We hope to be able to teach you something new about your favorite pours and encourage you to try new ones with this series exploring different beer styles. Cheers!
Style Spotlight
Double IPA
Overall Taste: An intensely hoppy, fairly strong, bitter pale ale. Strongly hopped, but clean, dry, and lacking harshness. Despite showing its strength, drinkability is an important consideration.
ABV: 7.5%-10.0%
Details: This style came to be during the 90s, and brewers across the country continued to push the limits to match the growing desire for a hoppy beer. Grew in popularity in the 2000s as more and more breweries released their versions.
In comparison to an American IPA, a Double IPA is deeper in color, stronger in lingering hop bitterness, and higher in ABV. Double IPAs typically have a stronger malt backbone to help support such high quantities of hops.
Matchmaking
A good suggestion for a guest who likes an American IPA and is looking for a more complex and intense version, or for an American Strong Ale drinker who would like to explore hop flavors and aromas.
Beyond the Beer
Featured Beer: New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA
Details: A rare blend of choice hops creates an explosion of fresh-cut pine and citrus flavors for a complex, rich and delicious flavor. Voodoo Ranger Imperial IPA uses six varieties of hops: Delta, Bravo, Centennial, Cascade, Calypso, and Mosaic.
After a bike trip through Belgium in 1988, co-founders Kim Jordan and Jeff Lebesch were inspired to bring Belgian brewing traditions to their hometown of Fort Collins, CO.
Food Pairing: The Smoked BBQ Ribs at City Works and Old Town Pour House pair perfectly.
Hardwood-smoked full rack baby back ribs, bbq sauce, spicy maple bacon baked beans, mascarpone creamed corn.
Quoting the Experts
“Beer really is the world’s best beverage. It may be quenching or nourishing, cooling or warming, simple or worthy of deep meditation. It is a drink of a thousand aromas, a rainbow of color, and a range of characters as diverse as the people who brew and enjoy it. It has ten thousand years of history, with gods, goddesses, heroes, and songs to celebrate its glory. It brings us together. Beer makes us happy.”
– Randy Mosher, Tasting Beer
Fizz Quiz
Make it a Double…
Q: Where does the extra ABV that elevates an IPA to a Double IPA come from?
A: A larger grain bill. When hot water and milled malt are combined during the mashing process, starches and proteins in the grain are converted into fermentable sugars and amino acids. Yeast consumes the sugar and amino acids during fermentation and produces alcohol and carbonation.
If you’re craving more, check out our blog on the enzymes in brewing.