Difference Between Imperial IPA (Double IPA) and American IPA

LJvermonster · Aug 29, 2014

Hi all,
Someone asked me the other day what the difference was and I told them, an American IPA is a traditional IPA brewed with the American powerhouse hops (Simcoe, cascade, citra, etc) and a Double IPA is basically a more powerful IPA typically brewed with the same hops just more of them, more dry hopping, and a higher OG yielding a strong ABV.

Can someone either confirm this is correct or shed a little more detail on the differences between the two?

Thanks! And happy Labor Day Weekend!!

JustLooking · Aug 29, 2014

No difference. It's all marketing.

W0GWT · Aug 29, 2014

LJvermonster said:
Hi all,
Someone asked me the other day what the difference was and I told them, an American IPA is a traditional IPA brewed with the American powerhouse hops (Simcoe, cascade, citra, etc) and a Double IPA is basically a more powerful IPA typically brewed with the same hops just more of them, more dry hopping, and a higher OG yielding a strong ABV.

Can someone either confirm this is correct or shed a little more detail on the differences between the two?

Thanks! And happy Labor Day Weekend!!

You got it.
Imperial IPA and Double IPA are the same. An American IPA may or may not be an imperial IPA, based on ABV.

If it's not true, it should be.

LJvermonster · Aug 29, 2014

JustLooking said:
No difference. It's all marketing.

I'm fairly certain this would not be agreed upon.

Teromous · Aug 29, 2014

It depends on how you're looking at it. By BJCP standards:

AIPA: IBU 40-70 ABV 5.5-7.5%
IIPA: IBU 60-120 ABV 7.5-10%

Essentially the IIPA is picking up where the AIPA left off.

In the commercial beer sector it's all over the place. There are IIPA's out there that are less than 5% ABV and AIPA's out there that are that are over 9% ABV.

Weezy · Aug 29, 2014

Imperial IPA is the same as Double IPA, which is a higher alcohol and hopier American IPA.

Ian123 · Aug 29, 2014

I was just asking myself this.
i was wondering if maybe they each fit into a range based on I.B.Us. But the aroma/ late addition hops add a lot of flavour but little IBUs. It would be neat to try to set up some peramiters. Its troublesome though, some IIPAs are labelled as ipa. But some ipa say Keiths for example has no hop flavour just a bit bitter i guess. It tasts like a reg. Old coors or canadian to me. Basically great question and i cant wait to hear what some brewing veterans have to say.

cjgenever · Aug 29, 2014

Ipa's have grown big. The lines have been blurred as peoples expectations change. The real deciding factor is the abv. iipa is simply a bigger aipa (higher abv and ibu), usually with fewer unfermentables and added simple sugar.This is to keep the fg down so its drinkable.

I'd say the op was on the right track

JustLooking · Aug 29, 2014

LJvermonster said:
I'm fairly certain this would not be agreed upon.

You would be correct. Somehow I read it as the difference between an Imperial IPA and a Double IPA.

drainbamage · Aug 29, 2014

Although there isn't always a clear commercial line ABV-wise between an IPA and a DIPA, the DIPA usually has a bigger malt presence and more residual sweetness. That way, the bitterness of the hops isn't usually as strongly perceived and the flavor/aroma can shine through more.

Difference Between Imperial IPA (Double IPA) and American IPA

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

LJvermonster

Well-Known Member

JustLooking

Well-Known Member

W0GWT

Well-Known Member

LJvermonster

Well-Known Member

Teromous

Beer Gnome

Weezy

Well-Known Member

Ian123

Well-Known Member

cjgenever

Well-Known Member

JustLooking

Well-Known Member

drainbamage

The Poop Bag Guy

Similar threads

Latest posts