Farewell, double IPA

Here lies the double IPA, gone but not forgotten. Born in the mid-90s in California, the colossal beer enjoyed years of popularity, adored by hop-heads, before finally falling into the shadow of other trends. The double IPA is survived by its leaner offspring, the traditional IPA, the hazy IPA, and the West Coast IPA.

Beers like Pliny the Elder and Stone’s Ruination made the style famous. At the time, it seemed like the next logical step for the IPA—bigger, bolder, more colossal. The IPA had won people over with its combination of bitterness and might, so why not take it to the next level?

During its heyday, the double IPA drew ravenous crowds. Beer bars fought over Pliny, and lines formed around the block when the keg was tapped. People could not get enough. And, impressively, this was before most breweries took to social media to tout their special releases. Some brewers called them double IPAs, some called them imperial IPAs, but the reaction was pretty much the same: pure glee among craft enthusiasts.

The downfall of a giant

The double IPA may have been too intense for its own good. Not that there aren’t tasty options (the two above, for example, and the extraordinary Sticky Hands by Block 15 Brewing), but something tends to happen when an IPA goes double. The raised malt bill, made to balance out the added hoppy notes, can overwhelm. There can be a candy-sweet characteristic to the beer despite through-the-roof IBU numbers. Richness can overshadow all those wonderful piney, woodsy, vegetal hop notes. It’s done in the name of balance, but the scales tend to tip the wrong way.

And this is to say nothing of the recent movements, which care not for the double IPA. Young imbibers prefer lower-alcohol beers like lagers and session IPAs. Countless options have flooded the market, from hard seltzers and hard teas to RTD cocktails. Lighter drinks like the spritz have ascended to god-like status (and not just because of shows like White Lotus). Oh, and then there’s the wellness trend, and more and more people are exploring the NA sector, which has improved dramatically over the last couple of years. In fact, there’s never been a better time to crack a good non-alcoholic beer.

This kind of backdrop doesn’t leave much room for beefy IPAs (remember triple IPAs?). Those hops are going elsewhere, from hop waters to cider infusions. Palates seem to be more refined these days, but that’s not a bad thing. We’re after delicacy and subtlety, whether in the form of a nuanced high-elevation wine or terroir-driven gin. Plus, with climate change and a hotter planet, reaching for a double IPA can be challenging, at least in the midst of a record-breaking summer heat wave.

Alas, there’s hope.

A comeback story?

While it seems like the double IPA’s best days are behind it, this writer believes there’s a chance at a second coming. Just as there are trends working against the beer style, there are trends that bode well for the hefty beer, from a focus on local grains and malts to new hop hybrids that stand up to the raised alcohol content. Brewers are nailing beers made with new hop incarnations, and some could work really well with more intense IPAs.

We certainly still love big. That’s about as American as anything gets. Just look at the stovepipe can and our collective obsession with giant hats, giant cars, giant tumblers—giant everything. And we love a good pairing, from wine and seafood to Scotch and cheese. The extra weight a double IPA carries could do wonder if teamed up with the right food. Wine-tasting rooms have gone the culinary route, treating their wines to complementary nibbles. Beer could do the same, offering flights of their offerings in-house, paired up with corresponding foods. The right bite—a salty cured meat, an extra-cheesy pasta or pizza, a spicy curry—could take the sting out of the alcohol and play off the richness of the malt backbone.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA as much as the next craft enthusiast. But beer has to look in the mirror at the moment, like a lot of industries, and some evolution will be in order if the double IPA is to remain intact. The beer will always be a bit of an outlier, but it will still have to grow to retain relevancy. If the double IPA is to walk into the sunset, it had a great run. If it’s to make something of a comeback, I’ll welcome such a thing, although it’s probably going to have to be a different animal.

So farewell for now.