IPA statistics span two useful levels: brewing targets for different India Pale Ale styles and market measurements for U.S. craft beer. The Brewers Association style ranges show how much IPA families can differ in original gravity (OG), final gravity, alcohol by volume (ABV), bitterness, and color. Its 2024 industry figures and packaging data add context for the craft-beer market in the United States.
Contents
- IPA style statistics at a glance
- Session and American-style IPA ranges
- Hazy, imperial, and West Coast IPA statistics
- New Zealand and British IPA measurements
- Comparing IPA strength, bitterness, and color
- The U.S. craft beer market in 2024
- IPA packaging statistics
IPA style statistics at a glance
The Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines describe IPA categories with ranges rather than a single required number. OG measures the wort’s starting density, while final gravity describes the density remaining after fermentation. ABV expresses alcohol concentration, IBU expresses bitterness, and SRM describes color.
The category ranges are broad enough to show why “IPA” alone does not identify one recipe profile. A session IPA can be much lower in alcohol than an imperial IPA, while hazy and West Coast categories occupy their own combinations of gravity, bitterness, and color.
| IPA style | OG | Final gravity | ABV | Bitterness | Color |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Session India Pale Ale | 1.008–1.052 | 1.005–1.014 | 0.40%–4.00% | 20–55 IBU | 3–12 SRM |
| American-Style IPA | 1.060–1.070 | 1.010–1.016 | 5.00%–6.00% | 50–70 IBU | 4–12 SRM |
| Juicy or Hazy IPA | 1.067–1.087 | 1.009–1.016 | 6.00%–8.40% | 65–100 IBU | 2–7 SRM |
| American-Style Imperial or Double IPA | 1.080–1.100 | 1.020–1.028 | 6.30%–8.40% | 55–85 IBU | 10–17 SRM |
| New Zealand-Style IPA | 1.040–1.052 | 1.006–1.010 | 3.20%–4.70% | 15–40 IBU | 3–9 SRM |
| British-Style IPA | 1.046–1.064 | 1.012–1.018 | 3.60%–5.60% | 35–63 IBU | 6–14 SRM |
Source for all style ranges in this section: Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines.
Session and American-style IPA ranges
Session India Pale Ale statistics emphasize lower strength. The Brewers Association gives session IPA an OG range of 1.008–1.052 and a final-gravity range of 1.005–1.014. Its ABV range is 0.40%–4.00%, with bitterness at 20–55 IBU and color at 3–12 SRM. The guidelines also state that beers above 5.0% ABV are not considered Session India Pale Ales.
That upper-strength boundary is useful when reading labels or comparing recipes. A beer may still present hop-forward IPA character while falling outside the session category if its alcohol level exceeds the stated limit. The other session ranges show that the category is not defined by one fixed gravity or one fixed bitterness value.
American-Style India Pale Ale occupies a stronger and more bitter range in the same guidelines. Its OG is 1.060–1.070, and its final gravity is 1.010–1.016. The ABV range is 5.00%–6.00%, bitterness is 50–70 IBU, and color is 4–12 SRM.
Compared with session IPA, the American-style category starts at 5.00% ABV, has an OG range beginning at 1.060, and begins at 50 IBU for bitterness. Those are category-range comparisons from the Brewers Association guidelines, not measurements of every beer sold under either description.
Hazy, imperial, and West Coast IPA statistics
Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale has an OG range of 1.067–1.087 and a final-gravity range of 1.009–1.016, according to the Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines. Its ABV is 6.00%–8.40%, bitterness is 65–100 IBU, and color is 2–7 SRM. The color range is relatively light in SRM terms even though the category’s bitterness and strength ranges are substantial.
The American-Style Imperial or Double India Pale Ale range is 1.080–1.100 OG and 1.020–1.028 final gravity. The Brewers Association lists 6.30%–8.40% ABV, 55–85 IBU, and 10–17 SRM for this category. The style therefore combines a high starting-gravity range with a darker listed color range than the Juicy or Hazy IPA category.
The guidelines separately list Juicy or Hazy Imperial or Double India Pale Ale. Its OG is 1.067–1.087, final gravity is 1.009–1.016, ABV is 6.00%–8.40%, bitterness is 65–100 IBU, and color is 2–7 SRM. These figures are the same ranges supplied for Juicy or Hazy India Pale Ale in the Brewers Association guidelines, so they should be read as the published category ranges rather than combined into a new or broader range.
West Coast-Style India Pale Ale has the widest supplied ranges in several measures. The Brewers Association lists OG at 1.030–1.110, final gravity at 1.006–1.030, ABV at 2.00%–9.50%, bitterness at 5–70 IBU, and color at 5–50 SRM. Because those spans are unusually broad, the West Coast label alone does not identify one narrow combination of strength, bitterness, or color within the published guidelines.
New Zealand and British IPA measurements
New Zealand-Style India Pale Ale is listed at 1.040–1.052 OG and 1.006–1.010 final gravity by the Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines. Its ABV range is 3.20%–4.70%, bitterness is 15–40 IBU, and color is 3–9 SRM.
Those figures place the supplied New Zealand-style range below the American-Style IPA range in both listed ABV and bitterness. The comparison uses only the published category ranges: New Zealand-style IPA tops out at 4.70% ABV and 40 IBU, while American-style IPA reaches 6.00% ABV and 70 IBU.
British-Style India Pale Ale has an OG range of 1.046–1.064 and a final-gravity range of 1.012–1.018. The Brewers Association lists its ABV at 3.60%–5.60%, bitterness at 35–63 IBU, and color at 6–14 SRM.
The British-style range overlaps with both lower-strength and stronger categories. Its 3.60%–5.60% ABV range overlaps New Zealand-style IPA at 3.60%–4.70% and American-style IPA at 5.00%–5.60%. Its 35–63 IBU range also overlaps the 20–55 IBU session range and the 50–70 IBU American-style range. These are range overlaps, not claims about how a particular commercial beer tastes.
Comparing IPA strength, bitterness, and color
The following compact comparison highlights the endpoints that most clearly separate the supplied categories. All figures come from the Brewers Association Beer Style Guidelines.
| Style | ABV range | IBU range | SRM range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Session IPA | 0.40%–4.00% | 20–55 | 3–12 |
| New Zealand-Style IPA | 3.20%–4.70% | 15–40 | 3–9 |
| British-Style IPA | 3.60%–5.60% | 35–63 | 6–14 |
| American-Style IPA | 5.00%–6.00% | 50–70 | 4–12 |
| Juicy or Hazy IPA | 6.00%–8.40% | 65–100 | 2–7 |
| American-Style Imperial or Double IPA | 6.30%–8.40% | 55–85 | 10–17 |
The lowest supplied ABV endpoint is 0.40% for Session India Pale Ale, while the highest is 8.40% for both Juicy or Hazy IPA and American-Style Imperial or Double IPA. The highest supplied bitterness endpoint is 100 IBU for Juicy or Hazy IPA and Juicy or Hazy Imperial or Double IPA. The darkest listed upper endpoint in this comparison is 17 SRM for American-Style Imperial or Double IPA.
The style data also shows why color should not be used as a shortcut for strength. Juicy or Hazy IPA reaches 8.40% ABV while its listed color range is 2–7 SRM. American-Style Imperial or Double IPA has the same upper ABV endpoint but a 10–17 SRM color range. The two categories therefore share a supplied strength endpoint while differing in their listed color ranges.
The U.S. craft beer market in 2024
The Brewers Association’s 2024 U.S. Craft Brewing Industry Figures report that U.S. craft breweries produced 23.1 million barrels of beer in 2024. Craft beer volume declined 3.9% in 2024 versus 2023. Craft beer represented 13.3% of total beer volume and 24.7% of total beer-market retail dollars in 2024.
The report puts 2024 craft beer retail dollar sales at $28.8 billion. It also records craft brewing employment of 197,112. These figures describe the U.S. craft brewing market as a whole; they are not an IPA-only production or sales series.
There were 9,796 operating U.S. craft breweries in 2024, while the total number of U.S. breweries reached 9,922. The same Brewers Association figures record 430 new brewery openings and 529 brewery closings in 2024. Openings and closings are separate counts for the year and should not be treated as a net change without additional information about the reporting method and timing.
| 2024 U.S. craft brewing measure | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Craft beer production | 23.1 million barrels |
| Change in craft beer volume versus 2023 | -3.9% |
| Craft beer volume share | 13.3% |
| Craft beer retail dollar sales | $28.8 billion |
| Craft beer retail dollar share | 24.7% |
| Craft brewing employment | 197,112 |
| Operating craft breweries | 9,796 |
| Total U.S. breweries | 9,922 |
Source for all 2024 market figures in this section: Brewers Association, “2024 U.S. Craft Brewing Industry Figures.” The measurement period is calendar year 2024 and the geography is the United States.
IPA packaging statistics
The Brewers Association’s “2024 Packaging Trends” figures provide a separate view of BA Craft packaging in 2024. Six-packs held 46% share, while four-packs held 11% share. These are packaging-format shares reported for BA Craft packaging, not a complete breakdown of all beer packaging or all IPA packages.
Singles were also measured by package size. 19.2-ounce packs made up 54% of singles volume in 2024. IPA accounted for 86% of BA Craft 19.2-ounce volume, and Imperial/Double/Triple IPA accounted for 35% of BA Craft 19.2-ounce volume.
The packaging figures are best read as distinct reported shares. The 86% figure identifies IPA’s share within BA Craft 19.2-ounce volume, while the 35% figure identifies Imperial/Double/Triple IPA’s share of that same reported 19.2-ounce volume. The supplied data does not state whether the latter is a subset of the former for purposes of adding or subtracting shares, so no further arithmetic is applied here.
Source for all packaging figures in this section: Brewers Association, “2024 Packaging Trends,” measured in 2024 for BA Craft packaging.