Comparison
Black IPA vs English IPA
What is the difference between Black IPA and English IPA?
The short answer
The main difference is roast: Black IPA has noticeably more of it than English IPA. Black IPA also leads on resin & pine; English IPA on malt intensity and yeast fruitiness (esters).
Generated from the two style records. No editor has written this comparison up, so it carries no verdict beyond what the data supports.
Where they overlap
They share comparable bitterness, sweetness, body, overlapping strength ranges, the same style family — the boundary between them is narrower than the comparison suggests.
Side by side
| Black IPA | English IPA | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | IPA | IPA |
| Fermentation | Top-fermented (ale) | Top-fermented (ale) |
| Origin | United States | United Kingdom |
| Category status — One of these is a more settled category than the other, which is worth knowing before treating the comparison as exact. | Commercial category | Established |
| Strength | 5.5–9% ABV | 5–7.5% ABV |
| Bitterness (IBU) — IBU measures iso-alpha acids in the lab. It does not track perceived bitterness, which residual sweetness, body and roast all alter — compare the sensory rows below for how each actually tastes. | 50–90 IBU | 40–60 IBU |
| Colour | Very dark brown to black — 25–40 SRM, 49–79 EBC | Gold to deep copper — 6–14 SRM, 12–28 EBC |
| Original gravity | 1.050–1.085 | 1.050–1.075 |
| Final gravity | 1.010–1.018 | 1.010–1.018 |
| Serving temperature | 8–11°C | 9–12°C |
| Carbonation | 2–3 vol CO₂ | 1.8–2.4 vol CO₂ |
| Glassware | Tulip glass | Nonic pint, Tulip glass |
| Clarity | clear | clear |
How they taste different
| Character | Black IPA | English IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Roast | Low–Moderate | Not characteristic |
| Malt intensity | Not characteristic | Moderate |
| Resin & pine | Moderate–High | Not characteristic |
| Yeast fruitiness (esters) | Not characteristic | Low–Moderate |
| Bread & biscuit | Not characteristic | Moderate |
| Citrus | Moderate | Not characteristic |
| Caramel & toffee | Not characteristic | Low |
| Floral | Not characteristic | Moderate |
| Herbal | Not characteristic | Moderate |
| Hop aroma | High | Moderate |
Which should you choose?
- You want more roast → Black IPA
- You want more malt intensity → English IPA
Derived from where the two actually differ. Neither is better — this is a question of which difference you want.