The 12 Best Quadruple IPAs of 2022

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Team Untappd

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 14:04:23 +0000

For years now, craft brewers have been pushing the envelope, brewing bigger, badder, beers. Such as more adjuncted, boozier stouts, more heavily fruited sours, and more hopped-up IPAs.

Double IPAs are the norm now. But we've also seen triple IPAs tiptoe onto the scene.

For instance, according to recent NielsenIQ data analyzed by Bump Williams Consulting (BWC), hazy imperial/double/triple IPA dollar sales increased +128.7% to $33.3 million, more than doubling this year.

Folks are ravenous for IPAs that continue to up the hop poundage per barrel and ABV. Accordingly, now even quadruple IPAs have started to make their presence known.

But, this style continues to be a bit of a quandry, one that's difficult to brew, but one hundred percent worth the results.

For that reason, you'll often see this style brewed once a year as an anniversary beer, for instance.

Accordingly, you should pay attention when you see a quadruple IPA pop up on your radar.

What Exactly Is a Quadruple IPA?

You won't find a category for quadruple IPA at the Great American Beer Festival. And you won't find a specific definition for a quadruple IPA from the Beer Judge Certification Program.

But that doesn't mean these beers don't exist.

Each brewery probably follows its own guidelines, but loosely we can group double IPAs (DIPAs) somewhere between 7.5%-8.5% ABV, triple IPAs (TIPAs) from 8.5%-10% ABV, and then quadruple IPAs north of 10% ABV. But again, these numbers are pretty fluid. Since they aren't codified, you could see breweries making DIPAs in the 9% ABV range or TIPAs above 10% ABV.

But generally, what you can rely on when it comes to quadruple IPAs is that they have an extreme amount of hops (anywhere from 7 to over 10 pounds per barrel) in them and they're going to hit in a very high ABV range.

For that reason, balance is the utmost name of the game with this style. How does one walk this tightrope between throwing in a copious amount of hops and dry hopping and creating a beer that doesn't completely blow your brain to the bitter moon?

It's a tall task.

Especially because these beers are comically expensive to make and yield only a small amount thanks to the heaps of hops.

Which is why you'll often see quadruple IPAs only made around some sort of celebration like an anniversary.

It's also why, if you see one, you should know this is a special, special beer. One you should most likely get your hands on as quickly as you can, especially if you're a hop head.