Pale Ale Style

Lol, just stop now.

 

I don't remember if I saw Deschutes when I was in New York or Pennsylvania but their Red Chair and Mirror Pond are both very good APAs.

 

Historical context is what makes the present comprehensible.But you missed my point which was that as beer exists along a spectrum there will always be an arbitrary cutoff between what beers are named.
I do not, by the way, live in a beer desert.I have access to beers from several hundred "craft" breweries some of which are not too shabby.

 

Deschutes is available in PA. I personally am not a fan of Mirror Pond but I bought a 6-pack of Red Chair a month ago and I thought that beer was very good.

Cheers!

 

Nope. Try again.

 

I always enjoy your very respectful informative posts.

 

wow butthurt.

 

What exactly does this mean?
If you mean I say there are no styles then you are mistaken. What there can never be though is an accurate prescriptive set of style guidelines (and if you could it would need to be frequently rewritten ) and the more detailed guidelines become the more anomalies will occur.As you hint, the landscape of brewing is dynamic (it always has been) and styles move with it.Yesterday's IPA looks more like today's APA.

 

There are plenty of Pale Ales and Session IPAs which seem to transcend the false categorization around the terms.
My examples from beers had in the last week:

Drink a PsuedoSue and tell me that is malty/balanced, low abv, low ibu, or any of the other things often suggested as quantifying an APA. It is my favorite APA, but will out Hop a many IPA, session or not.

Now let's turn to a little more available beer- Blue Point Mosaic Session IPA. Significantly closer to what I expect from a Pale Ale than the 'Session IPA' on the label. More mellow, more balanced, low abv, easy drink with some semblance of a hop nose and taste. I actually found this beer very similar to the 'A little crazy' Belgian Pale Ale.

OK, reconvene arguing. I side with Session IPA is a misnomer, at least in some cases.

 

To be fair I don't think there is any thinly-veiled contempt of America going on here. Marquis likes to promote historical accuracy, and has a more balanced/open/non-US-centric viewpoint as to what constitutes a good beer. Whether you agree with his stance or not, I would of thought we would all agree that people like him are much needed on this site, to counter the hordes of "OMG where can I get Pliny its this amazing beer from California that is really hoppy and was the first beer to use so much hops and by the way I LOVE stouts but hate porters"

 

Goose Island 312 Urban Pale Ale was a recent wide distribution release but as far as the "awesome" goes I couldn't tell you because I haven't tried it yet.

 

Yeah I think you have a totally fair point - just a little OTT on the responses. Chill man it's all fun

 

Back on topic - I can't believe I haven't actually tried it, but Troegs Pale Ale should be another option that hasn't been mentioned yet

 

I never involved history in my original post , just made the point that any beer with "PA" in it is de facto a Pale Ale of some sort. We have had so-called session IPAs in this country for a very long time of course , just pointing out that it's just a name . I don't think a true session IPA is really feasible as what singles out a session beer is the ease with which it goes down pint after pint , a massively hopped and hoppy beer isn't the best candidate for this.
You are totally wrong about any contempt for America.I have many American friends and have always found your countrymen to be pleasant and courteous.I have had many American beers and found them well made though not always to my taste (but that's me not a criticism of the beer)