Comparison
India pale lager vs Kellerbier
What is the difference between India pale lager and Kellerbier?
The short answer
The main difference is citrus: India pale lager has far more of it than Kellerbier. India pale lager also leads on resin & pine and bitterness; Kellerbier on hop spice.
Generated from the two style records. No editor has written this comparison up, so it carries no verdict beyond what the data supports.
Where they overlap
They share comparable sweetness, body, the same style family — the boundary between them is narrower than the comparison suggests.
Side by side
| India pale lager | Kellerbier | |
|---|---|---|
| Family | Pale lager | Pale lager |
| Fermentation | Bottom-fermented (lager) | Bottom-fermented (lager) |
| Origin | United States | Germany |
| Category status — One of these is a more settled category than the other, which is worth knowing before treating the comparison as exact. | Commercial category | Regional |
| Strength | 4.8–7% ABV | 4.6–5.6% ABV |
| Bitterness (IBU) — IBU measures iso-alpha acids in the lab. It does not track perceived bitterness, which residual sweetness, body and roast all alter — compare the sensory rows below for how each actually tastes. | 40–70 IBU | 20–35 IBU |
| Colour | Straw to gold — 3–8 SRM, 6–16 EBC | Gold to amber — 4–12 SRM, 8–24 EBC |
| Original gravity | 1.048–1.065 | 1.045–1.055 |
| Final gravity | 1.008–1.014 | 1.008–1.014 |
| Serving temperature | 5–8°C | 7–10°C |
| Carbonation | 2–3 vol CO₂ | 1.8–2.3 vol CO₂ |
| Glassware | Pilsner glass | Stein, Willi Becher |
| Clarity | brilliant | hazy |
How they taste different
| Character | India pale lager | Kellerbier |
|---|---|---|
| Citrus | Moderate–High | Not characteristic |
| Resin & pine | Low–Moderate | Not characteristic |
| Hop spice | Not characteristic | Low–Moderate |
| Bitterness | High | Low–Moderate |
| Hop aroma | High | Low–Moderate |
| Malt intensity | Low | Moderate |
| Dryness | High | Moderate |
| Carbonation | Moderate–High | Low |
| Bread & biscuit | Low | Moderate |
Which should you choose?
- You want more citrus → India pale lager
- You want more hop spice → Kellerbier
Derived from where the two actually differ. Neither is better — this is a question of which difference you want.