Most beer drinkers can’t decide what an IPA actually is, let alone the difference between a West Coast and East Coast IPA. Typically, an India pale ale is a hoppy, bitter beer that has a higher ABV than most types of brews, and often is higher on IBUs (international bittering units). Easy.
But having one type of IPA wasn’t enough. Nope, there needs to be even more types of the pale ale offshoots because…well, why not? Enter the West Coast IPA and East Coast IPA.
When I say West Coast and East Coast, I’m talking about American coasts, so American-brewed beers. While IPAs are brewed all around the world, these specific styles hail from the USA (which is probably the best region in the world at producing IPAs).
Both styles of IPA are technically India pale ales, but they are very different brews, further complicating the whole “what is an IPA” question. Since both types are relatively new (as in the last century), it’s hard to pin down exactly what they are. But I’ll give it my best shot.
East Coast vs West Coast IPA: At a Glance
| Characteristic | West Coast IPA | East Coast IPA |
|---|---|---|
| Appearance | Crystal clear, golden | Hazy, cloudy, murky |
| Bitterness | High bitterness, bold and dry | Low to moderate bitterness, smooth |
| Flavor profile | Piney, resinous, citrus | Juicy, tropical, fruity |
| Hop timing | Added during boil (hot-side) | Dry-hopped after boil (cold-side) |
| Common hops | Cascade, Simcoe, Centennial, Chinook | Citra, Mosaic, Amarillo, Strata |
| Malt bill | 100% barley with a dry finish | Oats and wheat that’s velvety, sweet |
| Yeast character | Clean and natural | Complex and expressive |
| Mouthfeel | Light, crisp, dry | Full, soft, silky |
| Typical ABV | 6–7.5% | 6–8% |
| Best for | Bitter beer lovers | Juice fans and haze boys |
| Example beers | Pliny the Elder, Stone IPA, Sculpin | Heady Topper, Hazy Little Thing, Julius |
What Is a West Coast IPA?
The West Coast IPA is known for being bitter. Over the past few decades, it almost feels like West Coast brewers have been competing to make the hoppiest, bitterest, alcoholiest brews the world has ever seen.
Look at brewers like Sierra Nevada, Stone, and Lagunitas. These guys have been thriving off their IPAs, and many West Coast breweries that launched in the past decade opted to use an IPA as their flagship beer.
It all comes back to West Coast taste. Something about super-bitter IPAs goes well with the West Coast. While the era of “all craft beers MUST be bitter” has passed, the West Coast IPA has carved out its niche. These bad boy IPAs are super bitter, suppress the sweet flavor of malts, and embrace the hop profile.
While not every West Coast style is going to be the most bitter beer brewed, we can make a sort of generalization: bitter = West Coast.
Where Did the West Coast IPA Come From?
West Coast IPAs come from…the West Coast of the United States!
In all seriousness, we can trace the origins of the West Coast IPA to Anchor Brewing, which was essentially the first real craft brewery in the nation. Anchor decided to turn up the hops in the brew, and local brewers followed suit and began experimenting with more hops. While early West Coast IPAs still had a huge malt profile, most modern-day West Coast IPAs lean hoppier, which, in this case, means bitter.
What Hops Are Used in a West Coast IPA?
There’s no “rule” on what hops need to be used in any IPA, but hop profiles make some hops superior for specific brews. For West Coast IPAs, it’s pretty common to see hops like Cascade, Simcoe, and Centennial. Other hops that brewers use include Chinook, Columbus, and sometimes fruitier hops like Amarillo or Citra.
What Is an East Coast IPA?
The East Coast IPA is a bit more complex than the West Coast variant. While the West Coast styles force the hops, East Coast IPAs look for the complex flavors that come from each ingredient in the beer, including the malt.
This isn’t to say that East Coast IPAs aren’t hoppy – they very well can be. But the flavor sought in an East Coast IPA isn’t going to make your head explode with bitterness.
You can find this type of complex flavor in the current fad: Hazy IPAs. Hazy IPAs are notable for their generally juicy flavor and hazy look (buzz words, baby!). These are going to be sweeter and less bitter than the western brethren. No, Hazy IPAs and East Coast IPAs aren’t the same, but we would have never had the hazy IPA without the rise of the classic East Coast IPA. That makes the Hazy IPA something of a son to the East Coast IPA. Or step-son? Someone who is like a son? One of those.
Anyway, these are super popular in New England, and the flavor is starting to spread nationwide…just as people on the East Coast might want a West Coast-style India pale ale.
As with West Coast, we can sort of generalize East Coast styles: juicy, non-bitter = East Coast. No, it isn’t perfect. Get over it.
Where Did the East Coast IPA Come From?
East Coast IPAs come from the East Coast of the US, more specifically, the New England area (don’t worry, we’ll get there). I don’t know exactly what the first East Coast IPA was, but Heady Topper seems to be one of the earliest examples of an IPA that didn’t need to go full-throttle on bitter notes. Then, like a juicy avalanche, these beers swept across the region and then the country over the past few decades.
What Hops Are Used in East Coast IPAs?
Again, there are no rules when it comes to hop profiles and IPAs. However, because East Coast IPAs tend to have juicier flavors, they’re often brewed with hops with delicious aromatics, like Citra, Mosaic, Galaxy, and Amarillo. Some East Coast IPAs might use Sabro or El Dorado, and New Zealand hops are becoming increasingly popular for hazy brews.
East Coast IPA vs New England IPA
Ok, getting real down into the nitty-gritty of beer here. The difference between an East Coast IPA and New England IPA, or NE IPA, is debatable, as all things in beer apparently are.
Here’s the way I like to think about it: All NE IPAs are East Coast IPAs, but not all East Coast IPAs are NE IPAs. NE IPAs build off what East Coast IPAs started, but with even more hops added late into the brew. This makes the beer hoppier (i.e., juicer) without making the brew super bitter. The NE IPA is essentially another IPA sub-style that gets made, remade, confused, renamed, and so on until we can hardly agree what the term even means.
West Coast IPA vs East Coast IPA: Key Differences
To sum up everything we covered, here are the key differences between a West Coast IPA and an East Coast IPA:
- West Coast IPAs are more bitter, while East Coast IPAs are sweeter.
- West Coast IPAs often use Cascade, Simcoe, and Centennial hops while East Coast IPAs favor Citra, Mosaic, and Amarillo hops.
- East Coast IPAs tend to appear murkier, or hazier, than West Coast IPAs
West Coast IPA vs East Coast IPA: Which Is More Popular Today?
After years of slamming super bitter, IBU-busting beers, many beer drinkers, casual and snobby alike, have started to move away from the West Coast IPA and lean further into the East Coast IPA style. Why? Just tastes, and East Coast IPAs tend to be more approachable than West Coast IPAs.
Of course, this isn’t to say that you can’t find a West Coast IPA anywhere anymore. In fact, it feels like the West Coast IPA is making a comeback in breweries across the country, which is a great site to see. If you do get a WC IPA at your local taproom, expect it to lean slightly juicier instead of bitter, but not nearly as juicy as a Hazy IPA.
But when we put things into buckets (West Coast vs. East Coast IPA), we ignore the fact that there are soooo many styles of pale ale that don’t really fall into either category. Best to use this terminology as guidelines more than anything else.
- Kirkland Helles Style Lager Review: Finally, a Good Kirkland Beer? - June 2, 2026
- Best Breweries In Seattle - May 26, 2026
- Best Breweries in Ballard, Seattle - May 22, 2026
Hi,
You should consider doing more research on the terminology. East Coast IPAs and New England IPAs are two (very) distinct styles of IPAs. East Coast have existed for over two decades (think Dogfish Head) and are both malty-sweet and bitter/hop-forward, whereas New England (NEIPAs) are the juicy, hazy versions originating mostly in Vermont/Massachussets that are quite popular right now.
In contrast, West coast IPAs are less malty than East Coast and very much hop forward, usually the most bitter ones (not in term of IBUs but mostly because of the lack of malt sweetness).
Hope this helps clarify. People often get East Coast and New England (or North-East) confused, but these styles originated at least a decade apart.
In the end, these styles have not yet been classified by the BJCP but a thorough search through brewing forums shows a certain consensus — apart from the occasionnal NEIPA / East coast mix-up — that this is the story these styles will tell.
Jonathan, that’s a fair point! Although anyone could argue the categorization of beers to death, the NE IPA and East Coast IPA did originate separately and at different times. Of course, one could also make the argument that hazy IPAs and NE IPAs are different beasts as well, or that only select West Coast IPAs left malt behind (Reno, NV’s Great Basin has always been a malt-forward brewery). In any case, I agree that they are different and I’ll update the post to reflect that soon.
Thomas, thanks for replying so quickly!
Cheers
I’m from L.A. have only drank WC IPA’s just drank my first EC IPA. BEST IPA I EVER HAD. 12 oz. bottle of Brooklyn East IPA.