Is there a difference between East and West coast IPA's?

Hey Guys,

I recently had a chance to try a Dog Fish Head 60 min, 90 min. and Sam Adams Latitude 48 and I would have to say that I wasn't overly impressed! I thought that they had too bitterness and not enough flavor and aroma hops. Also they seemed to be a tad too sweet.

With that being said is there a big difference between how east coast and west coast IPA's are brewed? I'm a huge fan of Stone(IPA and Ruination) and Sierra Nevada Torpedo. I also love Surly Furious and Bell's Two-Hearted. I know the last two are from the Midwest, but I feel like they are brewed to the West Coast style of IPA. For me a good west coast IPA has a lot of flavor and aroma hops which helps balance out the bitterness and malt flavors.

Did I just get an old batch of DFH and Latitude 48, or is there an actual style difference?

There isn't a style difference. At least not in my experience. Hopsecutioner by Terrapin and Sweetwater's IPA (both GA breweries by chance) should be to your liking, and they're both East coast breweries. It's been a long while since I had 60 or 90 min, but I do remember neither being extraordinarily hoppy. Good, but there's much better IPAs out there IMHO.

DFH IPA's are notoriously on the sweet side. The sugar additions in the secondary for 120 minute IPA (according to the Jamil show) are insane. They fed that beer for nearly a month in the primary with corn sugar additions to get it up to 18-25% ABV. Crazy.

aiptasia said:

DFH IPA's are notoriously on the sweet side. The sugar additions in the secondary for 120 minute IPA (according to the Jamil show) are insane. They fed that beer for nearly a month in the primary with corn sugar additions to get it up to 18-25% ABV. Crazy.

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Gross.

This is why I'm loyal to breweries such as Sierra Nevada and Lagunitas to name two. Never been a fan of DFH. It fails to deliver on the hype.

In my opinion, west coast IPAs are dryer with way more hop aroma and flavor, while east coast IPAs are more about hop bitterness and malt balance.

And, west coast tend to stick with american 'c' hops while east coast uses more varities of hops.

Agreed - in my experience East Coast IPAs tend to be maltier. People like to call it "balanced", but in my opinion, IPAs are meant to be unbalanced by their nature. I've never been a fan of IPAs from Dogfish Head (though I like plenty of their other beers).

That being said, there are a ton of awesome IPAs produced on the East Coast that are more in the vane of the West Coast style. Additionally, at least in the Southeast, a lot of breweries have a standard IPA produced year-round then a rotating cast of different IPA styles that are released locally/regionally.

With out a doubt there is a difference. West coast are cleaner, with more flowery hop while the easy coast are more like european IPAs. Darker, maltier and more English hops.

Grinder12000 said:

With out a doubt there is a difference. West coast are cleaner, with more flowery hop while the easy coast are more like european IPAs. Darker, maltier and more English hops.

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This. Although with the rising popularity of west coast IPA's, I think the lines between west coast and east coast IPA's are blurring.

That latitude 48 is just not a good ipa. Not an eastcoast thing.

Victory Brewing's (Pennsylvania) Hop Devil IPA is pretty good.

KayaBrew said:

Gross.

This is why I'm loyal to breweries such as Sierra Nevada and Lagunitas to name two. Never been a fan of DFH. It fails to deliver on the hype.

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Lagunitas makes some disgustingly sweet beers with their 160-degree mashes.

Heady Topper is basically Pliny the Elder in a can. Very similar IMO, although Heady Topper is way more prominent with Simcoe. But generally it has the same malt/hops balance and finishes quite dry.

That being said, I agree with a previous poster's comment that the West coast IPAs, generally speaking, tend to finish drier and favor hops aroma like crazy, while the East coast IPAs tend to favor a more balanced finish and aroma. There are exceptions to this trend on both coasts, of course.