What Is an IPA?
IPA stands for India Pale Ale, a hop-forward style of pale ale characterized by pronounced bitterness, hop flavor, and hop aroma, typically balanced over a relatively light, dry malt base. It is the best-selling craft beer style in the United States and the defining beer of the modern craft movement.
#The Defining Characteristics
An IPA is recognizable by four traits, all of which trace back to Hops:
- Bitterness: measured in IBU, from a restrained ~40 in a Session IPA to 100+ in a Double IPA.
- Hop aroma & flavor: citrus, pine, tropical fruit, resin, floral, and dank notes, driven by Hop Oils and Terpenes and thiols.
- A supporting malt base: usually pale and dry, designed to let hops lead. See Base Malts.
- Moderate-to-high strength: most sit between 5.5% and 7.5% ABV, though the style spans 3.5% to 11%+.
#What an IPA Is Not
- Not simply "a strong beer." Strength is incidental; hops are the point.
- Not always bitter: a New England IPA can be aromatic yet mild in bitterness.
- Not a single recipe; the IPA is a family of styles. See the IPA Family Tree.
#Where the Name Comes From
The "India" in India Pale Ale reflects the style's (heavily mythologized) association with British beer exported to colonial India in the 1800s. The popular story, in which extra hops and alcohol were added to survive the sea voyage, is largely a legend. The real history is more interesting and is told in The October Beer Myth and Hodgson and the East India Trade.
#A Style in Constant Motion
No beer style has evolved faster. The IPA has, in roughly two centuries, gone from a British pale ale to a bitter American showcase to a soft and hazy juice bomb, and it continues to spin off novelties like the Brut IPA, Cold IPA, and Milkshake IPA. Understanding the IPA means understanding a moving target.
#Continue Reading
- IPA Family Tree: how the styles relate
- History of IPAs: the full origin story
- IPA Styles: the complete style map
- How to Taste an IPA: put theory into practice