What is “American IPA”? Craft beer experts explain the substyle

Two regionally named IPA subcategories have long dominated American beer cans: “West Coast” indicated a clear, bracingly bitter flavor with a resinous, citrusy, piney hop profile, and “New England” meant juicy, hazy, and more. sweet with tropical hops. Suddenly, though, a label that has kept a lower profile since the early days of craft beer appears on more tap lists, muddying that understanding: “American IPA.” What is this style? The name suggests a general combination of the two coastal substyles, a vague and unhelpful umbrella term, or, potentially, something new.

The answer, it seems, is all of the above.

From the late 1970s to the 1990s, brewers began brewing IPAs based on their knowledge of English IPAs, but with an American twist. So “American IPA” made sense.

“English IPAs were the original, something everyone was used to, and suddenly we were setting our own standards with our own flavors,” says Certified Cicerone and beer educator Ana Becerra. Even with notable hop bitterness, English IPAs have a balance between malt and the herbaceous, floral, and earthy hop character. American brewers turned up the hop volume to 11, defining their own IPAs with a more bitter balance. They used American hops, with those citrus, pine and resin notes.

But two things happened that eroded that simple definition. On the one hand, American craft beer took off and American-brewed IPAs surpassed English-style IPAs. On the other hand, West Coast and New England substyles appeared, further delineating the category. “American IPA” practically disappeared as a label.

“Now we’ve started to see the term ‘American IPA’ come back, but when you see it on the menu, you’re not sure what you’re getting anymore,” says Jared Williamson, head brewer at Sleepy in St. Louis.

For some brewers, “American IPA” now indicates a specific set of characteristics that justify differentiation from West Coast, New England, and even English IPAs. For Williamson, who brews this style at Schlafly, an American IPA strikes a balance between West Coast and English IPAs. It’s closer to the West Coast with American hops, assertive bitterness and clarity, but has a bit more character from malts like caramel and crystal, which can also produce a copperier tone than the golden West Coasts.

“American IPAs [finish] with more residual sweetness, while West Coast IPAs are expected to have a lighter malt flavor and a dry, crisp finish,” explains Ben Kehs, brewing innovation manager at Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon. (Deschutes’ own American IPA, Fresh Squeezed, is a very popular example.) While it is accepted that an American IPA should not be hazy or as sweet as a New England IPA, an American IPA can still capture certain NEIPA notes with tropical fruits. characteristics. “It can embody the visual clarity of the West Coast while incorporating the hop profile typical of the East Coast,” says Daniel Sickmen, head brewer at Virginia’s. Lost Barrel Brewingwhere an American IPA is a menu staple.

But not everyone sees the American IPA as such a distinct substyle. “My general opinion is that ‘American IPA’ is marketing talk,” says Cicerone and beer educator Chris Cohen. Using “American IPA” might be a safer, more general label that won’t alienate people who think they hate nebulae or western shores; conveys an IPA that will not be at either of those extremes. Plus, the “American IPA” encourages conversation, Becerra says. People can ask questions and bartenders or bartenders can provide exact details to help point them in the right direction and help them find an IPA they like.

“Imagine if someone said, ‘I don’t like American red wine,’” Becerra says. “There’s so much variety within that that you wouldn’t dare dismiss that entire category.” The “American IPA” label leaves the door open for people to explore a range in terms of bitterness, sweetness, malt character, and hop character, and learn what they like.

For that reason, American IPA might be more of a vibe than a style at this point. It is an IPA that lives in the middle of the tropical-sweet and bitter-pine extremes, open to the interpretation of the brewer and the discovery of the consumer. “It’s big, bold, intense,” explains Becerra. “You know it when you try it.”