What is an Imperial India Pale Ale?

An Imperial IPA is a craft beer that is a sub-style of the India Pale Ale, and possesses a high ABV, a high IBU rating, and a low SRM rating. It is heavily hopped and complex in flavor.

Written by CraftJack | Updated 06/01/23 | 3 min read

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In search of the utmost of hoppy flavors, American craft beer lovers have flocked toward Imperial India IPAs in recent years.

Taste

Double and Triple IPAs vary greatly in the complexity of their flavor profiles due to a number of factors, including:

Which style of IPA they are? (ex. West Coast or East Coast)
Which hops were used in the brewing process?
Are there any adjuncts?
What was the dry hopping process?

Attributes

ABV Range	IBU Range	SRM Range
7-11%	60-100	1-10

Commercial Examples

At this stage of the craft beer game, you're as likely to find a Racer 5 IPA as you are a Double-Dry Hopped Banana Nutmeg Triple IPA.

ABV	Beer	Brewery
8%	400	Mayflower Brewing Company
11%	Another Dry January	Harpoon Brewery
9%	Atlantis Will Prevail Turn Back the Seas	Fermentations Arts Brasserie
10.7%	Be Hoppiest	Wormtown Brewery
9.5%	Big Cranky	Stony Creek Brewery
9.4%	Big One	Tree House Brewing Company
8%	Big Papi	Commonwealth Brewing Company
8.5%	Bombtrack	Austin Street Brewery
8%	Breathing Conversations	Vitamin Sea Brewing
9.5%	Buddhas Juice	Wormtown Brewery
8.5%	Captains Daughter	Grey Sail Brewing Company
10%	Castle in the Clouds	Burlington Beer Company
8.2%	Cheap Pop	Fidens Brewing Company
8.2%	Citra Ass Down	Against the Grain
8%	Cosmic Distortion	Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company
8.3%	Create The Life You Want	Vanished Valley Brewing Company
8%	Demo Tape West Coast Style DDH Double IPA	Exhibit A Brewing Company
9.5%	Dented	Frost Beer Works
8.8%	DExNW	Untold Brewing
9.2%	Dippah	Lone Wolfe Brewing Company
9.1%	Dogs and Boats	Beerd Brewing Company
9.5%	Double Cannon	Heavy Seas Beer
8%	Double Ponyboy	Frost Beer Works
9.2%	Double Thunder Funk	Bent Water Brewing Company
8.6%	Downtown Rabbits	Second Wind Brewing Company
8%	Dream Team	Lone Pine Brewing Company
8%	Ephemeral	Saco River Brewing
8%	Epiphany	Foundation Brewing Company
10%	Evangelion XVII Tabris Ghost 946	Adroit Theory Brewing Company
7.7%	Feltons Fancy	Ground Effect Brewing Company
8%	Fluff The Magic Dragon	Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company
7%	Focal Banger	The Alchemist
9%	Fresh Lobster	Aurora Brewing Company
8.5%	Funcrusher	Honest Weight Artisan Beer
8.2%	God is an American	Adroit Theory Brewing Company
12%	Greylock	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
8%	Hair Raiser	Exhibit A Brewing Company
10.1%	Hat Trick	Twin Barns Brewing Company
7.1%	Hazy-O	Dogfish Head Brewery
8%	Heady Topper	The Alchemist
8.4%	Hi-Def	Castle Island Brewing Company
8.7%	Hopzilla	Lawsons Finest Liquids
7.3%	Imperial Galaxyc Cirrocumulus	Aeronaut Brewing Company
8%	Imperial Maine Event	Magnify Brewing Company
8.8%	Incredible Machine	Tree House Brewing Company
8.5%	Insight	Timberyard Brewing Company
8.3%	Interstellar	Lamplighter Brewing Company
8.5%	It Was All A Dreamsicle	DuClaw Brewing Company
8%	Its Complicated Being a Wizard	Burlington Beer Company
9.3%	Jigsaw Jazz	Fort Hill Brewery
8.5%	Johnny Hammersticks	Aslin Beer Company
9.2%	Kelley2	Bay State Brewing Company
10.5%	Key Bump	Hoof Hearted Brewing
10%	King Bahubali	Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company
7.8%	Lake Cruiser	Twin Barns Brewing Company
8.3%	Larping 4 Love	Aslin Beer Company
8.5%	Larry	Wachusett Brewing Company
8.1%	Lily	Fidens Brewing Company
7.5%	Limited Access	Rock Art Brewery
8.4%	Lovebird	Second Wind Brewing Company
8.4%	Mirror Image	Breakaway Beerworks
10%	Mosaic Function	Equilibrium Brewery
8.4%	Necessary Means for a Necessary Means	Fidens Brewing Company
8%	Northern Heights	Ten Bends Beer
10.1%	Now Youse Cant Leave	Bronx Brewery
9.2%	On The Wings Of Armageddon	DC Brau
8.2%	Orbit	Definitive Brewing Company
8.3%	Orbital Elevator	Burlington Beer Company
7.7%	Our Impossible Ask	Lucy and Howe Brewing Company
8%	Plush	Frost Beer Works
8%	Quarantined N You	Springdale Beer Company
8.5%	Rabbit Rabbit	Lamplighter Brewing Company
10%	Radioface	Long Blue Cat Brewing Company
10%	Regime Ghost 916	Adroit Theory Brewing Company
8.2%	Second Fiddle	Fiddlehead Brewing Company
8%	Skywind Huckabee	Devils Purse Brewing Company
8%	Smooooth	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
8.5%	Squeezy Wrench	Independent Fermentations Brewing
8.1%	Sun Showers	Barreled Souls Brewing Company
9.4%	Terra Citra	The Drowned Lands Brewery
10.1%	the Entity	Definitive Brewing Company
8.5%	The Farmer	Fidens Brewing Company
8.6%	The Govnah	Concord Craft Brewing Company
8.4%	The Other End	Abandoned Building Brewery
8%	The Saga Continues	Riverwalk Brewing Company
8%	Things We Dont Say	Wandering Soul Beer Company
8%	Throw Me The Idol	Brick and Feather Brewery
8.1%	Tribute	14th Star Brewing Company
10.2%	Triple Ecstasy	Widowmaker Brewing Company
10%	Triple Lindy	Mayflower Brewing Company
8%	V	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
9%	Vanilla Superdome	Definitive Brewing Company
10%	Venom of Cerberus	River Styx Brewing
8%	Victory Nor Defeat	Able Ebenezer Brewing Company
7.8%	Whole Lotta Amarillo	Smuttynose Brewing Company
7.8%	Whole Lotta Galaxy	Smuttynose Brewing Company
7.5%	Work Zone	Night Shift Brewing