IPA has come out top in England of the various beer styles being searched on Google, a recent data study from Dorking Brewery has found.

The study, which compared Google searches for IPA, lager, and ale across a five-year period (April 2018 to April 2023) found that 31% of England’s counties were overwhelmingly in favour of the brew which also saw a 71% rise in search interest during 2020 – the year of the Covid-19 lockdowns. 

UK brewers saw the craft beer industry grow by 9.3% in 2022, which encouraged even more creative beer styles and flavours that are a significant departure from run-of-the-mill supermarket lager, the company said.

They added: “As a result, consumers of craft beer are enjoying a new wave of creative brewing and actively investigating further into it online, with IPA being the style of beer that people are most interested in.”

Dorking Brewery owner, Neel Singh, said: “This study acts as a genuinely informative signpost to the craft beer industry that highlights the continuously building interest for IPA. We’ve seen a huge rise in the popularity of IPAs at Dorking Brewery, and people clearly like the taste of the beer. It’s a style of beer that strikes the really nice balance of a summery lager and the full-bodied flavour of traditional ale, so it’s no surprise that people are interested in it!”

A Statista report backs up the IPA popularity too, with a UK survey showing that 52% of respondents said that IPA was their favourite beer type. Lager was less than half as popular, with just 20% citing it as their beer of choice.

In the counties not searching for IPA, lager secured the silver medal with 11 counties being most interested in the beer. Meanwhile, ale lovers only took the majority in six counties.