I’ve noticed a lot of beers entered as the catch all ‘Pale Ale’ style recently.
This is fine if there’s no hops listed or there’s a mix of hops from different countries.
But if the beer clearly contains one or two listed hops, Mosaic and Centennial in a recent example, then it should be an APA … even if it’s called simply a ‘pale ale’ on the badge.
Plenty folks get this concept but some users need to just dig below the detail a little and look at the hops (if listed).
If unsure you can always ask on the forum.
I’ve even seen beers clearly called a ‘Gold’ on the badge and with no hops listed, entered as a ‘Pale Ale’. This just makes me think people are trying to boost style numbers for their own benefit as cannot see the logic in adding as a pale!
Fair point. I’ve seen many beers that fit another category still classified as Pale Ales and I am sure I’ve been drunkenly/lazily guilty of same on occasion.
Not looking to over-complicate but why are pale ales distinguished by country whereas IPA and double IPA are not? If an American brewery makes a pale ale using American grown fuggles is that still an APA?
I hope this isn’t the case of folks farming style for their own benefits because it only adds additional time on admin to work either at verification stage or beer issue report for those that made it through previously. I know @marko (more so because time zone), and I usually jump on the beer issue report.
Thanks to the work @Theydon_Bois has been doing to clean this up and hopefully we as site will continue to progress forward in a productive way on this topic.
I just took a nose and the beer is described as a ‘pale hoppy bitter’ on here. However the pump clips actually states ‘pale hoppy beer’. Whether that has changed?
“Straw-coloured and refreshingly dry, this hoppy ale is brewed with a blend of Cascade, Wakatu and Summit hops for a spicy, savoury aroma and lasting bitterness.”
Checked it out. It was added by the person who verified it, who appears to have made an honest mistake, not to be faulted, by copying the description off of Untappd, where someone likely made a mistake initially or got “creative”. It just says “pale hoppy beer” everywhere. Not that there are many direct sources online.
