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Author Topic: Imperial?  (Read 4881 times)

Offline kenfish99

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Imperial?
« on: May 28, 2010, 04:26:57 pm »
What qualifies a beer as "Imperial"?  I have heard of Imperial Stouts, Imperial IPA, Imperial Amber.  What makes an Imperial imperial?

Ken

Offline dbeechum

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2010, 04:30:34 pm »
Depending upon how pedantic you want to be - only Imperial stouts qualify as "Imperial" because they were produced for the Russian Imperial Court. Everyone else using "Imperial" is wrong!

Ok, but if you're going to be relaxed about the world and look askance at the pedant, then really there's no hard guidelines except to say - "It's Imperial if it is bigger than you'd expect the base style to be" (i.e. the OG is above the OG range of the base style)
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Offline bonjour

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2010, 09:57:04 pm »
and thus you have my Imperial Barleywine.

Fred
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Everything under 1.100 is a 'session' beer ;)

Offline tygo

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #3 on: May 29, 2010, 04:11:03 am »
and thus you have my Imperial Barleywine.

Fred

Is that a session beer?
Clint
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Offline bonjour

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #4 on: May 29, 2010, 01:28:04 pm »
and thus you have my Imperial Barleywine.

Fred

Is that a session beer?
not by my standards
Fred Bonjour
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Everything under 1.100 is a 'session' beer ;)

Offline pyrite

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #5 on: May 29, 2010, 04:48:37 pm »
To add to this conversation, on another thread I read someone attempting to brew an Imperial Pilsner.  I wondered about the Imperial and thought, isn't that just a Bond Bock, or a Helles.  I have never heard of an Imperial Pilsner, is this just a fancy term used to stimulate curiosity?
« Last Edit: May 29, 2010, 05:59:05 pm by pyrite »
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Offline The Professor

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #6 on: May 29, 2010, 06:22:19 pm »
To add to this conversation, on another thread I read someone attempting to brew an Imperial Pilsner.  I wondered about the Imperial and thought, isn't that just a Bond Bock, or a Helles.  I have never heard of an Imperial Pilsner, is this just a fancy term used to stimulate curiosity?
Exactly right.  The term Imperial has really just been reduced to being a marketing gimmick by the micro industry (and even the bigs are starting to use it too).
"Double" (as in DIPA) is another overused one that never fails to make me chuckle.   
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Offline dbeechum

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #7 on: May 29, 2010, 11:52:33 pm »
To add to this conversation, on another thread I read someone attempting to brew an Imperial Pilsner.  I wondered about the Imperial and thought, isn't that just a Bond Bock, or a Helles.  I have never heard of an Imperial Pilsner, is this just a fancy term used to stimulate curiosity?

There's a few out there. To my mind, an Impy Pils has more strength than a Maibock and a hell of a lot more hops. So while in general "Imperial" and "Double" are just eye catchers, this one does indicate something a little different that you won't typically find even with the "Strong" European Golden Lagers.
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Offline kylekohlmorgen

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #8 on: June 02, 2010, 01:07:58 pm »
I think I may just brew an Imperial Mild.

Hey... its my beer... I can call it whatever the hell I want.





P.S. Sam Adams and Rogue both make a GREAT an Imperial Pils...

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Offline dbeechum

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #9 on: June 02, 2010, 01:09:28 pm »
I think I may just brew an Imperial Mild.

You wouldn't be the first.

ETA: Actually, there's an "imperial"esque mild recipe going in my next article right now, but it's not as absurd as it seems on the face of it since Mild's really did use to be strong beers, they just weren't very hoppy or aged.
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Offline bonjour

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #10 on: June 02, 2010, 01:13:43 pm »
hmm,  I may just have to brew that one.

Fred
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Everything under 1.100 is a 'session' beer ;)

Offline mnstorm99

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #11 on: June 03, 2010, 05:19:34 am »
I have heard a couple of "'Imperial Milds" lately and laugh at the oxymoron that it is.
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Offline The Professor

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #12 on: June 04, 2010, 09:15:50 am »
I have heard a couple of "'Imperial Milds" lately and laugh at the oxymoron that it is.

Other than the fact that the term "Imperial" itself has become something of a cliche these days,  the fact is that historically the term "mild" had nothing whatsoever to do with the strength of the brew (and according to more than one researcher, some of the original 'milds' didn't even have reduced hop rates). 
"Mild" meant only that the beer wasn't tart from extended age.
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Offline bonjour

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #13 on: June 04, 2010, 10:04:23 am »
I have heard a couple of "'Imperial Milds" lately and laugh at the oxymoron that it is.

Other than the fact that the term "Imperial" itself has become something of a cliche these days,  the fact is that historically the term "mild" had nothing whatsoever to do with the strength of the brew (and according to more than one researcher, some of the original 'milds' didn't even have reduced hop rates). 
"Mild" meant only that the beer wasn't tart from extended age.
That means that all my beers are "Milds"  ;D ;D ;D

Fred Bonjour
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Everything under 1.100 is a 'session' beer ;)

Offline tubercle

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Re: Imperial?
« Reply #14 on: June 04, 2010, 10:31:55 am »
Cool.
 I've been looking for an official name for my 7% lawnmower beer.

  Imperial Cream Ale.

 
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