/ck/ - Food & Cooking

>>14046685
IPA = India Pale Ale
In its simplest definition it's just a pale ale with a strong aromatic flavour from the large amount of hops used in the brewing process. American IPAs typically use hops like Cascade, Centennial, Chinook and Citra, but many others too, which all have different aromatics ranging from piney and herbal to tropical and floral. Obviously there is a huge variety of flavours that can arise from hops alone, so it's a far broader category than it used to be.

I'm guessing as a boilerplate Germanfag all you really have heard of is pilsner-style lagers like Veltins and Oettinger. These use traditional European malts and hops and are also cold fermented, so they all taste fairly similar with varying degrees of quality. Wheat beers are closer to the brewing process of IPAs in that they are top-fermented, but again, they use very specific hops, malts and yeast. The best way to understand what an IPA tastes like is just to try one really. Look in Getränkemärkte for imported American stuff like Sierra Nevada or Lagunitas for entry-level IPAs. Punk IPA is increasingly popular in Germany as I understand, and, although very bland by comparison, will give you a general idea of what an IPA tastes like.