By Scott Heckel | CEO + Head Brewer | Severance Brewing Co.
Each year, the first Thursday in August is celebrated as National IPA Day. This sparked a conversation about the wide breadth of what an IPA can be—from dank and bitter to juicy and citrusy.
It’s really quite fascinating (or disheartening to some) how rapidly the IPA has evolved over the last couple decades. But before we get to the current state of IPAs, I thought I’d give you an abbreviated history about how IPAs came to be in the first place!
the backstory
India Pale Ales (IPAs) have been around for centuries, originally brewed by the British in the 1800s with higher alcohol content and hopping rates in efforts to preserve the ales during their six-month voyage from Britain to troops stationed in India. These early IPAs were malty with a fair amount of bitterness due to the amount of hops used.
While English-style IPAs are often more floral, grassy or herbal in nature, the American or West Coast IPAs that fed the IPA craze of the 2000s and 2010s tended to feature citrus, pine and dank characteristics by leveraging hops from the Pacific NW such as Cascade, CTZ (Columbus, Tamohawk, and Zeus), and Chinook - among many others.
In true American fashion, we quickly went in the way of excess with brewers attempting to see just how bitter and potent IPAs could be, creating double, triple and even quadruple IPAs with bitterness levels so high they’d annihilate your palate for the better part of a week.
Severance Brewing Co. has featured several American IPAs along these lines including Rampant Narwhals, Narwhal Hunter, and DB Cooper’s Big Jump.
An explosion of flavors
Along with the explosion of Craft Beer in the US, the last half of the 2010s saw a proliferation of “IPA” styles with hardly any resemblance of the traditional India Pale Ale.
In general “IPA” now refers to any beer with high hopping rates (even if they’re not overly bitter) or a higher ratio of bitterness - measured in IBUs (International Bitterness Unit) - when compared to original gravity (the amount of sugar present before fermentation).
Severance Brewing Co. frequently has five or more different IPA styles on tap at any given time.
Here’s a list of some of the most recent IPA styles to come about in no particular order:
Session IPA - These share many of the characteristics of IPAs with an ABV in the 4-4.5% range allowing you to drink them throughout an entire drinking session. They typically use late or dry hopping techniques to limit the amount of bitterness derived from the hops.
White IPA - Typically featuring hops with strong citrus character, these bright IPAs use wheat malt making them lighter in appearance than a West Coast IPA.
Red IPA - A bit of a hybrid between an American IPA and Amber Ale.
Rye IPA - An American IPA made with rye malt which lends a slightly spicy note that pairs especially well with more pine-forward hops.
Severance Brewing Co. beers have included: The Ryes and Wherefores
New Zealand IPA - IPAs featuring New Zealand hops with exotic fruit character.
Hazy IPA (aka Juicy or New England IPA) - Arguably the most popular style of IPA over the last several years. These IPAs are thick/juicy with very low bitterness but monstrous aroma due to the copious amount of hops used in whirlpool/dry hop additions. Hop character ranges from citrus, to stonefruit, to berry and beyond using Australian, New Zealand and American hop varieties like Galaxy, Wakatu, Citra, Mosaic, and Strata.
Like American IPAs, hazies also come in the session, double and triple varieties.
Severance Brewing Co. beers have included: Love Notes® (Hazy IPA), Koala Drop Kick (Double Hazy IPA), Levitating Falls (Hazy Session IPA). Wolf Pack Fanny Pack is a hybrid between White IPA and Hazy IPA.
Milkshake IPA - Milkshake IPAs really push the boundaries for what can be considered an “IPA”. They’re a spinoff of hazies but feature large amounts of fruit, lactose (milk sugar) for added sweetness and, often, vanilla to give the impression of a fruit milkshake.
Severance Brewing Co. beers have included: Midwestern Melkshake w/ Mango
Sour IPAs - Sour IPAs are a slightly newer trend and are just like they sound, an IPA soured through kettle souring or mixed-fermentation. This style can range from soured American IPAs to soured hazies.
Experimental IPA - IPAs using experimental ingredients or techniques that don’t quite fit into any other category.
Severance Brewing Co. beers have included: Graves of Touraine (Sauvignon Blanc Grape IPA), Gin Barrel-Aged DB Cooper’s Big Jump, Sauvignon Blanc Barrel Aged Graves of Touraine, Secret Double Cross and Re-Gifted Birthday Cards which re-used hops from a batch of Love Notes®!
