Browsing: IPA

IPA

This category is huge! Too big, one may argue. Of all the NA beer reviews I’ve done, India Pale Ales (IPAs) make up more than 40% of them. In addition, in the NA beer market, IPAs make up more than half of the offerings. So, what about variety? Well, that’s where we get enough sub-categories to please everyone, from hopheads to fruit lovers.

Juicy, Hazy, & New England IPA

Made an official beer style in 2018, this beer-by-many-names has oversaturated a sector of the market that may already be oversaturated (remember, IPAs make up more than half of NA beers!).  Juicy IPAs, Hazy IPAs, and New England IPAs are all the same thing. These beers are for the beer drinker who prefers not to have the hard hoppiness of an IPA but still get the aroma. They say that smell is a huge part of taste, so maybe that plays a role, but these fruit-forward ales put tropical flavors and citrus sweetness in the sales window and keep the hops hidden in the back room. Chances are if a standard alcoholic brewery makes one NA beer, it will be this one (i.e., Sam Adams, Two Roads, Southern Grist, Omission, etc.)

West Coast IPA

Unlike the juicy/NE/hazy style, a West Coast IPA knows its place in the IPA world and leans in hard! If they follow the rules, you will get a mouthful of hops in all these beers, and they will only use the dankest of hops, creating a fresh field of bitterness in your mouth hole. The caveat to this is that not every brewery plays by the rules, and the beer may conjure up flashbacks of yet another Juicy IPA with mangos, pineapple, and more flavors. These are technically tropical IPAs, but you’ll learn with some breweries that names mean nothing (i.e., Untitled Art West Coast IPA)

Double IPA

For the real hopheads, these beers come out swinging. When I quit drinking, I never thought I’d get the full flavor of a double-hopped beer again, but alas, they figured it out, and it’s fricking delicious! The name says it all: Take the bitter hoppy flavor of an IPA and double it!

Fruity, Milky, Spicy, and More

Being the largest category, IPAs are also most susceptible to variations and experimentations. This reflects the beer industry as a whole and provides a fun exploratory mission to the curious NA drinker. Breweries like Bravus have added things like Habanero or Blood Orange, while Surreal has given us the only NA Milkshake IPA (outside of Athletic Brewing’s limited offerings), offering up a vanilla and lactose mix to the standard IPA flavor.

In addition to all the specialty IPAs listed, there are many standard IPAs available, too! Do you have a recommendation for an IPA that’s not listed here? Tell me about it! Email me at Beersand90s@gmail.com or slide into my DMs on Instagram @beersand90s