Double India Pale Ale Becomes A Recognized Beer Style

In 2004, the Beer Judge Certification Program included Imperial IPA as subcategory 14C in its beer style guidelines, placing it within Category 14, India Pale Ale. The guideline described the style as a stronger, intensely hop-forward beer with high bitterness, elevated alcohol content, and commercial examples including Russian River Pliny the Elder, Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA, Rogue I2PA, Stone Ruination IPA, and Three Floyds Dreadnaught. This recognition marked an important moment in the development of modern IPA. Beers that had emerged from the American craft brewing movement during the 1990s and early 2000s were no longer treated merely as unusually strong IPAs; they were now defined as a distinct competition style with their own expected aroma, flavor, bitterness, strength, and commercial benchmarks. The style later became more commonly identified as Double IPA. In the 2015 BJCP guidelines, the category was listed as 22A Double IPA, with the note that it had previously been Imperial IPA. This shift reflected the language that had become common in the modern American beer market, where “double” came to describe stronger versions of IPA.