I got my dry hopped American Pale Ale into bottles on Tuesday, and I am quite excited about it. We had a lot of problems from a stuck mash and protracted run-off, so that we cut off early and added too much water to make up for it. A comedy of errors took this beer into the light or session beer catagory. The taste out of the fermenter (which means warm, flat, and green) was very citrusy (from the American hops), but not overwhelming in any way. I hope that the carbonation, chilling, and aging in the bottles does not diminish this beer's delicate hop profile. I am ever optimistic.
Now, I need to start moving some beer. I need to find boxes.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Three things in My Top Ten (all of them are good cold)
It is rare for me to catch any Red Wing's Hockey these days. They are not doing well this year, and I don't live in Hockeytown (my heart does, of course). I was lucky to see that they were broadcast nationally on NBC and at a time that I could record them.
So, nap time for the little one, a new DVR (we got for Christmas), and a cold beer (I am drinking Oskar Blue's Little Yella Pils, a GABF gold medal winner (from a can no less)). What is necessary to make this perfect? Kielbasa.
If you know me, you know that I have a weakness for almost any sausage including all beef hot dogs, breakfast links (and patties), brats, knacks, chorizo, italian, pepperoni, salami, smoked, game meat, dried, raw, even a little kieska (blood sausage)....if the meat is good, it is usually good for me. Although I need to admit that kieska is good in only the smallest amounts.
I have never found a good Polish meat market or butcher with anything near good sausage here in Denver. Every time I hear about something, the place has been closed for six months before I got there. While traveling in San Francisco for business, I happened upon a traditional Polish meat market (a big Polish Eagle painted on the side of the building brought me over 3 lanes of traffic despite being late for my flight). I talked to the guy for a half hour and spent $20, and walked out of there not only with an armful of 4 or 5 different sausages (made by hand by this guy and his family for the last 80 years), but also a quarter of a pan of cheesecake that was just like my grandmother used to make. I ate nothing but sausage and cheesecake for three days.
The Kielbasa that I bought for myself today is the crappy Hillshire Farms turkey stuff from the grocery store. The meat is not tightly packed, and it only faintly resembles the good stuff I have had all of my life. But it is enough to remind me of childhood.
I didn't even cook it. I just nibbled on it cold; with a cold beer, and ice hockey....cold heaven. Too bad my team lost on the last shot of the shootout.
So, nap time for the little one, a new DVR (we got for Christmas), and a cold beer (I am drinking Oskar Blue's Little Yella Pils, a GABF gold medal winner (from a can no less)). What is necessary to make this perfect? Kielbasa.
If you know me, you know that I have a weakness for almost any sausage including all beef hot dogs, breakfast links (and patties), brats, knacks, chorizo, italian, pepperoni, salami, smoked, game meat, dried, raw, even a little kieska (blood sausage)....if the meat is good, it is usually good for me. Although I need to admit that kieska is good in only the smallest amounts.
I have never found a good Polish meat market or butcher with anything near good sausage here in Denver. Every time I hear about something, the place has been closed for six months before I got there. While traveling in San Francisco for business, I happened upon a traditional Polish meat market (a big Polish Eagle painted on the side of the building brought me over 3 lanes of traffic despite being late for my flight). I talked to the guy for a half hour and spent $20, and walked out of there not only with an armful of 4 or 5 different sausages (made by hand by this guy and his family for the last 80 years), but also a quarter of a pan of cheesecake that was just like my grandmother used to make. I ate nothing but sausage and cheesecake for three days.
The Kielbasa that I bought for myself today is the crappy Hillshire Farms turkey stuff from the grocery store. The meat is not tightly packed, and it only faintly resembles the good stuff I have had all of my life. But it is enough to remind me of childhood.
I didn't even cook it. I just nibbled on it cold; with a cold beer, and ice hockey....cold heaven. Too bad my team lost on the last shot of the shootout.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
The Cost of Making Beer
One of the most common questions I get when someone asks about my brewing hobby is how much it costs. My usual answer would be to give them the cost of the grain/hops bill of my most recent batch. Most of the time I figured on $60 for a 12 gallon batch. Broadly applied, $5/gallon, about 10 bottles per gallon equals $0.50 per bottle. Of course it is more complicated than that, as there are other costs than the ingredients such as fuel, cleaners, caps, adjuncts, water, electricity, etc, and the bottles per batch vary too (sometimes you get more, sometimes less), as do fuel costs, and even the raw materials (grain and hops) have changed batch to batch. You get the picture.
Since I went about the task of justifying a grain mill purchase based on a potential cost savings, I figured I ought to make a rough estimate of all of my costs. Of course, I only had the receipts for a few batches, and had to guess and estimate usages on other things. If I couldn't ascertain what I actually paid, I used today's prices to estimate. My good records only go back to June (when I started using qbrew software), and I found I rarely made note of the number of bottles we actually got. There were also costs I couldn't estimate such as electricity (used for washing/sterilizing bottles in the dishwasher (with no detergent)) and water (much water and hot water is used to clean) which I ignored altogether. And of course, there are no labor costs, and since I recycle my bottles, no costs there, either. Nor is there any equipment depreciation or packaging costs.
What I came up with was about $0.57 per bottle on average. I also figured that I could reduce the costs to under 50 cents a bottle with the grain mill and buying in bulk. Still, to compare to the retail cost of a craft beer six pack of $7.99 to $9.99 (or $1.33 to $1.66 per bottle), or the $2-3 for bar prices and I am personally ahead, but if I had to use new bottles for each batch (like the pros), my costs would be about $1.15 per bottle.
I have to figure that professional craft brewers can make beer for about 25-40 cents per bottle of comparative material costs (Iess for mega breweries). This is a wild-assed guess on my part; it could be 6 cents per bottle for all I know. That means that labor, packaging, marketing, profit, equipment depreciation, shipping, and distributor and retail mark up is about $1/bottle. So, for professional brewers volume discounts on materials, high efficiencies, and large volume batching are the keys to profitability. I have no idea what a craft brewery's profit per bottle actually is, and have no way of guessing. With the cost of a Super Bowl ad, you must figure that advertising/marketing is one of the largest costs for the big breweries, but you rarely see TV or radio ads for any brewery smaller than Sam Adams. You could also surmise that a small brewery's selling merchandise might be the difference between profit and loss. This is why I have no good free brewery swag.
The business of brewing intrigues me. It takes so much more than good beer to become successful. I haven't quite even gotten up to good beer, but I am a harsh critic of my own abilities. People like it....most of the time. I do wish I could sell it, though. It would be difficult, but it might beat working for a living.
Since I went about the task of justifying a grain mill purchase based on a potential cost savings, I figured I ought to make a rough estimate of all of my costs. Of course, I only had the receipts for a few batches, and had to guess and estimate usages on other things. If I couldn't ascertain what I actually paid, I used today's prices to estimate. My good records only go back to June (when I started using qbrew software), and I found I rarely made note of the number of bottles we actually got. There were also costs I couldn't estimate such as electricity (used for washing/sterilizing bottles in the dishwasher (with no detergent)) and water (much water and hot water is used to clean) which I ignored altogether. And of course, there are no labor costs, and since I recycle my bottles, no costs there, either. Nor is there any equipment depreciation or packaging costs.
What I came up with was about $0.57 per bottle on average. I also figured that I could reduce the costs to under 50 cents a bottle with the grain mill and buying in bulk. Still, to compare to the retail cost of a craft beer six pack of $7.99 to $9.99 (or $1.33 to $1.66 per bottle), or the $2-3 for bar prices and I am personally ahead, but if I had to use new bottles for each batch (like the pros), my costs would be about $1.15 per bottle.
I have to figure that professional craft brewers can make beer for about 25-40 cents per bottle of comparative material costs (Iess for mega breweries). This is a wild-assed guess on my part; it could be 6 cents per bottle for all I know. That means that labor, packaging, marketing, profit, equipment depreciation, shipping, and distributor and retail mark up is about $1/bottle. So, for professional brewers volume discounts on materials, high efficiencies, and large volume batching are the keys to profitability. I have no idea what a craft brewery's profit per bottle actually is, and have no way of guessing. With the cost of a Super Bowl ad, you must figure that advertising/marketing is one of the largest costs for the big breweries, but you rarely see TV or radio ads for any brewery smaller than Sam Adams. You could also surmise that a small brewery's selling merchandise might be the difference between profit and loss. This is why I have no good free brewery swag.
The business of brewing intrigues me. It takes so much more than good beer to become successful. I haven't quite even gotten up to good beer, but I am a harsh critic of my own abilities. People like it....most of the time. I do wish I could sell it, though. It would be difficult, but it might beat working for a living.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Observations on Aging and Dry Hopping
I don't like beer hanging around in the carboys. I have an almost unresistible urge to bottle the high gravity Holiday Ale. I feel like nasty bacteria is sitting in my basement, contemplating and scheming on ways to get into the carboy and feast on and copulate in my beer like a drunken Roman Orgy. Maybe they are already in there (see below).
I also didn't like shoving hops into my beer. Although hops are a natural preservative, I felt like I was inviting in the nasty bacteria that was sitting around contemplating how to get in. How generous of me.I will not feel good about all of this until I taste the finished products. At that point we will see if it was worthwhile. I am, however, keeping with my New Year's resolutions about brewing more, and learning more. I am pushing myself to try new techniques (dry hopping isn't exactly new, but I never bothered with it).
Yesterday was my birthday. My wife got me a subscription a the beer of the month club. I guess that I will get two six packs a month from this. Goodness, what in the world am I going to do with all of this beer? I need more friends. My current beer cellar has a case of Porter, two cases of our West Coast Red Ale, and 9 gallons of holiday beer along with 12 gallons of American Pale Ale aging and dry hopping (21 gallons = about 210 beers of finished product). That is 280 beers sitting around....not all of it is mine, but still. I am planning on brewing a lager by early February, and who knows what next after that?
So, who needs a beer?
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Do I Really Need to Justify This Purchase?
Is it enough to want to purchase something for a hobby for the hell of it because it is shiny and new or a neat thing to have? There are pieces of equipment that I would like to have that will make only marginal improvements to the quality of the beer or the brewing session but are sexy (a stainless steel conical fermenter comes to mind). Buying a specialized grain mill, however, will actually improve the consistency and efficiency of the beer, save money and incrementally save time. It is a purchase that I have been weighing ever since we went to all grain brewing a few years back and I think it is time.
I went through my brewing records for 2009. We used just over 160 lbs of 2 row malt last year. It is our base grain, in which all of our recipes use a majority of. My local homebrew shop's (LHBS) cost on that grain is a reasonable $1.40/lb. (other local shops sell the same malt for more). So, we spent a little over $224 on a majority of our grain bill. My LHBS also offers to sell 50 pound bags of that malt for $49.99 or roughly $1.00 per pound. So, buying in bulk and grinding our own will save approximately 40 cents per pound ($6-$8 per batch, or 3 to 8 cents per bottle).
If last year is a baseline year (which is more than we ever brewed, but less than I hope to in 2010) the savings is about $64 per year. At this estimate, three years is our break even point for a mill. Not bad. If we can find bulk savings on one or two of our specialty grains that we use often, we can increase that savings. We do, however, also need to invest in storage and a scale to store and weigh our grains. I will ignore that for the time being, as I can probably use bins I have here for storage and also the bathroom scale for gross weighing of grain.
Another advantage to milling our own grains is increased mash efficiencies. The mash efficiency refers to how much starch is converted to sugar during the mash and how much is extracted (rinsed) from the grain into the wort during the sparge. 100% efficiency is a theoretical maximum based on the amount of starch that actually exists in a grain of barley, and would be impossible to actually achieve in actual brewing conditions. Again, referring to my 2009 brewing records, our mashing efficiencies varied from 58% to 72% last year and the most efficient mashes were from grains milled at a different homebrew shop. My LHBS's mill was giving us efficiencies averaging in the low 60's. Many homebrewers get efficiencies in the high 70's and even high 80's. It is a balance between the milling process, the mashing procedures, and the amount of time it takes. I spoke with people at my LHBS about their mill (and my crappy efficiency). Their mill is a 2 roller factory non adjustable unit, but it wears out over time. They replace it a couple times a year from such high volume use. They showed me one that they replaced, and you can actually see that the middle of the rollers are worn so that there is a visible difference between the gap at the end and the middle of the roller. It looks like the rollers are bowed outward in the middle and as a result they are barely cracking the grain. This explains the crappy efficiency numbers (but also the easy mashing/sparging). I was considering offering to buy their used and worn mill until I found out that it can't be adjusted. The efficiency would stay the same and eventually get worse. A new mill is likely to last us a lifetime.
It is not a stretch to say that we can get a consistently higher efficiency if we can control our own grind. A 20% improvement would likely be achievable, but even 10% would save us $16 per year using bulk pricing. So, the total yearly savings comes to over $80/year on the two row malt alone. Including a 10% savings on specialty grains that require mashing (Munich and Victory malts are the main ones we have been using), we could easily save another $10 per year.
We could spend less on a mill. Most two roller mills cost about $45 or so less than the 3 roller unit I want. The theory behind a three roller variety is that the grain passes through twice (the first pass is a wider gap than the second) which is more efficient and a little gentler on the grain's husk and thus less flour is made....supposedly better. I am sure it probably doesn't matter. You could spend more with larger diameter rollers or stainless steel rollers, too, for more durability and longer life, but the upgrade I chose supposedly makes a difference on the quality of the grist.
Of course, buying in bulk (including malt and hops) won't save me many, if any, trips to the LHBS. I will still be buying select specialty grains, hop varieties that I don't or can't buy in bulk, and periodically new and different strains of yeast. It may save us time spent at the shop, however (which is nice), as grinding the grains can happen while waiting for water to heat or even the evening before a brewing session.
Mostly, a grain mill will allow us to reproduce beers with a level of certainty what our starting gravity will be. That alone would be worthwhile if only to reduce my own aggravation and ensure the beer meets a profile we are shooting for. If you add in the cost savings (break even point being 2 years or less) and a possibility to spontaneously brew a simple beer periodically (with all of the raw ingredients sitting around and a couple extra hours time), this purchase becomes a no-brainer.
I went through my brewing records for 2009. We used just over 160 lbs of 2 row malt last year. It is our base grain, in which all of our recipes use a majority of. My local homebrew shop's (LHBS) cost on that grain is a reasonable $1.40/lb. (other local shops sell the same malt for more). So, we spent a little over $224 on a majority of our grain bill. My LHBS also offers to sell 50 pound bags of that malt for $49.99 or roughly $1.00 per pound. So, buying in bulk and grinding our own will save approximately 40 cents per pound ($6-$8 per batch, or 3 to 8 cents per bottle).
If last year is a baseline year (which is more than we ever brewed, but less than I hope to in 2010) the savings is about $64 per year. At this estimate, three years is our break even point for a mill. Not bad. If we can find bulk savings on one or two of our specialty grains that we use often, we can increase that savings. We do, however, also need to invest in storage and a scale to store and weigh our grains. I will ignore that for the time being, as I can probably use bins I have here for storage and also the bathroom scale for gross weighing of grain.
Another advantage to milling our own grains is increased mash efficiencies. The mash efficiency refers to how much starch is converted to sugar during the mash and how much is extracted (rinsed) from the grain into the wort during the sparge. 100% efficiency is a theoretical maximum based on the amount of starch that actually exists in a grain of barley, and would be impossible to actually achieve in actual brewing conditions. Again, referring to my 2009 brewing records, our mashing efficiencies varied from 58% to 72% last year and the most efficient mashes were from grains milled at a different homebrew shop. My LHBS's mill was giving us efficiencies averaging in the low 60's. Many homebrewers get efficiencies in the high 70's and even high 80's. It is a balance between the milling process, the mashing procedures, and the amount of time it takes. I spoke with people at my LHBS about their mill (and my crappy efficiency). Their mill is a 2 roller factory non adjustable unit, but it wears out over time. They replace it a couple times a year from such high volume use. They showed me one that they replaced, and you can actually see that the middle of the rollers are worn so that there is a visible difference between the gap at the end and the middle of the roller. It looks like the rollers are bowed outward in the middle and as a result they are barely cracking the grain. This explains the crappy efficiency numbers (but also the easy mashing/sparging). I was considering offering to buy their used and worn mill until I found out that it can't be adjusted. The efficiency would stay the same and eventually get worse. A new mill is likely to last us a lifetime.
It is not a stretch to say that we can get a consistently higher efficiency if we can control our own grind. A 20% improvement would likely be achievable, but even 10% would save us $16 per year using bulk pricing. So, the total yearly savings comes to over $80/year on the two row malt alone. Including a 10% savings on specialty grains that require mashing (Munich and Victory malts are the main ones we have been using), we could easily save another $10 per year.
We could spend less on a mill. Most two roller mills cost about $45 or so less than the 3 roller unit I want. The theory behind a three roller variety is that the grain passes through twice (the first pass is a wider gap than the second) which is more efficient and a little gentler on the grain's husk and thus less flour is made....supposedly better. I am sure it probably doesn't matter. You could spend more with larger diameter rollers or stainless steel rollers, too, for more durability and longer life, but the upgrade I chose supposedly makes a difference on the quality of the grist.
Of course, buying in bulk (including malt and hops) won't save me many, if any, trips to the LHBS. I will still be buying select specialty grains, hop varieties that I don't or can't buy in bulk, and periodically new and different strains of yeast. It may save us time spent at the shop, however (which is nice), as grinding the grains can happen while waiting for water to heat or even the evening before a brewing session.
Mostly, a grain mill will allow us to reproduce beers with a level of certainty what our starting gravity will be. That alone would be worthwhile if only to reduce my own aggravation and ensure the beer meets a profile we are shooting for. If you add in the cost savings (break even point being 2 years or less) and a possibility to spontaneously brew a simple beer periodically (with all of the raw ingredients sitting around and a couple extra hours time), this purchase becomes a no-brainer.
Birthday Gifts
I just got approval from the family CEO for a brewery purchase for my birthday. The problem is, I can't afford (really justify is a better word) what I want. I need to talk to my brother (aka brewing partner) about the purchase as well. He is all in, I just like to hear his perspective as it serves as a grounding for my own.
We were looking at selling some of our old unused equipment as well. But, I need to save a little money to make the purchase. Unless, the brewing fairy leaves a 3 roller monster mill with hopper under my pillow, or someone makes a donation or two...I am looking at $210 including shipping.
My personal justification is forthcoming.
We were looking at selling some of our old unused equipment as well. But, I need to save a little money to make the purchase. Unless, the brewing fairy leaves a 3 roller monster mill with hopper under my pillow, or someone makes a donation or two...I am looking at $210 including shipping.
My personal justification is forthcoming.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Pale Ale: A Compendium
I have never brewed a pale ale before. Isn't that strange? I have been brewing for 15 years and have never attempted a pale ale. I don't really have any idea why. So, I brewed an American Pale Ale yesterday...and it gets confusing for the uninitated. What makes a Pale Ale American? What makes it an India Pale Ale? And what the hell is an American Imperial and/or Indian Pale Ale?
We can thank the British for starting us off on a confusing foot. They screwed this one up.
The style Pale Ale is of English origin. The beer itself is part of the Bitter Family of beers, and some will tell you that a Pale Ale is nothing more than a bottled Bitter as a Brown Ale is nothing but a bottled Mild Ale. The actual definition of Pale Ale was any ale made with pale malt as opposed to dark or brown malt. The Pale is pale only compared to brown. I think that the easiest way to look at Pale Ale is to discuss the various sub-sets of Pale Ale as a continuum of progressively bigger and hoppier beers. Hops are definitely the hallmark of Pale Ale, especially hop flavor and aroma.
The original Pale Ale is the English style Pale Ale. For us Americans, think Bass. Bass Brewery was established in 1777 in Burton on Trent, England and is often referred to as the Original Pale Ale. Burton on Trent became a brewing center largely because of its water supply, which is heavily laced with dissolved salts, most notably gypsum. The salts aided the brewing process in maintaining the Ph balance allowing a better yield from the grains. Pale malt is a lightly malted barley fired with coke instead of wood or peat, allowing the maltster more control in the process and giving the grains a light color and neutral taste. The combination of the water and the pale malt allowed a wholly different beer than brown, stout, and porter ales that were popular at the time. So broadly applied, English Pale Ale is anything from England that isn't a dark ale. English Pale Ale is noticeably medium to dark copper color by use of crystal malt (not what we would call pale) and its trademark is a liberal dose of finishing hops (taste, aroma), and often characterized by dry hopping (adding hops to a secondary fermenter) to give it a fresh hop aroma. English hops are featured (Goldings family or Fuggle) displaying a more tobacco like flavor/aroma (not like cigarettes, but more earthy).
An American Pale Ale differs from an English style by the lack of crystal malt and a more traditional gold/yellow color. Like the English style it often has a distinctive hop aroma and flavor from late additions and dry hops of American hops such as Cascade, adding a much more citrusy, grassy, or fruity flavor.
India Pale Ale is a style developed in England for export to India (then a British Colony), and has become wildly popular here in the United States. It is traditionally higher in alcohol content and hop bitterness, as the beer was designed to survive a sea voyage across the equator and around the horn of Africa to the British Subjects in India (and around the world). Hops are a natural preservative, as is the alcohol. The color is still medium to deep copper.
American style India Pale ale is a hoppier and sometimes stronger ABV version of IPA, it can be deep golden to deep copper prominently featuring all aspects of hops. Think Dogfish Head Brewery's 60 or 120 Minute IPA. The 60 or 120 denotes the extra time in the boiling kettle with the hops to derive more bittering out of the hops. There is often a confusion as to what constitutes a American IPA or an American Pale Ale. The high end of Pale Ale overlaps the low end of American IPA and often the names are interchangable. Also, to further confuse the issue, many breweries don't differentiate between English style and American IPA styles. It is good to inquire when deciding on new beers at a bar or brewery. I like to say that the American Pale Ale shouldn't knock your socks off with hops' but all bets are off with IPA in the English or American variety.
Imperial Pale Ale or American Imperial Pale Ale is a hop head's delight, and this is not a starter beer.. Hops, hops, hops, with a liberal dosing of ABV (alcohol by volume, content) as a means of balance. (try keeping your balance with a few of these under your belt). It is strong, bitter, and smells and tastes of everything that my wife hates about beer (hops, that is). This is an angry beer my friend, for the advanced.
Pale Ale is a wide swath of beers, firmly in the junction of the family tree of beers....even Belgian Strong and Biere de Garde has heritage in Pale Ales. Next time, ask the bartender what kind of Pale Ale....if he/she gives you a strange look, move along. The differences are often slight, but it matters. The continuum goes English, American, India, American India, and Imperial from milder to stronger in both ABV and hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. You may find that English and true American style PA's suit you (like me), but avoid those along the IPA, AIPA, and Imperials, or vice versa. Also remember that each style overlaps, so that an American Pale Ale might have more crystal malt character than an English PA, or more hop bitterness than an IPA.
Disclaimer: This post was written under the influence of Trademark Pale Ale from the Brekenridge Brewery. It is an American Pale Ale....the author likes this beer very much (but still has no free swag from Brek).
We can thank the British for starting us off on a confusing foot. They screwed this one up.
The style Pale Ale is of English origin. The beer itself is part of the Bitter Family of beers, and some will tell you that a Pale Ale is nothing more than a bottled Bitter as a Brown Ale is nothing but a bottled Mild Ale. The actual definition of Pale Ale was any ale made with pale malt as opposed to dark or brown malt. The Pale is pale only compared to brown. I think that the easiest way to look at Pale Ale is to discuss the various sub-sets of Pale Ale as a continuum of progressively bigger and hoppier beers. Hops are definitely the hallmark of Pale Ale, especially hop flavor and aroma.
The original Pale Ale is the English style Pale Ale. For us Americans, think Bass. Bass Brewery was established in 1777 in Burton on Trent, England and is often referred to as the Original Pale Ale. Burton on Trent became a brewing center largely because of its water supply, which is heavily laced with dissolved salts, most notably gypsum. The salts aided the brewing process in maintaining the Ph balance allowing a better yield from the grains. Pale malt is a lightly malted barley fired with coke instead of wood or peat, allowing the maltster more control in the process and giving the grains a light color and neutral taste. The combination of the water and the pale malt allowed a wholly different beer than brown, stout, and porter ales that were popular at the time. So broadly applied, English Pale Ale is anything from England that isn't a dark ale. English Pale Ale is noticeably medium to dark copper color by use of crystal malt (not what we would call pale) and its trademark is a liberal dose of finishing hops (taste, aroma), and often characterized by dry hopping (adding hops to a secondary fermenter) to give it a fresh hop aroma. English hops are featured (Goldings family or Fuggle) displaying a more tobacco like flavor/aroma (not like cigarettes, but more earthy).
An American Pale Ale differs from an English style by the lack of crystal malt and a more traditional gold/yellow color. Like the English style it often has a distinctive hop aroma and flavor from late additions and dry hops of American hops such as Cascade, adding a much more citrusy, grassy, or fruity flavor.
India Pale Ale is a style developed in England for export to India (then a British Colony), and has become wildly popular here in the United States. It is traditionally higher in alcohol content and hop bitterness, as the beer was designed to survive a sea voyage across the equator and around the horn of Africa to the British Subjects in India (and around the world). Hops are a natural preservative, as is the alcohol. The color is still medium to deep copper.
American style India Pale ale is a hoppier and sometimes stronger ABV version of IPA, it can be deep golden to deep copper prominently featuring all aspects of hops. Think Dogfish Head Brewery's 60 or 120 Minute IPA. The 60 or 120 denotes the extra time in the boiling kettle with the hops to derive more bittering out of the hops. There is often a confusion as to what constitutes a American IPA or an American Pale Ale. The high end of Pale Ale overlaps the low end of American IPA and often the names are interchangable. Also, to further confuse the issue, many breweries don't differentiate between English style and American IPA styles. It is good to inquire when deciding on new beers at a bar or brewery. I like to say that the American Pale Ale shouldn't knock your socks off with hops' but all bets are off with IPA in the English or American variety.
Imperial Pale Ale or American Imperial Pale Ale is a hop head's delight, and this is not a starter beer.. Hops, hops, hops, with a liberal dosing of ABV (alcohol by volume, content) as a means of balance. (try keeping your balance with a few of these under your belt). It is strong, bitter, and smells and tastes of everything that my wife hates about beer (hops, that is). This is an angry beer my friend, for the advanced.
Pale Ale is a wide swath of beers, firmly in the junction of the family tree of beers....even Belgian Strong and Biere de Garde has heritage in Pale Ales. Next time, ask the bartender what kind of Pale Ale....if he/she gives you a strange look, move along. The differences are often slight, but it matters. The continuum goes English, American, India, American India, and Imperial from milder to stronger in both ABV and hop bitterness, flavor, and aroma. You may find that English and true American style PA's suit you (like me), but avoid those along the IPA, AIPA, and Imperials, or vice versa. Also remember that each style overlaps, so that an American Pale Ale might have more crystal malt character than an English PA, or more hop bitterness than an IPA.
Disclaimer: This post was written under the influence of Trademark Pale Ale from the Brekenridge Brewery. It is an American Pale Ale....the author likes this beer very much (but still has no free swag from Brek).
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