Also called an Imperial IPA and pretty much how it sounds, although slightly imprecise. It is bigger, bitterer, hoppier, and of higher ABV, but not quite double everything. Of course a 1.35X IPA doesn’t really resonate. It is often dry hopped, and often more than once. Russian River’s Pliny the Elder helped to popularize the style, which really took off in the early 2000s.
- ABV 7.5-10%
- IBU 60-100
- SRM 6-14
- Glassware Standard Pint, or Tulip
- Serving Temp 6-9°C
Gold to a pale orange in colour, pretty clear, and with a medium head that can stick around. On the nose you are going to get a lot of hop aroma, all being fair game really, citrus, pine, resin, stone fruit, berry, melon, tropical fruit. As typical of american yeasts, esters will be at the low end, but some light alcohol may be present. Malt here is clean and supportive, sort of grainy if at all. This is medium bodied, sometimes a little lighter, mid range carbonation and can have a touch of alcohol warmth in stronger versions. We’re looking for a strong and layered hop flavour here, with high bitterness, overtop a light clean malt. In some instances a bit of toasty caramel can creep its way in, but still way behind all that hop flavour. This is going to finish fairly dry with a lingering bitterness.