For our May 2023 meeting we will focus on the massive category that is IPA, BJCP Category 21. This category has a lot of substyles and leaves open the door for a lot of interpretation depending on the substyle you go with.
Due to the size of this category we won’t provide any specific recipe examples but you can refer to the BJCP style guides and the AHA website for plenty of inspiration.
21. IPA
The IPA category is for modern American IPAs and their derivatives. This does not imply that English IPAs aren’t proper IPAs or that there isn’t a relationship between them. This is simply a method of grouping similar styles for competition purposes. English IPAs are grouped with other English-derived beers, and the stronger Double IPA is grouped with stronger American beers. The term “IPA” is intentionally not spelled out as “India Pale Ale” since none of these beers historically went to India, and many aren’t pale. However, the term IPA has come to be a balance-defined style in modern craft beer.
BJCP Style Guide 2021
- 21A. American IPA
- 21B. Specialty IPA
- 21C. Hazy IPA