For me, the first Imperial IPA was I2PA by Rogue. Now even more iconic in my mind by the very sad news of the brewery's closure last November. Rogue has a special place in my heart for a number of reasons - stood up with my buddy as he was married behind the bar in Newport by owner Jack, placed on tap as a distributor salesman in dozens of bars in NY, met and partied with Sebbie on a few occasions at fests and tasting events and just always enjoyed Mr Maier's well balanced beers. Those 7oz. nips of high gravity brews were among the first "extreme" beers at least for me and first reviewed here in 2001. Were there any before I2PA?
As a riff on the other thread, AI to the rescue . . . The first widely recognized Imperial IPA (or Double IPA) is the Inaugural Ale, brewed by Vinnie Cilurzo in 1994 at the Blind Pig Brewery in Temecula, California. Created to celebrate the brewery's first anniversary, it was designed by doubling the malt and hop ingredients of a standard IPA to create a significantly more bitter and higher-alcohol beer. Key details regarding the origin of the Imperial IPA: Creator: Vinnie Cilurzo. Brewery: Blind Pig Brewery (1994). Context: Following the Blind Pig, Cilurzo later developed Pliny the Elder at Russian River Brewing Company, which became a foundational, modern example of the style. Characteristics: The original style was defined by intense, sometimes "lacerating" bitterness and a thick malt base to balance it. While other strong, hoppy beers existed in history, the 1994 Inaugural Ale is widely credited as the first to bear the characteristics of the modern American Imperial/Double IPA style.
I gave away the book long ago, but I seem to recall in Steele's "IPA" it was either one of the Pizza Ports or some other SD brewer realized that they messed up the malt-bill, so they added more hops to compensate.
I heard it was the same brewery @bambiere posted. But Vinnie did a similar thing to what you described here. If I recall it was something along the lines of a new brewery space or equipment, and Vinnie didn’t fully trust it so he amped up the bitterness to hide any potential flaws. People ended up loving it so he kept brewing it. Might have become the basis for Elder. I did a lot of research a number of years ago for a speech I did on the history of the IPA. Trying to go off memory, so I could definitely be wrong.
It's on point with what I could find here anyway. https://www.kqed.org/news/11969212/how-san-franciscos-anchor-brewing-started-the-craft-beer-craze
This was the first dipa I can recall as well. It probably wasn't the first one ever made (see the posts above), but was the first one I ever tasted. At the time, I thought it was amazing (albeit a bit expensive in those "reserve" level, 7 ounce bottles).
Yeah I was pretty sure it wasn't the first but definitely the first commercially available one I remember having. I'm also pretty sure there were brew pubs that made big hoppy beers before 2000.
I visited Russian River brewpub when it was a 3 stool bar on the Korbel Winery property in 2000 maybe 1999 or 2001 and there was no Pliney(s) yet. Great beers though!
Yeah, Steele's 2012 book, IPA Brewing Techniques, Recipes and the Evolution of India Pale Ale Chapter 8 - Double/Imperial IPA section states "There are currently two schools of thought on the origin of double or imperial IPA..." and discusses both Rogue's IIPA (aka I2PA - see below ad) and Cilurzo's Blind Pig Inaugural Ale, and goes on to note that according to Rogue brewer John Maier:
Rogue was a staple beer in my early rating days. I always thought their Shakespeare Stout was one of the best non-imperial strength stouts out there. And they were adventurous in that they experimented with many styles compared to their competitors which made them fun to seek out.
My instinct immediately takes a single track path to the UK. I wouldn't rule out that some blokes made some Ale a long time ago that was to be sailed to India and it was incredibly strong and or hoppy. Perhaps too strong for the troops over. Today, Vinnie at Bling Pig brewed it on purpose with much more control. Maybe?
I believe he was the first to purposely brew the style and call it such. There were definitely very bitter, hoppy, strong beers well before Vinnie brewed his. See the Bigfoot post above yours, and there were plenty well before that beer as well.
I believe you are thinking of October Ale: “Most historians believe the IPA beer style originated from a brew known as October Ale. They bore the name because the brewing season for high gravity pale ales was October. When first created, these beers were typically high gravity and alcohol beers. Though sweet due to high finishing gravity, the ABV of 10% or higher made the beer somewhat stable for travel. The higher alcohol warded off infection, spoilage, and generally masked off flavors. However, this came at a cost, and October ale did not yield a high profit.” https://blog.averybrewing.com/ales-of-antiquity-1752-india-pale-ale-340029d0a07f Cheers!
