IPA stopped being one style a long time ago. What started as a single hoppy, bitter beer has split into distinct sub-styles that taste completely different from each other, sometimes to the point where two beers both labeled IPA barely resemble one another in the glass.
If you want the history behind the name itself, see our guide to what IPA actually stands for.
Here is what actually separates each major type, so you know what you are ordering before the first sip.
West Coast IPA
This is the original American IPA template: clear, dry, and assertively bitter, built around piney and citrus-forward hop varieties like Cascade, Centennial, and Simcoe. The malt bill stays lean on purpose so nothing softens the hop bite.
If a menu just says “IPA” with no other qualifier at an American brewery, this is usually the safest guess for what you will get, though hazy IPA has taken over that default in a lot of newer taprooms.
See our full ranking of the best West Coast IPAs for the complete list.
New England / Hazy IPA
Hazy IPA flipped the West Coast formula. Oats and wheat go into the mash for a soft, almost juice-like mouthfeel, and the hops get added late in the boil or during fermentation specifically to maximize aroma and tropical fruit flavor while keeping bitterness low.
The visible haze is not a flaw. It comes from proteins and hop oils suspended in the beer, and it is the whole point of the style rather than something the brewer is trying to filter out.
See our full ranking of the best hazy IPAs for the complete list.
Session IPA
A session IPA keeps the hop aroma of a full-strength IPA but drops the ABV down to around 4 to 5%, using a lighter malt bill so the beer stays drinkable across a longer session without the alcohol adding up as fast. It is the style built for actually finishing more than one.
See our full ranking of the best session IPAs for more.
Double / Imperial IPA
Take a standard IPA and scale everything up. Double IPAs typically run 8 to 10% ABV, with a bigger malt backbone to support that much alcohol and enough hops layered on top to keep the beer from tasting sweet or heavy. Both dry West Coast-style and juicy hazy versions of double IPA exist.
See our full ranking of the best double and imperial IPAs for more.
Brut IPA
Brut IPA borrows its name from champagne for a reason. An enzyme added during fermentation breaks down nearly all the residual sugar, leaving the beer bone dry and highly carbonated with a champagne-like finish, while the hop character stays fruity rather than bitter. It had a short but memorable run as a trend style.
It was also a short-lived one. Most of the breweries that made a Brut IPA at the style’s 2018 peak have since discontinued theirs, and the few still findable in retailer inventories are mostly listed as out of stock rather than being actively rebrewed, so treat any bottle you actually find as a novelty rather than something you can reliably restock.
Black IPA
Black IPA adds dark, roasted malts to a hop-forward IPA base, so you get the citrus and pine hop character of a West Coast IPA layered over a coffee-and-chocolate roasted backbone usually associated with stout. It sits right at the overlap between the two styles.
See our full ranking of the best Black IPAs for specific bottles and cans worth tracking down.
Which One to Order First
If you like a clean, bitter finish, start with West Coast. If you prefer something soft and fruit-forward with less bite, hazy is the better entry point. Session IPA is the safest choice if you are drinking more than one over an evening, and double IPA is worth saving for when you only plan on having one.
FAQ
What does IPA actually stand for?
India Pale Ale, a name tracing back to pale ales brewed with extra hops as a preservative for the long sea voyage from England to India.
Is a hazy IPA just an unfiltered IPA?
Not exactly. The haze comes from a deliberate recipe built around oats, wheat, and specific yeast strains and hopping techniques, not just skipping a filtration step.
What is the difference between a double IPA and an imperial IPA?
Nothing meaningful. The two names are used interchangeably for the same higher-ABV, more heavily hopped style.
Want the ingredient-level view of what makes an IPA an IPA? Read what is actually in beer for the basics on hops, malt, water, and yeast.
New to the style entirely? Our What Is an IPA? guide covers the basics before diving into these sub-styles.
Want a lower-ABV, session-friendly option instead? See our guide to West Coast pilsners and XPAs, the leaner, hop-forward styles picking up where session IPA left off.
