What is an American India Pale Ale?

The IPA beer style is all about hop flavor, aroma and bitterness. India Pale Ales, primarily American, have evolved over the years to become the primary choice of the Craft Beer industry.

Written by CraftJack | Updated 06/01/23 | 7 min read

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The IPA’s floral, fruity, citrus-like or piney flavors come from American hops which are characterized by their high levels of alpha acids (hops). These beers are also typically made with pale malts that provide a balance to these hop flavors while still remaining light in color. IPAs can range from 4% ABV to 7%, but they usually have an average around 6% abv.

Attributes

ABV Range	IBU Range	SRM Range
5-7%	48-73	5-13

Commercial Examples

ABV	Beer	Brewery
8%	400	Mayflower Brewing Company
7%	508	Bad Martha Farmers Brewery
6.8%	A Beer Called Quest	Springdale Beer Company
5.5%	A Thousand Little Pillows	Aurora Brewing Company
5.5%	Angelica	Lord Hobo Brewing Company
11%	Another Dry January	Harpoon Brewery
7.3%	Apex 8 Jay Peak	Vermont Beer Makers
9%	Atlantis Will Prevail Turn Back the Seas	Fermentations Arts Brasserie
6.3%	Backcheck IPA	Smuttynose Brewing Company
6.5%	Barbarian Haze	Three Floyds Brewing
10.7%	Be Hoppiest	Wormtown Brewery
7.5%	Beached	Millyard Brewery
5.1%	Beer To Drink Music To	Dogfish Head Brewery
6.5%	Betterment	Entitled Brewing Company
9.5%	Big Cranky	Stony Creek Brewery
9.4%	Big One	Tree House Brewing Company
8%	Big Papi	Commonwealth Brewing Company
8%	Bigg Summer	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
5.5%	Block Island	Lops Brewing
6.6%	Blowing Bubbles	Shire Breu-Hous
7.1%	Blue Comet	Widowmaker Brewing Company
6.5%	Bomb Cyclone	Pontoon Brewing Company
8.5%	Bombtrack	Austin Street Brewery
6.7%	Bonus Stage	Otter Creek Brewing Company
8%	Breathing Conversations	Vitamin Sea Brewing
6.7%	Brevet	3cross Fermentation Cooperative
9.5%	Buddhas Juice	Wormtown Brewery
5.2%	Cape Time	Progression Brewing Company
8.5%	Captains Daughter	Grey Sail Brewing Company
6%	Castaway	Kona Brewing Company
10%	Castle in the Clouds	Burlington Beer Company
13%	CHAOS	Fermentation Arts Brasserie
8.2%	Cheap Pop	Fidens Brewing Company
6.5%	Chinookerd	Lawsons Finest Liquids
8.2%	Citra Ass Down	Against the Grain
6.8%	Cloud City	Lamplighter Brewing Company
7.4%	Coastal Haze	Westfield River Brewing Company
7%	Combover	Schilling Beer Company
6.9%	Concert Mode	Definitive Brewing Company
5.7%	Cone Head	Zero Gravity
6%	Contact Haze	Elysian Brewing
8%	Cosmic Distortion	Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company
8.3%	Create The Life You Want	Vanished Valley Brewing Company
6.5%	Creatures of Magic	Burlington Beer Company
7.5%	Crossroads of New England	Lost Shoe Brewing and Roasting Company
4.7%	Day Haze	Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company
8%	DDH Pulp Daddy	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
7.7%	Delicious IPA	Stone 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
5.2%	Dive Bomb	14th Star Brewing Company
9.1%	Dogs and Boats	Beerd Brewing Company
6.5%	Dogs Vs Shinobi	Beerd Brewing Company
5.4%	Dolphins on Parade	Barrel House Z
7%	Doobious	Bad Sons Beer 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
6.8%	East by Northwest	Untold Brewing
7%	Eaton Street	Lops Brewing
9%	Enjoy By 04/20/2022	Stone Brewing Company
8%	Ephemeral	Saco River Brewing
8%	Epiphany	Foundation Brewing Company
6.5%	Euphoria	Broad Brook Brewing Company
10%	Evangelion XVII Tabris Ghost 946	Adroit Theory Brewing Company
5%	Exit 32	Woodstock Inn Brewery
7.7%	Feltons Fancy	Ground Effect Brewing Company
5.5%	Fire Barrel	Bent Water Brewing Company
8%	Fluff The Magic Dragon	Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company
7%	Fluffinity	Night Shift Brewing
7%	Focal Banger	The Alchemist
9%	Fresh Lobster	Aurora Brewing Company
6.2%	Fresh Sabro	Civil Society Brewing Company
6%	Frothy Embrace	Melvin Brewing
8.5%	Funcrusher	Honest Weight Artisan Beer
6.7%	Geosynchronous	Gneiss Brewing Company
6.66%	Getting Sendy	Shire Breu-Hous
8.2%	GG Vibes	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
6.3%	Glory Not The Prey	Able Ebenezer Brewing Company
4.8%	Gneiss Weiss	Gneiss Brewing Company
8.2%	God is an American	Adroit Theory Brewing Company
6.5%	Good Fortune	Common Roots Brewing Company
7.2%	Green Fountains	Ten Bends Beer
12%	Greylock	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
5.5%	Gripah	Cisco Brewers
8%	Hair Raiser	Exhibit A Brewing Company
6.5%	Hang Time IPA	Remnant Brewing
10.1%	Hat Trick	Twin Barns Brewing Company
6.7%	Hazy Little Thing IPA	Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
6.1%	Hazy Rotation	Great North Aleworks
6%	Hazy Wonder	Lagunitas Brewing Company
7.1%	Hazy-O	Dogfish Head Brewery
8%	Heady Topper	The Alchemist
6.2%	Hi, Jack	Hobbs Tavern and Brewing Company
8.4%	Hi-Def	Castle Island Brewing Company
6.6%	Hidden City	Medusa Brewing Company
6.9%	Hindsight	Timberyard Brewing Company
6%	Hoop House	Ragged Island Brewing Company
6.9%	Hops Sugar Yeast Magic	Black Hat Brew Works
8.7%	Hopzilla	Lawsons Finest Liquids
6%	How R Ya Now	Night Shift Brewing
6.8%	I Hate Myself	Threes Brewing
7.3%	Imperial Galaxyc Cirrocumulus	Aeronaut Brewing Company
8%	Imperial Maine Event	Magnify Brewing Company
8.8%	Incredible Machine	Tree House Brewing Company
6.6%	Infinity Sky	Untold Brewing
8.5%	Insight	Timberyard Brewing Company
8.3%	Interstellar	Lamplighter Brewing Company
4.6%	Into The Citra Galaxy	Aeronaut Brewing Company
7%	Invisible Airwaves	Stellwagen Beer Company
7.3%	IPA	603 Brewery
6.2%	IPA	Fiddlehead Brewing Company
7%	IPA	Great North Aleworks
0%	IPA	Hairless Dog Brewing Company
6%	IPA	Microbrasserie Glutenberg
7%	IPA	Southern Tier Brewing Company
7.2%	IPA	Stoneface Brewing Company
6.5%	IPA To Be Named Later	Independent Fermentations Brewing
7%	ISO 7	Vanished Valley Brewing Company
8.5%	It Was All A Dreamsicle	DuClaw Brewing Company
8%	Its Complicated Being a Wizard	Burlington Beer Company
7.5%	Jai Alai	Cigar City Brewing
7.3%	Jess	Amherst Brewing Company
9.3%	Jigsaw Jazz	Fort Hill Brewery
8.5%	Johnny Hammersticks	Aslin Beer Company
7%	Johnny Juice	Winter Hill Brewing Company
7%	Juicy Fruit	Hopsters Brewing Company
6.8%	Julius	Tree House Brewing Company
5%	Just A Kitten	Exhibit A Brewing Company
5.5%	Katie	Amherst Brewing Company
6.5%	Keeper	Castle Island Brewing Company
9.2%	Kelley2	Bay State Brewing Company
10.5%	Key Bump	Hoof Hearted Brewing
5.5%	Kick Step IPA	Ghostfish Brewing Company
8%	Kill Puss	Liambru Tasty
10%	King Bahubali	Mighty Squirrel Brewing Company
6.1%	King Friday	Untold Brewing
7.3%	Kua Bay	Kona Brewing Company
7.8%	Lake Cruiser	Twin Barns Brewing Company
8.3%	Larping 4 Love	Aslin Beer Company
8.5%	Larry	Wachusett Brewing Company
3.7%	Light Hearted Ale	Bells Brewery
6%	Light Year Journey	Dorchester Brewing Company
6.4%	LightRunner	Medusa Brewing Company
8.1%	Lily	Fidens Brewing Company
7.5%	Limited Access	Rock Art Brewery
6%	Little Lobster	Aurora Brewing Company
6.2%	Little Sip	Lawsons Finest Liquids
4.8%	Little Sister	Grey Sail Brewing Company
4.8%	Little Victories	Mast Landing Brewing Company
8.4%	Lovebird	Second Wind Brewing Company
6.1%	Lovejoy	Night Shift Brewing
7%	Lunch	Maine Beer Company
7.1%	Major Tom	Lamplighter Brewing Company
7.1%	Martin and Lewis	Widowmaker Brewing Company
6.5%	Mass Soul	Wachusett Brewing Company
7%	Maximum Happiness	Grimm Artisan Ales
6.5%	Maya Mae	Wash Ashore Beer Company
7.5%	Melvin	Melvin Brewing
8.4%	Mirror Image	Breakaway Beerworks
7.5%	Misguided Angel	Lithermans Limited
6.2%	Moose Juice	Great North Aleworks
10%	Mosaic Function	Equilibrium Brewery
6.5%	Mr and Mrs Collins	Springdale Beer Company
6%	Mr Waterbury	Big Tree Brewing
8.4%	Necessary Means for a Necessary Means	Fidens Brewing Company
4.3%	Neon Lights	Brewery Ommegang
6.7%	Neon Rainbows	Brewery Ommegang
5.5%	New England IPA	The Girls Brewery
7%	No Room to Swing a Cat	Taylor Brooke Brewery
3.9%	Noon Juice	Progression Brewing Company
8%	Northern Heights	Ten Bends Beer
10.1%	Now Youse Cant Leave	Bronx Brewery
6%	Nu Haze	Southern Tier Brewing Company
6.4%	Official	Bells Brewery
6.6%	On The Gogh	Breakaway Beerworks
9.2%	On The Wings Of Armageddon	DC Brau
0.5%	On Your Mark	Kit NA Brewing
8.2%	Orbit	Definitive Brewing Company
8.3%	Orbital Elevator	Burlington Beer Company
7.7%	Our Impossible Ask	Lucy and Howe Brewing Company
6.2%	Outermost	Hog Island Beer Company
7%	Painting Dreams	Fidens Brewing Company
6.5%	Phantom	Medford Brewing Company
5.5%	Phat Grasshopper	Smuttynose Brewing Company
8%	Plush	Frost Beer Works
6%	Poke in the IPA	Independent Fermentations Brewing
7.5%	Pollock Rip	Devils Purse Brewing Company
8%	Pulp Daddy	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
8%	Pulp	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
6%	Purrlicious	White Lion Brewing Company
6.5%	Push the Sky Away	Small Change Brewing Company
8%	Quarantined N You	Springdale Beer Company
8.5%	Rabbit Rabbit	Lamplighter Brewing Company
3.7%	Race Pace	ZeLUS Beer Company
7.5%	Racer 5 IPA	Bear Republic Brewing Company
10%	Radioface	Long Blue Cat Brewing Company
6%	Red Scooter	Henniker Brewing Company
10%	Regime Ghost 916	Adroit Theory Brewing Company
6.3%	Rhode Trip	Newport Craft Brewing Company
6.9%	Ring King	Smuttlabs Brewery and Kitchen
6.5%	Rockpile IPA	Tuckerman Brewing Company
6.7%	Route 140	67 Degrees Brewing
0.5%	Run Wild	Athletic Brewing Company
6.4%	Sankt Paulidorf	Ellicottville Brewing Company
6.6%	Saturday Morning Lucky Charms Beer	Smartmouth Brewing Company
7%	Save The Robots	Radiant Pig Craft Beers
4.5%	Scenic	603 Brewery
6.3%	Scotties IPA	Moat Mountain Brewing Company
6.5%	Seaworthy	Oxbow Brewing Company
8.2%	Second Fiddle	Fiddlehead Brewing Company
7%	See Foam	Jackie Os Pub and Brewery
7%	Side Business	Green Empire Brewing
6.9%	Sinshine	Bay State Brewing Company
8%	Sip of Sunshine	Lawsons Finest Liquids
6.5%	Ski Vermont IPA	Long Trail Brewing Company
8%	Skywind Huckabee	Devils Purse Brewing Company
4%	Slightly Mighty	Dogfish Head Brewery
4.1%	Slim Hazy	Peak Organic Brewing Company
4.8%	Slingshot	Second Wind Brewing Company
6.4%	Slip Ons	Rar Brewing
6.5%	Sluice Juice	Bent Water Brewing Company
8%	Smooooth	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
6%	Some Vague Reassurance Everthings Going to Be Alright	Kent Falls Brewing Company
6%	Soup Du Jour	Ground Effect Brewing Company
8.2%	Space Dust IPA	Elysian Brewing
6.4%	Sports and Leisure	Mast Landing Brewing Company
5.7%	Squeeze	Great Rhythm Brewing Company
8.5%	Squeezy Wrench	Independent Fermentations Brewing
6%	Squid 3D	Fermentation Arts Brasserie
7.2%	Star Hazing	Lops Brewing
7%	Stardust	Lamplighter Brewing Company
7%	Stay Positive and Keep the Faith	Vanished Valley Brewing Company
6.5%	Strawberry Cream Lifesaver	River Styx Brewing
6.2%	Strong Female Lead	Night Shift Brewing
8.1%	Sun Showers	Barreled Souls Brewing Company
6.2%	Sunrise Bay	Redemption Rock Brewing Company
4.8%	Super Session 2 Amarillo	Lawsons Finest Liquids
4.5%	Swift River	Cochituate Brewing
5.9%	T Kelley Hop	Rek-lis Brewing Company
5.1%	Tart N Juicy	Epic Brewing
9.4%	Terra Citra	The Drowned Lands Brewery
7%	Thaw	Four Phantoms Brewing
6.5%	The Cats Meow	Exhibit A Brewing Company
10.1%	the Entity	Definitive Brewing Company
8.5%	The Farmer	Fidens Brewing Company
7%	The Floor is Lava	Pontoon Brewing Company
8.6%	The Govnah	Concord Craft Brewing Company
6.5%	The Hazy	Bldg 8 Brewing
8.4%	The Other End	Abandoned Building Brewery
8%	The Saga Continues	Riverwalk Brewing Company
6%	The Way Life Should Be	Orono Brewing Company
8%	Things We Dont Say	Wandering Soul Beer Company
8%	Throw Me The Idol	Brick and Feather Brewery
7.2%	Tickling the Ivories	Hoof Hearted Brewing
8.1%	Tribute	14th Star Brewing Company
10.2%	Triple Ecstasy	Widowmaker Brewing Company
10%	Triple Lindy	Mayflower Brewing Company
10.5%	Triple Sunshine	Lawsons Finest Liquids
6.8%	Tropical Haze IPA	Great Rhythm Brewing Company
7.2%	Tubular	Orono Brewing Company
7%	Two Hearted Ale	Bells Brewery
6%	TWO	Twin Barns Brewing Company
6.6%	Underwater Space Helmet	Lucy and Howe Brewing Company
8%	V	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
9%	Vanilla Superdome	Definitive Brewing Company
10%	Venom of Cerberus	River Styx Brewing
5.2%	Verd	Vermont Beer Makers
8%	Victory Nor Defeat	Able Ebenezer Brewing Company
6%	VT IPA	Long Trail Brewing Company
6.8%	Wandering Haze	Cisco Brewers
6.8%	War Castle	Redemption Rock Brewing Company
6.7%	Watershed	Vanished Valley Brewing Company
0.5%	Wayfarer	Atmos Brewing Company
6%	Weekend Plans	Mast Landing Brewing Company
7.8%	Whole Lotta Amarillo	Smuttynose Brewing Company
7.8%	Whole Lotta Galaxy	Smuttynose Brewing Company
7%	Wik-Id	Rek•Lis Brewing Company
6.5%	Windbreaker	Mast Landing Brewing Company
10%	Wooo	Greater Good Imperial Brewing Company
7.5%	Work Zone	Night Shift Brewing
7.1%	Wrench	Industrial Arts Brewing Company
6%	Yacht Rock	Big Tree Brewing
6.8%	You Wont	Lamplighter Brewing Company
6.5%	Zephyr	Rising Tide Brewing Company