Imperial Pilsner

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I’ve had a couple beers lately billed as imperia pilsners.

These seem to be no more than a less minerally dortmunder or a maibock change my mind….
 
I havent seen anything commercially. Dortmunder allows for another 1% ABV but it doesnt have the hop flavor intensity as a pils.

Helles Bock (maibock) is even higher in ABV but the IBU to OG ratio is way too malt focused to be a strong pilsner. Helles Bock is like 1.070 OG with a max of 35 IBU and a medium to low hop flavor. The GU to IBU ratio is 2:1.

A pilsner is typically 1.048 with a 35 to 40 IBU.
If you make it imperial, like 1.072 (50% higher), IBUs would be like 55-60.
 
I can see your point. It is like a hoppy maibock. I bought the Costco beer advents calendar and cracked it open early. There was one in the calendar. I also had another one recently. I like them I just don’t see how it’s a style when I think it can be on the fringes of other styles. Either way they were both good.
 
To me the concept of an "Imperial Pilsner" is sort of an oxymoron. It's virtually impossible to carry over the key characteristics of a pilsner when reaching for an ABV north of 6%. I'm not saying these beere couldn't be enjoyable, but they'll just never trigger that "yup, that's a pilsner" in your brain.
 
They probably said the same thing about imperial everything when they started getting brewed. If you brew a 7% clean lager with mostly pils malt and Hallertau to a similar hopping ratio of a std pilsner, what else would it be called?
 
I made an American Pilsner with 30% rice. Had an awesome cereal mash and ended up with a 1.068 wort.
It was no longer a pils ,so I looked at some guide lines and it's more like a Malt Liquor, so i changed the style on the recipe.
 
They probably said the same thing about imperial everything when they started getting brewed. If you brew a 7% clean lager with mostly pils malt and Hallertau to a similar hopping ratio of a std pilsner, what else would it be called?

An Imperial Lager?

I just think some styles are more suited for "imperialization" than others. Of course an imperial stout is very different from a 4% dry Irish stout, but they do share the same essence. An imperial Hefeweizen is a Weißbierbock and it still is, unmistakably, a Hefeweizen, sharing all the same traits. You can imperialize a Helles - and get a Maibock, which is incidentally one of my least favourite styles, but still has a direct connection to Helles.
But an imperial witbier is not a witbier anymore (maybe a weird tripel), because it has lost the refreshing character essential to a wit.
And a pale lager with 8% abv is never crisp and dry and therefore should not be labeled 'something pilsner', except if "something" was literally "not a".
 
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The wonderful world of brewing your own.
Brew what you want.
Drink what you like.
Call it whatever you choose to call it.
It's your beer.
 
I havent seen anything commercially.

Imperial pilsner has been around for a while, the article below says it all started about 20 years ago. The author mentions he found 400 examples by searching google, Isn't a malt liquor the same thing?
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/experimenting-with-imperial-pilsner/
The rate beer website provides this description:
Pilsener - Imperial
The Imperial Pilsener, or Imperial Pils, is a crisp, clean, medium-bodied, attenuated, gold-colored, bottom-fermented lager that usually showcases modern American or New World hop varieties. Similar to a German Pils in appearance, but with a more pronounced malt profile and bitterness as well as an higher alcohol content. There can be some overlap with some stronger India Pale Lager examples altough the clean Pils profile must be prominent.

Looked around a little more and found these three descriptions:

EUROPEAN STRONG LAGER . Many breweries around the world brew a stronger version of their regular lager. In the US, there is Ice Beer and Malt Liquor, both of which rely on a high amount of rice or corn to lighten the flavor. Many European and Asian breweries also have a strong lager similar to Malt Liquor, although these examples are made with more malt or all malt. Many breweries rush the fermentation so the final brew won’t be too light, and signs of higher alcohols will be noticed in the aroma and flavor.

MALT LIQUOR Straw to pale amber in color, most Malt Liquors are made with excessive amounts of adjuncts, such as corn, rice, and refined brewing sugar (dextrose). As a result, there are very few “all malt” malt liquors. Hops are used sparingly, just enough bitterness to balance off any cloyingness. Higher alcohol versions tend to have loads of fusel alcohol, which gives off solvent or fuel-like aromas and flavors. They are highly attenuated, meaning a higher ratio of fermentable sugars are present compared to some other beers, allowing the brewer to achieve a high alcohol content without using as many ingredients. Some breweries enable the use of special enzymes to further break down the malt and adjuncts so they will yield a higher percentage of alcohol. This makes for quite a dry beer, with only a small amount of unfermented sugars and a strong kick from the higher ABV. For the most part, Malt Liquor beers are sold in 40-ounce bottles.

AMERICAN IMPERIAL PILSNER Similar to a Pilsner in appearance, but expect a more pronounced malty backbone and an intense bitterness. Malt flavors tend to be quite sweet in many examples. Alcohol can be quite aggressive and lend some spicy notes to the flavor.
 
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Imperial pilsner has been around for a while, the article below says it all started about 20 years ago. The author mentions he found 400 examples by searching google, Isn't a malt liquor the same thing?
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/experimenting-with-imperial-pilsner/
Dang, it's been almost four years since I brewed those recipes and wrote that article. Time sure flies.
One of the ones I found was brewed by Rogue: in cooperation with Iron Chef Morimoto.
 
Imperial pilsner has been around for a while, the article below says it all started about 20 years ago. The author mentions he found 400 examples by searching google, Isn't a malt liquor the same thing?
https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/experimenting-with-imperial-pilsner/
Dang, it's been close to four years since I brewed those recipes and wrote that article. Time sure flies when your life goes in the crapper.
This may have been the most well known of the 400.
Screenshot_20211106-104614.png
Screenshot_20211106-104614.png
 
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