Differences between these three beers?

[ILOVEBEER]

Hello,

Would anyone like to explain the difference between a:

IIPA-Imperial India Pale Ale
IPA- India " "
EPA- English " "
APA- American " "

Thanks for the time

Joe

 

[DrinksWellWithOthers]

The BJCP Guidelines are a great place to start and should answer most of your questions.

 

[beerthirty]

IPA- a pale ale with more alcohol and hop bitterness to prevent infection from long storage. Originally made by the Brits for their soldiers stationed in India.
IIPA- an IPA with a higher alcohol content, hence the name Imperial.
EPA- a pale ale of modest bitterness made with English yeast and hops, generally more earthy tasting.
APA- a pale ale of modest bitterness made with American yeast and hops, generally more citrus tasting.

 

[ILOVEBEER]

Awesome!! That is why I come here becasue there is always someone wh knows!

Thanks

 

[carnevoodoo]

And the IPAs are further broken down into English and American IPA. Just FYI.

 

[Orfy]

Pale ales are purely just that. A pale ale.

In the UK there is no such thing as a English pale ale. It's just a pale ale.
They tend to have less bitterness than a Bitter. They are probably in the same class as a summer ale.

American pale ales sold here tend to have more bitterness than normal pale ales. More in line with IPAs but IPAs should have more ABV.

The big boys have labelled some of their beers as IPA but they are not.

It's very difficult to put many British ales in a box.