The strong sibling of Hazy IPA — a higher-ABV, more intense expression of the New England style, typically 7.6–10.5% ABV. Opaque and soft with aggressive tropical and stone-fruit hop aroma, minimal bitterness for the gravity, and a pillow-like mouthfeel that masks substantial alcohol. One of the defining flagship styles of modern American craft brewing.
In the glass
Origin
The hazy imperial or double IPA grew directly out of the New England hazy-IPA movement. John Kimmich’s The Alchemist, the style’s widely credited wellspring, brewed Heady Topper — itself a double IPA at 8% ABV — at its Waterbury, Vermont, brewpub for years before first canning it in 2011, in the days after the flooding of Tropical Storm Irene. As breweries like Tree House, Trillium, and Other Half pushed their cloudy, fruit-forward IPAs to higher gravities through the 2010s, the strong tier became a flagship format for the most sought-after craft breweries and helped reshape what drinkers expected from an IPA. The format was formally recognized as its own category in the 2018 craft-brewing style guidelines.
Notes
“Double IPA” and “Imperial IPA” mean the same thing here, and the canonical name combines them to avoid ambiguity. Triple IPAs, roughly 10% ABV and up, are generally folded into this same strong-hazy category. The defining trick of the style is drinkability that belies the strength: heavy oat and wheat additions, a soft body, and restrained perceived bitterness keep a beer of 8% or more dangerously easy to drink.
Defining examples
Tree House Julius (standard) / Very Hazy / Double IPA range·Trillium Dialed In·Other Half Double Dry Hopped Double IPA (various)·Monkish Foggier Memories·Hill Farmstead Abner (adjacent)