Double Pale Ale vs (D)IPA?

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CaptZav

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I was in total wine the other day, and noticed several double pale ales, Flying Dogs's comes to mind. My question is what makes a beer a double pale ale instead of a pale ale, IPA, or DIPA?

Edit, changed dogfish head to flying dog
 
I didn't know DFH made a double pale ale, or anyone for that matter. I guess I need to pay better attention at the liquor store!
 
Beer Valley in Oregon makes an Imperial Pale Ale called Leafer Madness.

It's 10%, hundreds of IBUs, and comes in a fresh hop variety once a year. Great beer.
 
I've been thinking about this distinction and I'd say that a double pale/extra pale would be a beer with the same malt character and OG as a pale ale, but with a little extra hopping.

So a typical APA recipe might be around 1.055, 40IBUs, and have 1oz additions at 10min and 0min. An extra pale would have the exact same malt bill, 40-55IBUs, and 1.5-2oz additions at 10min and 0min as well as some dry hopping.

Technically, these probably still fit into the APA category if you were to enter them in a homebrew contest. The thing that pisses me off about contests is I feel like in the APA category you HAVE to brew an extra pale to be noticeable. Otherwise some other bastard's hoppy APA will overshadow yours. This is why I'm turning away from competitions - they make me feel bad about liking my beer!
 
Double Pale Ale, IPA, IIPA, DIPA. Whatever. Most of my "IPA" recipes are technically IIPA by the numbers, but what self-respecting IIPA has 8% ABV?

Heh heh Leafer Madness. Sin - degradation - vice - insanity!
 
:off:
The thing that pisses me off about contests is . . .

My attitude may be different than yours, but my only expectation going into a competition is to get constructive feedback on something that I might miss and to join in on some fun with other homebrewers. Winning would be good for the head, but any score over about 25 tells me that I haven’t missed any obvious flaws. Above 30 and it’s a damn good beer. Above 35 is just as good as a win. Things like where it was scored in the flight and how it was handled play a big roll. Not to mention that I could have a great beer that straddles the guidelines. Competitions are about entertainment and education. Not something worthy of being “pissed off” about. RDWHAHB

Brewers who consistently win in competitions know the system and how to work it to their advantage. That doesn’t mean that their beer is any better tasting than yours is. Just that they know how to brew to style and present a beer that will stand out from the other meeting those guidelines. In you own house, you’re the only judge that matters. BJCP be damned!
 
Double and Imperial are marketing words to describe higher alcohol content. IPA refers to India Pale Ale, not Imperial. India Pale Ales are overly hopped Pale Ales originally made to survive the long trip over seas (Hence the name India) due to the natural antiseptic qualities of hops. Now adays they are another beer style and take a pale ale and push it's hop flavor, aroma, and bitterness to an extreme compared to a common pale ale.
 
From what I remember, the Double Pale Ale is a much more Malt focused beer than a DIPA or an Imperial IPA.

All these terms are really just marketing when it comes to selling commercial beer, since the Style Guidelines... are really just guidelines. My thinking for the choice of wording is to let people realize that it doesn't have the hop intensity of those other hop focused styles.
 
AnOldUR,

I agree 100% with you. I love getting feedback on my beer and I can definitely say that I've improved some recipes thanks to judges' feedback. I guess what I'm getting at is I think the feedback can be skewed in the context of a competition.

I've actually fallen victim to this a couple times in the APA category. I have a pretty standard APA that I make with 1oz at 10min and 0min. Well twice I've gotten seriously dinged in the APA category because "this beer barely has any hop flavor or aroma." I just think that in the hoppy categories, and other weird ones like smoked beers, it's hard to get great feedback.

Don't read me too wrong here, though - I'm not raging and fuming about my beers not doing well... competition is way less important to me than just having fun brewing and sharing beer with people. It's just that everybody likes to have a little validation every once in awhile... that's why I try to get my best feedback by bringing my beers to certified judges at homebrew club meetings. Then you can get an honest and unconflicted (I say it's a real word!) evaluation.
 
I personally like the term "imperial" (marketing tool or not) because "double" is a quantifiable, measurable description.

If I double a recipe, I have TWICE the hops, malt, etc.

"dubbel" is grandfathered in as a style, and is in no other way related to a trippell or whatever.

Imperial is vague enough to just mean "more"
 
[QUOTE
"dubbel"...is in no other way related to a trippell or whatever.
[/QUOTE]

:off:
This is not completely true. A nerdy tidbit I picked up in researching a Belgian Parti-gyle I am planning is that the Trippel was the first runnings with just Pilsner malt, then the Dubbel with some character malt or caramelized sugar added to the second runnings, then a Singel (sp? I don't know no Flemish) from the last runnings. Neat!
 
While it may not actually "double" the amount of anything in the recipe, you're just adding equal portions of each to keep them in line. Generally, there is a greater imbalance between hop and malt flavor in an IPA. So making it a double is keeping the same imbalance between the two, while increasing the flavor of both (2-1, now becomes 4-2). Same goes for a pale ale that, generally, has less of an imbalance.

...a cent for each of your loafers...
 
I always thought double and triple referred to alcohol content or original gravity, ie a single was 3-5 % a double 5-7% and a triple 7%-10%, 10%+ barley wine. :confused:

But the Flying Dog Double Pale Ale is 11.5%, it is not just a hoppier pale ale! :tank:

Maybe as suggested above, the double means doubling the recipe, but keeping the boil volume the same:cross:

dunno, not very constructive I guess. just some random noise from a noob.
 
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