Bitter beer face

often get asked about different beer styles. Recently I was asked about what a Double IPA is. Basically Double IPA's, sometimes also called Imperial IPA's are really big, really bitter, really hoppy IPA's. By big, I mean high gravity, high alcohol beers. Double is used here kind of in the tradition of say, a doppelbock in Germany. It loosely means a lot more body and alcohol. It doesn't mean that it has double the alcohol or hops of a regular IPA although it sometimes can, it just means more. An extremely rich hop aroma is mandatory in a Double IPA. Typical Double IPA's use American hops and have aromas such as pine, citrus, and floral. Due to the large quantities of hops used in a Double IPA, you may find some of these beers to be cloudy due to the large portion of hop protein left in the beer. The hop flavor should be strong, but still clean. Intensely fruity hop flavors should be layered throughout the beer. The entire beer should be all about hops from the beginning to the end. The beer should be medium to full body. You may get a slight warming from the higher level of alcohol, but it should not remind you of a barley wine. The aftertaste should be dry and lingering as the beer passes down your throat. After a good Double IPA you should need a glass of water to rehydrate your mouth.
Many microbreweries have come out with very big IPA's to push the envelope. Now some places are even going farther and producing triple or quadruple IPA's. Our Double IPA is called Hopfather. BJ's in Chandler makes a quadruple IPA called Imperor which pushes the top of the hop envelope to an insane level at about 145 IBU's. Hop bitterness is measured on a scale called International Bittering Units or IBU's. The calculations are based on the percent of alpha acids in the hops, the amount of hops and the amount of time that they are boiled in the beer being brewed. Some people say that you really can't taste more bitterness than say 70 or 80 IBU's but I think they are wrong. Our Hopfather weighs in at 100 IBU's. I don't think we'll hit a limit on bitterness for some time. Back in Boston at the extreme beerfest I had a quadruple IPA that was supposed to be about 180 IBU's. I, for one, would very much like to push the hop level envelope and try to see just where the limit is. Sadly, I'll have to wait until I get back from Europe next month before I can do some experiments but maybe I'll have something cooked up in time for the Hopfest at the end of April.
I think IPA's became popular because they were the fullest flavored beers available. People simply got tired of the same ordinary beers all the time. Whatever you call it, Double, Triple or Quadruple IPA's are new craze in brewing, and there is something very special and unique about it. This is not a beer for the average beer drinker. It is definitely an acquired taste. If you have acquired that taste some of the Double IPA's we carry that you may want to try are Stone's Ruination (which will be available on draft this Sunday), Alesmith's Yulesmith, Bear Republic Racer X, Great Divide Hercules, Lagunitas Maximus, Moylan's Double IPA, Oskar Blues Gordon, and Reaper Sleighor,
Prost, Ron