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IPA tastes like English Bitter. Should it


Beer Loving Trent

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Hi guys, I brewed a TC IPA, a month or two ago and finally got around to tasting it on the weekend. It tasted almost identical to English Bitter. So I was wondering should it taste like this? Any suggestion on this topic would be awesome. I bought it from a LHBS and used the malt mixture that the owner said to put with it.

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There will be some similarities. Not sure if they are identical though.

 

Both are in the English style and both are hopped with Styrian Goldings.

 

I haven't brewed either of them without pimping them out so I can't really comment on just the kits with malt/enhancer.

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The IPA has a lot more bitterness but apart from that an English bitter is the same as an English pale ale

Not quite true [rightful]

 

BJCP Cat #8 is English Pale Ale.

Under this category falls

8A. Standard/Ordinary Bitter

8B. Special/Best/Premium Bitter

8c. Extra Special/Strong Bitter (English Pale Ale)

 

If you compare the difference in Vital Statistics between an English IPA (14a)and an ESB (8c), you'll find they overlap. So, yes an English IPA can be very similar to an ESB:

 

Extra Special/Strong Bitter

OG: 1.048 \u2013 1.060

FG: 1.010 \u2013 1.016

ABV: 4.6 \u2013 6.2%

IBUs: 30 \u2013 50\t

SRM: 6 - 18

 

English IPA

OG: 1.050 \u2013 1.075

FG: 1.010 \u2013 1.018

ABV: 5 \u2013 7.5%

IBUs: 40 \u2013 60

SRM: 8 \u2013 14

 

 

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Absolutely, in an around about way I was concurring, but being slightly pedantic.

 

With IPA being the current fastest growing beer style it is also the most developed as breweries push the boundaries of the style in order to make their product stand out (I recently had a White IPA).

Most of the commercial IPA I have encountered here in Oz are more like the American IPA, so many are a little confused when served an English IPA.

 

I've heard Mitch Stone of Stone Brewing (great IPAs) has published a new book on IPA in which he spent a lot of time researching the history in an effort to resolve to true story behind the style.

I look forward to it

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