I think the reason I enjoy more IPA’s is the fact that they typically have some crystal in them. Most of the commercial PA’s that I’ve had have little mouthfeel, almost come across as bone dry comparatively speaking. Anybody else prefer IPA’s over PA’s and why? The reason I ask is they “can be” so similar sometimes.
funny, I actually notice the exact opposite - more caramelly flavors in PA and more bone dry, hoppy vs. less maltiness in IPAs.
guess it has to do with if you’re an ECIPA or WCIPA lover.
Dean, AFAIK, most PAs also have crystal in them. At least, it’s no more uncommon than it is for an IPA.
This isn’t really addressing his question though. He was asking whether you preferred the fuller mouth feel of an IPA (which I think pale ales tend to be maltier than IPAs) vs the thinner dry body of a pale.
I think that pale ales also have more body and are maltier than IPAs. But it depends on if you’re talking about east coast vs west coast, like blatz said. And I tend to like a nice hoppy east coast ipa with a nice body and mouth feel rather than the super dry west coast ipa where you can only taste hops. Oh and pale ales are good too. 
Good points…I was thinking it might have to do with the BU:GU ratio, also. IPAs are usually gonna be in the 1:1 range while APAs might be more like .6-.7:1. That could really effect your perception of the body. As to which prefer, it all depends on my mood!
Strange, I have had the same experience with Pale Ale’s vs IPAs. If fact I’ve pretty much stopped trying pale ales, cause I’ve never had one that made me interested in a refill.
+1 When I think of the perfect IPA, I think nothing more than 40*L, and dry as a bone. I like my PA’s a little thicker, and heavier on the *L.
When I think of IPA’s vs PA’s I think of an IPA as an over-the-top PA, with a higher ABV and more hop aroma, and a little more bitterness. In my own brewing a major differences is I never dry hop a PA, and reserve that for my IPA. My grain bills are pretty similar, with just extra base malt in the IPA
Man…my ears were burning and my nose was itching right before I opened this thread. ;D
Generally speaking, I have found similiar results in that EC IPA’s tend to be maltier and less hoppy than WC examples, but I also think that there are so many APA’s and American IPA’s available today that are across the board in maltiness, mouthfeel, color and hopiness that it is virtually impossible to nail down these styles to narrow criteria. At least this has been the case based on my experience.
I agree. Anymore the WC vs EC is becoming obsolete in that beer styles are starting to vary a lot more across the board. You can’t really compare EC to WC anymore. There are also midwest breweries making big slap you in the face IPAs and such.
Beer “styles” have always varied a lot across the board. The subcategories that have come into being in the last 20 years or so are all artificial anyway.
Any given “style” has always varied to one degree or another depending on who made the beer. In the case of the topic of the thread, they’re all IPA, just variations on a theme. I have never liked trying to recategorize the “style” into separate East Coast/West Coast/ English definitions, because as has been pointed out, there are no real rules for this anyway…it is the whim of the brewer.
It’s just us finnicky homebrewers (in the USA in particular) that seem to feel a need to define each and every variant of a “style” and call it a new “style”.
It’s rather funny, actually.