Suggestions: add WCIPA as a style and notes when adding a beer

Traditionally, being over 8% ABV.

 

There's no such thing as Double or Triple IPAs. That's just marketing mumbo-jumbo from the breweries.

 

You do realize, of course, that you have ventured into the verbal territory commonly referred to as “fightin’ words”…

 

I agree, perhaps AIPA could be divided into East and West coast.

ECIPA
Pale straw to Golden color. Clear! Chill and hop haze OK.
Citrus flavored hops, some herbal/floral.
Bready and toasted malts.
Medium to medium light body.

WCIPA
Golden straw to amber/copper color. Clear! Chill and hop haze OK.
Pine/resin hops, some herbal/floral/spicy.
Toasted bread and some caramel malt (not sweet).
Low to Medium body.

 

But New England is part of America, so by definition NEIPA is also a sub-class of American IPA. So then we have at least three categories under that style, not even including milkshake and imperial. You can go down a lot of rabbit holes when you start this exercise in beer taxonomy. Not that I have any ready answers, it’s just a slippery slope.

 

For me it's always been either whats on the side of the can or what a brewery posts in their social media upon beer release. Tasting notes from drinkers have no place in a beers listing, so I'm happy we have it framed as such. Cheers.

 

I've drank my fair share of high octane "clear" IPA'S and there's quite a few out there. Hence the reason "Imperial" is seperare from the other IPA categories.

 

I see NEIPA as an offshoot of AIPA with few similarities to West and East coast versions.

Lactose IPA should be a style I think, you can "Imperial" any style so I think it should be generally agreed opon that all IPAs have a very wide ABV range.

There are no easy answers to this, the can of worms is open. Cheers.[/QUOTE]

 

Can we make it easier and have either “tastes like juice “ or “actually has some hop bitterness “. That’s all I’m looking for!

 

Get out there and try some stuff and find the balance.

 

Parsing IPA sub styles is either a tedious exercise in pedantry or a fascinating exploration of cultural history expressed in a cherished beverage.

I fall in the latter camp. I would think that an AIPA would be the direct decendant of the old east coast ipas. Strong C hop bitterness laid over a fairly robust malt body to create a balanced beer that is bitter and sweet. Two Hearted is the quintessential one in my book, but dfh 60/90 minute and Firestone-Walker Union Jack are two others that I used to drink.

WCIPA is the descendant of beers like Blind Pig and Stone IPA. Leaner malt bill with more emphasis on modern fruity aroma hops as the balance against the bitterness, but also unabashedly imbalanced toward the bitter.

 

Oooops need to edit;

Lactose IPA should be under Milkshake I think, you can "Imperial" any IPA style so I think it should be generally agreed upon that all IPAs (other than Imperial) should have a very wide ABV range.

 

I fear no electrons.

 

We must be talking about two different "notes."

 

Personally, I've always defaulted to using the sub-style more specific and applicable to the beer rather than altering the style label based on alcohol percentage. A consumer gets a better picture for what beer they're buying when it's labeled/listed "NE IPA" and has an ABV of 9% vs. "Imperial IPA" and has an ABV of 9%. Those two beers could be one and the same, or the latter could be something like Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA - vastly different options.

TBH, when I see "Imperial IPA" at the store, it tends to be a turn off. Not that I don't enjoy higher ABV beers, but that the style really doesn't tell me much. Is it a WC IPA? NE IPA? 'Middle coast' IPA? All I know is it's an IPA with higher alcohol, which the ABV label would've told me anyways.

 

Problem is, West Coast IPA is a broad style in and of itself. It's also indistinguishable from "American IPA" at certain levels, too. While we all agree that West Coast IPAs are more bitter than say, New England IPAs, a Two Hearted Ale and a Sierra Nevada Torpedo are essentially identical styles of beer and far more similar to each other than Torpedo and modern style WCIPA such as Coronado, North Park, Green Cheek, Pizza Port, and Modern Times. Old-school WCIPAs were heavily sweetened by crystal malt and intensely piney and bitter; whereas modern new-school WCIPAs are pale in malt, dry, and restrained in bitterness. Which is the correct WCIPA classification? They're distinctly different. This is the only issue I have with making WCIPA its own style.

 

I kind of think you answered your own question, if we're going to add a wcipa style at this point it must be for the modern style that is typical on the west coast. Pale, dry, and emphasizing modern Aroma hop flavors. The American ipa style can continue to hold the older style ipas that have a heavier and sweeter malt component and emphasize bitterness and pine/citrus pith hop flavors