TOPIC:

"Tube":161asn9m wrote: Strangely Galway Hooker Irish Pale Ale is made firmly in the midlands, so it actually doesn't make any journeys from the Pale to the Wesht (or vice versa).[/quote:161asn9m]

The midlands??? Surely anything west of Leixlip is counted as The Wesht!

Many moons ago, shortly after I had discovered GH, I was in the B&C on a Saturday (1st Aug 2009) afternoon with a couple of mates from my college days. We were drinking GH and a lad who worked there (I later found out this was our Geoff) came over to us to chew the fat, as a good manager does. During the conversation about the beer I said, thinking I was really smart, "it really should have been called Roscommon Sheep Shagger", only to be handed one of the best put-downs I've been handed "ah yeah, I've heard all the bad jokes before, including that one".

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:gguecd8h wrote: Is it a style or desription tho, that is the question. <!-- s:?: --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_question.gif" alt=":" title="Question" /><!-- s:?: -->[/quote:gguecd8h]Styles grow from descriptions; descriptions become frozen into styles. "Irish Pale Ale" has not done that yet[/url:gguecd8h].

[size=85:gguecd8h]Oh look, this can has worms in it.[/size:gguecd8h]

I'm aware of that article, but it's a bit old by now, and things have moved on. We now have Metalman, for example.

If Irish Pale Ale is distinct from other styles, I'd say it is a style all of its own, but it needs to be recognised by some official body (BJCP?).

My own assessment (i.e. my 2c!) is that it is a spin off of American Pale Ale, but with the main difference being the ABV. APA is 4.5%-6.2%, whereas I'd put IPA at 4.2%-4.7%. APA is typically slightly darker, minimum 5 SRM (which is light) whereas IPA could maybe get as low as 3. Hops profile in an IPA tends to be biased towards American, but UK or European hops do usually get a look in, which is not really a trait of APA.

In summary, IPA is lower abv, and lighter in colour than an APA, possibly with a "mid-Atlantic" hop profile (I made that up), otherwise similar, but sufficiently different to be its own style.

APA style guideline:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style10.php">www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style10.php

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:zzm2r0er wrote: We now have Metalman, for example.[/quote:zzm2r0er]Yet Titanic Quarter hasn't gone away. It was the second beer to bear the description. Is it fair to say it's Not True To Style because it doesn't have the American hops of O'Hara's, Hooker, Metalman or Hop Head?

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:zzm2r0er wrote: it needs to be recognised by some official body[/quote:zzm2r0er]The Style Police are just a story brewers tell their children to scare them. Decisions on commercial styles have always been made organically by brewers and drinkers.

The BJCP styles guidelines are for home brewing competitions. It's not appropriate to apply them to commercial beer. They certainly don't reflect the real world of beer styles, especially European ones.

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:zzm2r0er wrote: I'd put IPA at 4.2%-4.7%.[/quote:zzm2r0er]Personally, I would class O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale as an Irish Pale Ale. It says it's one on the label. Are you saying it's a "true" American Pale Ale?

You have to remember, as it's my 2c, it's the world according to me. Your opinion may vary!

&amp;quot;TheBeerNut&amp;quot;:1ae2anjf wrote: Yet Titanic Quarter hasn't gone away. It was the second beer to bear the description. Is it fair to say it's Not True To Style because it doesn't have the American hops of O'Hara's, Hooker, Metalman or Hop Head?[/quote:1ae2anjf]
I've never seen Titanic Quarter, let alone tasted it, so I can't and won't comment. Interestingly you mention Hop Head. I consider this an APA as it's 5% and it's quite dark, and it tastes like an APA.

&amp;quot;Tube&amp;quot;:1ae2anjf wrote: The BJCP styles guidelines are for home brewing competitions. It's not appropriate to apply them to commercial beer. They certainly don't reflect the real world of beer styles, especially European ones.[/quote:1ae2anjf]
It was just an example of a body that defines styles, and one that we as home brewers would have heard of.

&amp;quot;TheBeerNut&amp;quot;:1ae2anjf wrote: Personally, I would class O'Hara's Irish Pale Ale as an Irish Pale Ale. It says it's one on the label. Are you saying it's a "true" American Pale Ale?[/quote:1ae2anjf]
Would you class Smithwicks Pale Ale as a craft beer because the label says so?

O'Hara's IPA abv does not fit with Tube's style guidelines for an Irish Pale Ale, but 5.2% is fairly atypical for a pale ale brewed in Ireland. I wouldn't class it as an APA tho.