Beer Style Guide: Get to Know Double IPA and Triple IPA with Em Sauter
The double IPA and triple IPA are the biggest and some of the most feared/beloved beers in the world. They don’t take no for an answer, are very bitter, quite punchy and are higher in ABV. They are some of the most popular beers out there currently, especially in their single serve 19.2 oz. can form. For this column, we will be talking about the traditional double IPA that does not include hazy IPAs. See the hazy column for info about those beers.
History of Double & Triple IPA
Strong IPAs have always been around since the 19th century, but double IPAs started to be brewed in the 1990’s. Randy Mosher pinpoints 1995 as the year of their invention in his book Tasting Beer. The Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP) guidelines names Russian River’s Pliny the Elder as the beer that popularized the style in the early 2000s (and also popularized the triple IPA with their hype beer Pliny the Younger). It’s crazy to think a beer style so popular and entrenched in our beer loving society is only around 28 years old. Triple IPAs (10.5% ABV and above) started to become popular when I was living in Oregon in 2011. For triple IPAs: think a double IPA taken to the extreme. They are brewed the same way and with the same ingredients as double IPAs; their only change is the alcohol level.
What makes a beer “imperial” or “double” is all about taking a base style and adding MORE! The ABV is going to be above 7.5%, and for imperial IPAs the hopping rate will be higher than your single IPA variety. You are looking for high bitterness from the loads of hops added into the boil kettle, whirlpool and fermenter. According to the BJCP, the international bitterness unit or IBU aka how bitter the beer is, is highest in double IPAs, with some beers being over 120 IBUs! That’s a very bitter beer.
How Double & Triple IPAs Are Made
Most double IPAs are made with all pale malt. Some crystal malt can be added or darker base malts but those are increasingly rare. Sugar is an important addition to many DIPAs as sugar is 100% fermentable and creates a drier product while also creating the alcohol needed for the style. American ale yeast strain is most typical for this beer.
Tasting Notes
When it comes to flavor/aroma- you know it’s all about the hops. Any hop can be used, most traditional, classic American DIPAs and TIPAs use American “C” hops. Hops like Chinook, Cascade and Centennial were instrumental in original DIPAs with their heavy grapefruit peel and pine aroma/flavor. Now, hops from all over the world can be used for these styles as long as they lean heavy on fruit, tropical, dank, or resinous flavors. Southern Hemisphere hops like Galaxy and Nelson Sauvin changed the game in the mid 2010’s and many of these hops became prized in stronger IPAs. Some alcohol heat is allowed but should not be too overtly hot or solventy.
Pairing
Carrot cake
Since double IPAs and triple IPAs are BIG beers, you need big foods to harmonize with these hoppy flavors. I’ve mentioned carrot cake when talking about American IPA but since carrot cake is so sweet, creamy and spicy, it’s a big dessert that can stand up to this big beer. I also like fatty foods like a medium rare flank steak with a blue cheese crust as its salty nature will meld with the bitter fruitiness of the beer. Whatever you decide, think big, bold flavors- just watch the spice factor as bitterness can accentuate heat. I’m not a big fan of this but many people are so if you are into ratcheting up the heat level and like sweating when you eat, look for foods like curries or chili to pair with your double IPAs.
Pliny the Younger
Beers to Try
Russian River Pliny the Younger
A very popular and beloved beer style brewed in Santa Rosa and Windsor, California once a year, Pliny the Younger is THE triple IPA if you are going to drink only one. The hops change every year and it’s worth the trip to try it at the source as that is the only place you can get bottles. Kegs do make it across the West coast and even some kegs show up in the Northeast come Feb/March each year.
Sierra Nevada Atomic Torpedo IPA
Leave it to Sierra Nevada for inventing a technological advantage when it comes to making beer. As you know, I’m a big fan of ANYTHING Sierra Nevada does (seriously) so I love that they invented a “torpedo,” which is a special accessory to allow beer to pump out of the fermenter, through the torpedo where it gets dosed with hops and then back into the fermenter. Atomic Torpedo is their 9.2% high ABV double IPA but also try the classic Torpedo Extra IPA at 7.2% ABV.
Lawson's Sip of Sunshine
Vermont based Lawson’s Liquids has been brewing classic IPAs for a long while now, with one of the best reputations in the beer business. Their readily available Sip of Sunshine (8% ABV) is easy to find across New England and has lovely grapefruit peel notes.