Educate me: IPL vs Pilsner

The only thing I can add is when brewers throw the "I" or "India" at the front of a beer "style", it's a marker or code word that says "this is a hop bomb". While I'm not sure I'd designate IPL as a style, it at least tells the drinker what to expect.

 

difference seems to be hops. ie.. how much hops are used and which varieties. imo. lol.

 

I agree with the crowd that says, "drink what you like." Point taken. I do. Don't most of us? Why would we drink something we hate or want to spit out? But, if you're on vacation and haven't had any beers you see at the grocery store (happened to me when I first was getting into craft beer) or want to try something new in general, you will make your choice on "style" or "label" or "gimmick label" or whatever you want to label the label. If I like plain Jane lagers and I buy an IPL thinking it's just a "lager" because I heard it's just a gimmick, it's really just a lager then I might bash the bottle on the computer screen and spit it out once I taste an IPL.

I searched and found this quote about IPL's: IPLs enjoy dual citizenship. They’re fermented like a lager, then hopped with pungent Pacific Northwest hops well past the point that purists would consider proper for a lager.

So, that seems pretty blunt and to the point. If that's not something that floats your boat, then don't buy it.

Brewers are getting more experimental and outrageous. It's part of this industry and quite frankly it's why I enjoy craft beer. 10 years ago if I saw a "pale ale" I would skim over it and just buy something else. Now with insane pale ales from 3 Floyd's and others, it seems like the term "pale ale" has morphed into something insane to some breweries.

I'm a person that's not really upset with all the "gimmicks". What upsets me is when I see a style, I buy that beer and take a drink, only to find out it is not the "style" at all. It's not even close. It's just some lame beer the brewery threw together and mis-labeled it BADLY. Example: Hefeweizen. My first craft beer love was a hefeweizen. After tasting some brewers version of this classic style I want to never buy anything from those breweries again. Asskisser is a good example. Their hefeweizen tastes like hoppy seltzer water.

 

This.
/thread

 

Best response in this thread.

 

If I see someone say "Drink what you like, don't worry about the style" one more time I'm going to leave this site, be frustrated, and then come back on in 15 minutes.

OF COURSE we'll drink what we like, but in the meantime can't a guy ask a question about styles, even if it's splitting hairs? That's what enthusiastic, curious people do.

 

A pilsner is light and crisp with a cap on how much alcohol it can have. The Imperial pilsners have to sacrifice the crispness, the "drinkablility" and some of the flavor characteristics of the pislner in order to substatiate a much higher abv than it should have. Pilsner should be dry, low yet well attenuated malt and the hops flavors should traditionally be from noble hops.

 

"Czech Pilsener" conveys meaningful information about what the beer is supposed to taste like. "IPL" does not. Now, if over the course of some years, beers labeled "IPL" tend to conform to some standard for brewing process, ingredients, flavor, and mouthfeel, then maybe it would be more proper to call it a style, rather than a marketing gimmick.

Simple test - if you read something on a beer label, and it doesn't give you a reliable indication of what you are about to drink is going to taste like, than what you are reading is not a "style." There is a reason that beer judges and raters on this site are supposed to take style into account - we WANT styles to mean something, as it helps us decide when we go to a store, bar, or restaurant, what we want to order. So, until the letters IPL convey meaningful information regarding the contents of the bottle/glass of IPL that is so labeled, it's not really a style.

Coincidentally, it's getting harder to consider IPA a "style." They vary so much by flavor profile and ingredients these days that if you ask me, it's becoming NOT a style. Even delineating by "east coast," "west coast," and "English-style" doesn't seem to help much.

 

I didn't intend to criticize you and I'm having a hard time recognizing how I did.

The OP is clearly looking for info on styles and your response is "drink what you like." That is very condescending, as it implies that he isn't drinking what he likes and needs help making some kind of decision. I made a comment on that and you felt criticized? Come on Otis, you've been on here long enough to know that's not criticism.

 

OK but I'm very sensitive today. And you also should know I sometimes just try to stir the pot.

 

You're welcome.

 

The "just trying to stir the pot" excuse is played out. You were being a prick. Own it and move on.

EDIT: And speaking of owning it, I'm being a prick right now.

 

Could not agree more. Experimentation is what makes craft beer great. I love traditional brews but I also love in-your-face hop bombs and unusual flavours of beer. It's also worth remembering that what is a "gimmick" today could be considered traditional 50 years from now.

 

OK. But you're now in the minority. So far I've gotten 3 likes and 2 negative comments.

 

You're entirely right, but I think what some of the BAs here are emphasizing is the fact that "innovation" and "experimentation" are coming at the expense of well-crafted styles that have already stood the test of time. As Droopy was mentioning, US brewers' takes on hefeweizen is subpar at best. The highest rated ones on here tend to be very different than a traditional hefeweizen. While that isn't wrong or bad necessarily, there is a trend among certain US craft brewers to take traditional styles and change them in ways that aren't always for the better.

While yes, an IPL or a hoppy hefeweizen may indeed come to be viewed as a traditional style in the US, there seems to be a shocking lack of effort for many craft breweries to push boundaries by brewing world-class representations of already traditional styles within the traditional guidelines. There are a few such examples that are truly world class (nobody here is going to argue that SN Summerfest isn't a fantastic Czech-style pilsner), but generally we see these styles "innovated" by changing them in a fundamental manner by making them cater to wider overall trends in the beer industry rather than bucking those trends (something the craft beer industry takes such pride in!).

 

IPL is yet another (stupid, IMO) instance where "India" somehow means "hoppy."
I really, really wish that would just die.
Garrett Oliver warned us about stupid naming conventions back in the 90's and nobody paid any attention. Now we're stuck.

 

You don't happen to have a link to that (prophecy) do you?