![]() ![]() What Makes an IPA an Imperial IPA? Photo by Missy Fant on Unsplash With its dry and piney flavors, it’s regarded as a prime example of the Double IPA category and still ranks number two on Beer Advocates’ top 100 list (The top spot is actually held by Pliny the Elder’s younger sibling, the stronger Triple IPA known as Pliny the Younger!).Īlthough many of the West Coast pioneers like Sierra Nevada or Lagunitas are better known for their hoppy beers, including the Imperial IPAs, today any craft beer producer worth its salt will include at least one Double IPA in their portfolio. Nervous about brewing his first large batch of ale, Cilurzo figured if there were any off flavors in the Inaugural Ale the extra hops could help mask them.īlind Pig Inaugural Ale may have been the first commercially brewed Imperial or Double IPA, but it is with Russian Rivers’ Pliny the Elder, first produced in 2000, that Cilurzo is most well-known, and it was, without doubt, the Imperial IPA which made people sit up and take notice of this bolder style of IPA.Īn intensely bitter double IPA, Pliny the Elder remains Russian River’s best-selling beer more than 20 years after its first release. While working on his first brew for the Blind Pig Brewery in 1994, the Inaugural Ale, he decided to take his existing IPA recipe and double the number of hops. ![]() However, the Double IPA moniker has become the preferred name for these stronger, more hop-forward IPAs in the US.Īlthough there exists the previously mentioned myth of Imperial IPAs being born by accident, the first commercial example of a Double/Imperial IPA and the invention of this style is credited to Vinnie Cilurzo, co-owner of the Russian River Brewing Company in Santa Rosa, California. The term Imperial comes from the Russian Imperial Stout, which is another brew known for its higher ABVs. Let’s take a look at some of the best Imperial IPAs you can sample this fall! The Origins of the Imperial IPA Photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplashīasically, an amped-up version of an IPA, the Imperial IPA dials everything “up to eleven” (as Spinal Tap would say!). The American Craft Beer world wouldn’t be the same without the Imperial IPA and its extra bold hop character that is seen as defining much of the American beer style. However the Imperial IPA came to be, many of us beer geeks are certainly grateful for the introduction of this style of hoppy iconic beer. The result was a stronger, more hop-forward beer that is still around today. While many craft beer lovers will often favor more traditional winter styles like a Porter, Stout, or darker beers, for hopheads like myself nothing can beat an ultra-hoppy IPA which has raised the hop levels and the ABV for that extra alcoholic warmth that winter ales call for.Ī common myth is that the Imperial IPA style was discovered by accident.Ī Southern California brewer was said to have added too much malt to his mash by accident and rather than throw away the whole batch of beer decided to add a surplus amount of hops in an effort to counterbalance the excessive malt. Also sometimes known as a Double IPA (or even Triple IPA), an Imperial IPA is one of my favorite go-to beers for the fall and those fast-approaching darker, colder winter months. ![]()
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