When it comes to the American beer world, there’s no style more beloved by craft beer fans than the iconic West Coast IPA. While not the first (and certainly not the last) IPA style, there is no dispute that the West Coast IPA is arguably the most popular.
In my years of writing about alcohol, I’ve imbibed more West Coast IPAs than most beer drinkers. I understand that the style may not be for everyone. There might not be a more divisive beer style. Drinkers either love it for its mix of malts, fruit flavors, and bitter pine, or they hate it.
What is a West Coast IPA?
At its essence, the West Coast IPA is crisp, refreshing, and loaded with flavors like caramel malts, citrus, tropical fruits, herbal, earthy, dank, and pine needles. It’s well-known for its bitter (sometimes aggressively so), dry finish, which is an acquired taste for some drinkers.
This hop-forward beer is best when it has a malt backbone to balance out some of the resinous hop bitterness. West Coast IPAs often gain extra hop aroma, flavor, and bitterness from the liberal use of dry hopping. They’re typically in the 6-8% ABV range, making them slightly more potent and boozy than a lager or pilsner.
The history of the West Coast IPA
Before we dive right into the West Coast IPA, it’s essential to learn a little about the history of the
Fast forward to the 1970s in California. This is right when craft beer was in its infancy. While there is no official “first” West Coast IPA, many believe that the unofficial beginning of what we now know as the West Coast
Released to pay tribute to the 200th anniversary of Paul Revere’s ride, it was brewed with pale malt, specialty yeast, and Cascade hops. Sierra Nevada Celebration quickly followed it in the early 1980s.
In the years and decades since, countless other West Coast IPAs have sprung up from Stone IPA, Lagunitas
Hops used in West Coast IPAs
West Coast IPAs stand out above the rest of the beer world due to their overwhelming hop aroma and flavor. While a well-made West Coast IPA should have a good malt presence and some tropical fruit and citrus flavors, the hops are the star of the beer-soaked show. Many West Coast IPAs lean so heavily into hops that they finish with over-the-top, dry, aggressively bitter, piney, resinous notes. West Coast
There are a variety of “usual suspects” in terms of hops that brewers use when crafting West Coast IPAs. These include:
- Cascade: known for its light bitterness and aromas and flavors of grapefruit and spice
- Centennial: known for its citrus flavor featuring lemon and grapefruit flavors
- Chinook: known for grapefruit and dank pine flavors
- Citra: known for its mix of tropical fruits and citrus
- Simcoe: known for earthy, floral, pine, and resinous pine flavors
- Mosaic: known for fruity, resinous, and dank pine flavors
- Strata: known for strawberry, melon, citrus, and cannabis-like flavors
What is dry-hopping?
You’ve probably seen the term “dry-hopped” or “DDH” (double dry-hopped) written on the side of the can (or on the beer’s description on the brewery’s website). It’s okay if you don’t know what it means. This is a widely used technique in West Coast IPA brewing.
Dry-hopping is the process of adding hops at a later stage in the brewing process. Bittering hops are often added at the beginning of the boil, while flavoring hops are added at the end. Dry-hopping occurs in the fermentation tanks or after fermentation to add more aromas and flavors without increasing the overall bitterness. Either whole cone hops or pellets are added. It occurs on the “cold side” of the brewing process after the wort has cooled.
Give West Coast IPAs a try
While I mentioned that there are some West Coast IPAs that end with aggressive hop bitterness, not all of them do. There are countless well-balanced, flavorful West Coast IPAs just waiting to be discovered. Some of the best available are Societe The Pupil, Sierra Nevada Torpedo, Russian River Blind Pig, and Firestone Walker Union Jack.
