Imperial IPA

From Sapwood Cellars in Columbia, Maryland, here’s a homebrew-scale iteration of their ever-evolving, Azacca-and-Citra-powered hazy double IPA, Pillowfort. Note the mash hops and cold dry hopping—two signatures of the Sapwood Cellars method.

Whether aiming for soft and hazy or lean and bitter, successful brewers rely on some bedrock strategies for building higher-strength IPAs with sneaky drinkability.

Justin Burdt and the team at Ghost Town in Oakland, California, share this homebrew-scale recipe for the double IPA that won back-to-back GABF gold medals in 2021 and 2022—and helped them earn Brewery of the Year honors in 2022.

Southern Grist first brewed Insert Juicy Pun as a “jacked up” version of its Mixed Greens hazy IPA, “with an irresponsible amount of Galaxy, Mosaic, and Citra hops,” the brewery says. “We taste strong notes of orange pulp, papaya, pineapple, and peach.”

Pushing IPA to its furthest physical limits requires close attention to fermentation and a lot of—well, a lot of everything. Thanks go to Paul Sangster and Rip Current Brewing for this unusual recipe.

Brewing a great higher-gravity IPA demands more from you than simply going bigger. The ingredients and their tendencies are all against you doing this and making it drinkable—but it can be done. Here’s your battle plan, based on advice from the pros.

Courtesy of Kane Wille, head brewer at O’Connor Brewing in Norfolk, Virginia, this recipe for an imperial red IPA gets depth from layers of Proximity craft malts.

Courtesy of Russian River’s Vinnie Cilurzo, this recipe aims to replicate the first beer he brewed at Blind Pig in 1994—and what is regarded to be the first commercially brewed double IPA.

This homebrew-scale recipe is based on Reuben’s Brews’ popular triple IPA, which also scored a 96 with our blind panel. Emphasize yeast health with a big starter, dry hop generously, then give it enough time to cold-condition.

Here is Adam Robbings of Reuben’s Brews on the key elements of brewing great, high-gravity, hazy IPAs. Surprise: It doesn’t start with the hops.