Double IPA is widely credited to brewer Vinnie Cilurzo, at the Blind Pig Brewing Company in Temecula, California, around 1994. The often-told story is candid and practical:
Cilurzo was working with a worn-out brewhouse and worried his very hoppy beer would taste harsh and unbalanced. His fix was to increase the malt: more malt meant more alcohol and more body to carry an enormous hop load. He has described it, with some humour, as a way to mask the limitations of his equipment. A near-disaster became a new style.
#The Pliny the Elder Era
Cilurzo later moved to Russian River Brewing, where he refined the idea into Pliny the Elder, released in 2000 and named (with a wink) after the Roman naturalist associated with naming the hop plant. Pliny became the archetype of the Double IPA: intensely hoppy yet startlingly drinkable, dry rather than sweet, and balanced despite its strength.
| Feature | Double IPA archetype | |
|---|---|---|
| ABV | ~8–10%+ | |
| Bitterness | Very high [[IBU and Perceived Bitterness | IBU]], but balanced |
| Malt | More than a standard IPA, but kept dry | |
| Hops | Massive charges, often including late and [[Dry Hopping | dry-hop]] additions |
| Finish | Crisp and clean, not sticky or sweet |
Russian River's later Pliny the Younger, a Triple IPA, pushed the escalation even further and became a cult release. See Iconic IPAs That Defined the Style.
#Why "Double" and "Imperial"?
The terms borrow from older brewing language: "imperial" historically denoted a stronger, export-grade beer (as in imperial stout). Applied to the IPA, "double" and "imperial" signal a bigger version of the standard style: more malt, more hops, more alcohol. The naming is loose; there is no strict doubling of anything.
The hardest part of a Double IPA is keeping it from becoming sweet and heavy. Skilled brewers use highly fermentable worts and careful recipe design so the beer finishes dry, letting the hops, not residual sugar, carry the strength. A poorly made Double IPA is cloying; a great one drinks dangerously easy.
#The Escalation Continues
The Double IPA legitimised the idea that IPAs could keep getting bigger, opening the door to the Triple IPA and an enduring craft-beer fascination with strength. It also set the stage for the next twist: the hazy New England style, many of whose flagship beers are themselves Double IPAs.
#Continue Reading
- Double IPA: the modern style profile
- Triple IPA: the escalation taken further
- Rise of the West Coast IPA: the context that produced it
- Double IPA Recipe: how to brew one
- Key Figures in IPA History: Vinnie Cilurzo and other pioneers