Why does everybody think everything is an IPA?

Well there wouldn't be any "what are you drinking now" type threads if people weren't. My guess is it's a mix of vicarious thrills, a touch of curiosity, and a peppering of holier than thou.

 

I had the unfortunate experience of tasting Weinstephan White Hoplosion, their new hoppy hefeweizen. This from the oldest existing brewery in the world? BLASPHEMY!

 

I'm really not so sure most here get it judging by the level of hand-wringing that seems to run through alot of these types of threads. And as far as #1, yeah, I could have also said "an existing product becomes popular for no apparent reason". There's other reasons as well but you have to start somewhere.

 

I think by "popular" he meant "fastest growing" or something. Which is much closer to true. Pale Lager isnt growing. "No one goes there anymore, its too crowded."

 

Its inherent to the human condition.

 

I have the same problem with stouts, but you dont see me whining about it.

 

Who's everybody???

 

I think that terms like white ipa, black ipa, and belgian ipa help describe the beer. Especially in America. There are hundreds of styles of beer and nearly all of them are a basterdized style of another. If I go to the store and buy an "IPA", I would want to know if it has belgian yeast. It's part of the reason I am hesitant to buy beers labeled Strong Ale or Old Ale...I never know what to expect.

 

Relevant Belgian Brewery User Vote.... is Relevant:
http://www.delirium.be/en/327/deliria_vote

Delirium polled drinkers/the web, asking what type of beer they should brew next (to be named Deliria). With over 50% of the vote, overly hopped pale ale with a high ABV.

Should be called Deliripa.

 

That would be different. But a lot of Belgian IPAs are just an American IPA with Belgian yeast being the only difference. When I see Belgian IPA from a company like New Belgium, I do not expect a traditional Belgian strong pale ale.

I am having trouble explaining my point I think...

 

It's not a myth, its a scientific fact. The hop oils coat the outside of cell walls and prevent yeasts and bacteria from eating up what sugars are left and souring the beer. That's why you shouldn't repitch yeast offof a cake from an overly hopped brew without cleaning said yeast. It keeps the beer from spoiling.
I'm assuming you mean more hops don't equate to a lasting hop flavor and aroma.

And for the op, you stil haven't answered the question of descriptors that keeps popping up. What are you supposedd to call an ipa brewed wth rye?

 

Yeah not true at all......I think it was just a flavor thing...to appease the Indian taste buds.

 

Im guessing it is mostly because the beers in question are crossing/blending style guidelines. If the SRM or IBU levels dont fall within the style for IPA, you can make up for that by calling it a Rye IPA (If its darker than a regular IPA and brewed with rye malt but still falls within the IBU levels of IPAs), black IPA (same thing except brewed with darker malts), belgian IPA (belgian malt/yeast), etc....I actually think brewers are doing us a favor by trying to describe exactly what they are brewing. IPA is just the popular style to style-blend because they are heavily hopped, and there aren't many other ingredients you can add more of to a beer (overabundance of water!) to create a new style.

 

It does actually.

 

Great story but not true.

http://www.beerconnoisseur.com/the-origins-of-ipa

 

With it being one of the most popular styles I would say they are brewing more IPAs; not necessarily misnaming them.

 

The myth that's been debunked is that the highly hopped beers were first created specifically for shipping to India and that other beers would not survive the voyage. Hops are a preservative, and were used as such for beer (especially "stock ales" and others that were long aged before serving) previously, and long after for that reason.

See Martyn Cornell's Zyophile's page Myth 4: George Hodgson invented IPA to Survie the Long Voyage to India in which he specifically mentions:

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"It isn't even true" today, only because the vast majority of "craft" IPA's aren't long-aged, and consumers and brewers both desire the aromas and flavors of hop freshness rather than the preservative quality of the hops.

I supposed this comment is a joke, but lacking an appropriate "smiley" I'll add that the IPA's that UK brewers shipped to India were for the UK military officers and UK merchant class in India, not the native Indian population itself.

 

Your post is basically what I was referring to.

http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2011/08/04/four-ipa-myths-that-need-to-be-stamped-out-for-ipaday/