4 ms·

Pretty much the opposite here, I only drink IPA - hoppier the better! Having traveled and sampled IPAs all over the world, I can say that for the most part, it

Pretty much the opposite here, I only drink IPA - hoppier the better! Having traveled and sampled IPAs all over the world, I can say that for the most part, its a style that people can't really get right. Not really sure why, but my general experience has been that the further your IPA is from the west coast, the worse its going to be. My world ranking would be 1st tier - California, Oregon, Washington - if its from a smallish brewery, it will be a good, hoppy IPA 2nd tier - Colorado / Idaho / Nevada / Montana - has some good IPAs, but could be hit or miss 3rd tier - Rest of USA - very hit or miss. At best it will be as good as a good west coast beer and at worst it will be strange and malty 4th tier - Australia / New Zeland - maybe best non USA IPAs ive ever had was from Pirate Brewing in Australia. This might be because of the high quality of new zeland hops. 5th tier Europe - Good luck! Had some pretty good IPAs in Ireland, and maybe some half decent ones from Britain, but overall the stuff they market as "IPA" tastes wrong, malty and flat. 6th tier Asia - Had a good ipa (on tap!) from Demo Pizza bar in Yangshuo China. Also some good ones in Hong Kong 7th tier: Africa - had one or two good IPAs in South Africa but for the most part its not really IPA Overall, I think a good predictive equation for the quality of your IPA would be quality = 1 / (distance_from_usa_west_coast * distance_from_a_city_with_brew_scene).

OJFord 7y ago
> 5th tier Europe - Good luck! Had some pretty good IPAs in Ireland, and maybe some half decent ones from Britain, but overall the stuff they market as "IPA" tastes wrong, malty and flat. Ha! Because what you're expecting and looking for is an 'American IPA' (style not origin). The other half are English or Imperial (there is sometimes a technical and sometimes only marketing distinction to be made between the latter two) IPAs. Personally, the stuff America 'markets as "IPA" tastes wrong" - citrusy and way over-carbonated! It's unfortunate that they're made to sound so similar in my opinion, they're pretty different styles. Classic IPAs are much closer to other British bitters than they are to 'American IPA' (or to 'IPA' sold in America).
- zerocrates 7y ago
  Citra, and citrus flavor in general, is definitely still very much in vogue for American IPAs, but I don't really think of there being a huge difference in carbonation levels. British beer is usually less carbonated than American as a rule, but carbonation is actually one of the few areas where often-extreme American IPAs are relatively restrained, so it's not this massive gulf. "Imperial" is a tough descriptor for a British style, at least in America, because here it's usually used to signify something akin to "double": more alcoholic, more hoppy, just generally "more."
  - OJFord 7y ago
    Well, I concede that it may be even more exaggerated in other American styles, but certainly American IPAs are very much more carbonated than IPAs in Britain that aren't imitating that style. 'Imperial IPA' in Britain denotes a more traditional style - of course it's not regulated, but the one thing you can be certain of is that it won't be in the 'American IPA' style (you can get British made IPAs sold as 'American IPA', i.e. it is meant as a classifier of style, not orgin). Traditional IPAs are low in carbonation even among British ales, highly hopped (boiled and dry), and 6-9%. In short, the way you're saying it's used in America doesn't sound wrong to me! (I believe dry hopping actually originated with the IPA, and its long voyage from London docks to India.)

OJFord 7y ago

> 5th tier Europe - Good luck! Had some pretty good IPAs in Ireland, and maybe some half decent ones from Britain, but overall the stuff they market as "IPA" tastes wrong, malty and flat. Ha! Because what you're expecting and looking for is an 'American IPA' (style not origin). The other half are English or Imperial (there is sometimes a technical and sometimes only marketing distinction to be made between the latter two) IPAs. Personally, the stuff America 'markets as "IPA" tastes wrong" - citrusy and way over-carbonated! It's unfortunate that they're made to sound so similar in my opinion, they're pretty different styles. Classic IPAs are much closer to other British bitters than they are to 'American IPA' (or to 'IPA' sold in America).

zerocrates 7y ago
Citra, and citrus flavor in general, is definitely still very much in vogue for American IPAs, but I don't really think of there being a huge difference in carbonation levels. British beer is usually less carbonated than American as a rule, but carbonation is actually one of the few areas where often-extreme American IPAs are relatively restrained, so it's not this massive gulf. "Imperial" is a tough descriptor for a British style, at least in America, because here it's usually used to signify something akin to "double": more alcoholic, more hoppy, just generally "more."
- OJFord 7y ago
  Well, I concede that it may be even more exaggerated in other American styles, but certainly American IPAs are very much more carbonated than IPAs in Britain that aren't imitating that style. 'Imperial IPA' in Britain denotes a more traditional style - of course it's not regulated, but the one thing you can be certain of is that it won't be in the 'American IPA' style (you can get British made IPAs sold as 'American IPA', i.e. it is meant as a classifier of style, not orgin). Traditional IPAs are low in carbonation even among British ales, highly hopped (boiled and dry), and 6-9%. In short, the way you're saying it's used in America doesn't sound wrong to me! (I believe dry hopping actually originated with the IPA, and its long voyage from London docks to India.)