THE CELEBRATION OF THE DIPA // A MADNESS FAVOURITE // DANK

The IPA is the main beer of craft brewing. But at Trembling Madness we love more — more hops, more strength, more intense flavour.

Why is it a Double IPA - well the “double” refers to the amount of hops not just the alcohol. They're also called “Imperial IPAs” , a borrowed term from imperial stouts first brewed in the late 1700s for shipping to the court of Catherine the Great of Russia. They were a dark, syrupy, heavy beer with a loads of alcohol. The Russians liked their beer strong. Now the term applies when a brewer wants to denote an extra strong stout, porter, pilsner, or IPA.

Before the Double IPA was the IPA. India Pale Ales were brewed specifically to survive the long journey from England to the British colonies in India in the 1700s — with the naturally antibacterial hops and higher alcohol content helping preserve the beer — fact is many British brown ales were already making the journey before IPAs got there. But as we know India is hot. And what would you rather drink in hot weather, a thick malty brown ale, or a hoppy refreshing IPA? The hopped up pale being sent to India became wildly popular, and British brewers brought that popularity home.

IPA was popular until World War I then wartime rationing and temperance movements forced brewers to water down their beers and cut quality. The style all but disappeared until the craft brewery movement in the 1980s started up all those classic beer styles again. IPA became the reigning style of craft beer.

You can go way back and thank eighteenth century monks in Belgium for brewing their triple ales — these dark gold, high alcohol beers use techniques that Double IPAs share, like extra sugar for bigger booze impact, and intense aromatics. But the difference is hops.

Malt is where beer gets its alcohol, when yeast converts the sugar in the malt into booze. The more malt in the malt-to-water ratio, the more alcohol in the finished beer. To make a Double IPA, the malt ratio is high, but a higher malt ratio makes for a maltier, sweeter beer with more caramel and toffee notes. And the goal for a DIPA is a light bodied, drier brew.  So brewers often put in sugar to make the beer less sweet! While yeast can only partially convert malt to alcohol, it can fully convert sugar, giving the finished beer a big booze hit without residual sweetness. 

The hops are the star of the show. Many varieties are used and they’re used throughout the brewing process, boiled in with the mash and put in after fermentation is done. Wet (fresh) hops, dried hops, hop concentrates are used to deliver that big bomb of hop power so their spicy, piney, citrusy notes can shine.

Drinking a DIPA the hops will hit you before any of the beer’s other qualities. Strong hop aroma, strong hop flavor, strong hoppy hoppiness, grapefruit, resin, pine, “dankness,” lemon, and honey flavors. 

We currently have over 60 DIPA's all within 2 months of being made so you can experience the fresh taste of hops before they start to fade. 

TAKE ME STRAIGHT TO THE DIPA'S MAN - QUICK 

Here's a video about your hop harvesting