What makes a beer an Imperial, is it the high ABV or something more?
Imperial doesn’t really mean high alcohol content, but it can suggest that in the few beer styles it does appear in. I’m not a beer judge, but you can look at their style guidelines… You can see all the recognized styles along with the names and what the characteristics of the beer should be.
While it’s hard to digest the entire list, Imperial usually suggests strong alcohol content, but there is no definition of what makes imperial and imperial. The more familiarity you have with the style guidelines the better off you can pick out what kind of beer you like just by the name.
Thanks Eric!
As I’ve read, imperial refers to the Russians preference to stronger and over the top flavor…. Too much for me…. Try an imperial anything compared to its counter part… you’ll get the idea… Sneezles61
