APAs, IPAs, DIPAs - What’s In An Acronym?

Sometimes we get so caught up in the jargon that it’s easy to forget that behind these letters are some pretty important differences which make all of these beers stars in their own right. They’re all great hop-forward beers which run along a flavour spectrum, but with some crucial differences

The APA, American Pale Ale, is a type of beer we have a lot of in our selection, and is often seen as the little bro of the IPA. However it has its own important and unique history, with early US Craft brewers cranking out their heavily hopped versions of UK Pales - with local C hops like Cascade. Compared to the UK versions you ended up with a strong malt character with a much more fruity aromatic profile and bigger bitterness. Even though IPAs eventually derived from this type of beer, we see the stronger malt character and a bit more balanced bitterness of US as hallmarks of the style - with beers like Envie from Parish being a great example of the modern, hazy style. They’re sessionable in a way that IPAs and DIPAs aren’t, with the lower abv and balanced flavour making them a great option for any occasion. Don’t sleep on Pales!

IPAs… we could devote 20,000 words to this style, but keeping it a bit more concise here. You’ve seen and probably tasted our range, so you know that these days you’re going to be getting two main styles of IPA: New England India Pale Ales (haze) and West Coast India Pale Ales (bitter).

For a lot of the recent arrivals to the craft beer scene, it almost is an expectation that all IPAs are going to be soft, hazy affairs with massive aromatics and lower bitterness. Think mango, passionfruit and stonefruit in abundance! However it’s actually the West Coast IPA, which is making a comeback with a lot of brewers these days, which is the most “traditional” of the US Craft IPAs. With roots grounded in the APA, you can expect a crystal clear affair with an increased sweetness from the malt, but then balanced by strong bitterness from the addition of C hops (Cascade, Chinook, Centennial etc). Big notes of pine and citrus are the hallmarks of these beers, with the bittersweet combo making them particularly crushable yet intense.

And finally - DIPAs: Double India Pale Ales. Sometimes referred to as Imperial IPAs, these guys are the original big-bopper in the world of hop-forward beers. Tipping the scales at 8%+, you’re going to get the same big flavours, but amped up even further than an IPA.

The Double in DIPA doesn’t mean that everything is multiplied by two, but you will get increased hops, increased maltiness and increased ABV. which will ultimately bring bigger flavours, but all in the balance that we love in the style. You’ll see Double West Coast IPAs, and Double New England IPAs in our range - as well as Triple and even Quadruple versions of the styles. Big beers, big flavours and some of the highest ratings of anything you’ll see on Untappd.