Difference Between Imperial IPA (Double IPA) and American IPA

[LJvermonster]

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]

No difference. It's all marketing.

 

[W0GWT]

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]

No difference. It's all marketing.

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

 

[Teromous]

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]

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

 

[Ian123]

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]

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]

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]

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.