Imperial or Double? – Strong Beer Styles Never Go Out of Vogue

Strong beer styles are extremely appreciated, which is shown also in the beer reviews of Pint Please. The most highly rated beers tend to be Belgian Strong Ales, Imperial or Double IPAs or New England IPAs, and Imperial Stouts.

What’s so special about high alcohol volumes? Why almost every one of the best-rated beers have a relatively high ABV?

Well, in some cases – believe me or not – beer is drinken to get drunk. And one may guess that has something to do with ABVs.

Many times in beer reviews we see that strong beers are reviewed referring to their drinkability despite of the high ABV. Some people may even mention the ‘drunkability’, which means that the beer may have high volumes but it’s still easy to drink (and so it’s faster to get wasted).

Still, not everyone aims to get drunk while drinking beer, and this applies especially to beer enthusiasts, who are more likely to enjoy their beer, well, just to enjoy the beer. 

The reason why beer enthusiasts also prefer high volumes is that there are some characteristics that a high ABV gives to the taste and flavour of a beer – in addition to the possible drunkability. 

Firstly, the mouthfeel gets thicker. Everyone must have recognized that Imperial Hazy IPA feels totally different in your mouth – at least when compared with a Session Hazy IPA.

The high ABV is also related to the acidity of the beer. More volumes, less bubbles? That seems correct. And when there is less carbonic acid, the mouthfeel also feels different: softer and smoother.

Of course, the bite of a fizzy drink is due to the serving temperature. Very strong beers are typically served just slightly chilled (14–18°C). Their ‘bite’ is therefore more modest, foregrounding richer aromas.

Secondly, the taste might get more bitter because of the alcohol. For example, in IPAs the IBU normally raises at the same time as the IPA turns to Double or Imperial.

And that takes as to the third point: it’s also the taste of alcohol itself that is essential to some beer styles, because it deepens and sharpens other flavours, for example like coffee or chocolate in stouts and porters. Or caramel flavour in Belgian strong ales.

The most common imperial beer styles are typically Belgian strong ales, Dubbels, Tripels or Quadrupels, but nowadays imperial stouts and New England DIPAs are good competitors.

And what beer styles are less common to be brewed with high alcohol volumes?

Well, there are some imperial sour and gose beers, but they are still pretty rare products and don’t appear in statistics. Neither do stronger lager beer styles, like Doppelbock or Eisbock, though their ABV is normally between 6–14%.

Strong Beer Statistics

The Best-Rated Beers

Westvleteren 12 from Belgian Trappist monastery Westvleteren Abdij St. Sixtus is the most appreciated strong beer in the Pint Please statistics. Its average rating is 4.55, which makes it the best-rated beer of the whole Pint Please. This quality beer was introduced in 1940, and it’s widely considered to be the best beer in the world.

Another version called Westvleteren Extra or Westvleteren 8 from the same Trappist monastery is holding the second place, staying on the ninth place of the best-rated beers from last year. Its average rating at the moment is 4.25.

Both trappist beers have a rich taste and an excellent balance, and they may be stored for several years for more developed flavours.

In the third place instead we’ll find a barrel-aged imperial stout from Estonia. Pime Öö Islay BA from 2017 is part of the Põhjala’s Cellar Series. Its average rating is 4.23. Pime Öö is said to be fabulously smooth and sweet.

The Most Popular Beers

The list of the most popular strong beers looks quite different, because the earlier-mentioned best-rated beers also tend to be pretty pricey. Still, the head of the list is dominated by Belgian beers.

The most popular strong beer is a Tripel with 8,4% ABV from a Belgian Brouwerij Bosteels. Tripel Karmeliet also has a high average rating of 4.07, which makes it interesting in terms of price-quality ratio. 

Surprisingly, one American beer has made its way to the competition. In the second place there is the legendary Lagunitas IPA with its 6,2% ABV. Its average rating is 3.54.

The third one of the most popular strong beers is also Belgian. Leffe Blonde, the pale version of the famous Leffe beer, has 6.6% ABV and an average rating of 3.31. Brasserie Artois is a well-known Belgian brand for its lighter beer called Stella Artois.