India Pale Ales hale from the famous brewing town of Burton Upon Trent and were so successful in the 19th century that they were exported all over the globe. There are many variations of IPA but they are all hoppy with quite high levels bitterness.
CAMRA defines IPAs as having a minimum of 5.5% ABV so these are quite powerful beers. Many products on the market are called or advertised as IPAs but fail a long way short of this strength. It could be said that of all the beer names misused IPA is one of the greatest.
Colour
Full range of colours form very light (New World IPAs) through to very dark (Black IPAs)
Clarity
Usually clear to bright
Carbonation
Low for cask examples but several bottled versions are quite high
Alcohol
Can be detected in stronger examples
Hop
See individual entries as hop flavoutrs vary greatly
Malt
Some malt is to be expected in all varients but no more than moderate (British IPAs)
Esters
Some fruity esters may be present in all types
Phenols
None
Fermentation By-Products
None
Body
See individual entries for each style of IPA
Carbonation
See individual entries for each style of IPA
Finish Length
See individual entries for each style of IPA
Attenuation
See individual entries for each style of IPA
Hops
See individual entries for each style of IPA
Malt
See individual entries for each style of IPA
Water
See individual entries for each style of IPA
Yeast
See individual entries for each style of IPA
