Beer Style Discovery: India Pale Ale (IPA)

Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)

And no, its not from India…

The India Pale Ale, or IPA, is currently a well known (and consumed) beer style around the world, characterized by its hoppy flavor and aftertaste, this beer is favorite for many beer lovers!

But where does it come from, and what does India have to do with it?

History time!

Earliest mention of IPA (Source: FoodsofEngland)

The first documented mention of "India Pale Ale" was in an 1829 advertisement, in the Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser. Its origins are in England however, not in Australia.

Based on the original pale ale, a beer first brewed in the mid 18th century. Due to a different brewing process this beer was pale of color and was lightly hopped. Bow Brewery produced a variant of this beer, named October beer.

This is where India comes into the story..

Tradesmen, Soldiers and colonizers stationed in India liked to have a drink every now and then. They faced one little problem however, the breweries were in England and they were in India. From England, a trip to India took around six months (imagine it took that long to get to your local beer store). Conditions on these ships were far from ideal; Heat, the rolling waves, thirsty sailors… not the best place for storing beer six months. Beer often became infected, spilled or was drunk by those who transported it.

British East Indian Trader (Source: British Library)

If none of those thing happened, and the beer survived, you must imagine that everyone was very happy? Not exactly…

Due to the length of the journey, one of the few beers which could survive the journey, and as such the majority of the beer, consisted of dark porters. Very popular in cold and rainy London at the time but not so much in hot and sweaty India. (although stouts and porters can be enjoyable on warm days, they don't eye as being very refreshing :P)

But first, back to England!

As i previously mentioned, Bow's Brewery created October beer (a pale ale variant of the day). This beer was the first beer of its kind to be exported to India by the EIC. The beer was very well received, it was refreshing, light of color and maintained its taste remarkably well over the six month journey.  However, the brewery experienced decline due to bad business practices (ignoring the EIC and attempting shipping by themselves) and as such exports dwindled.

It was the East India Company which requested a strong hopped pale ale, similar to that of Bow's Brewery, to be produced for export to India. Allsop brewery was the first to be approached with this request, and several other breweries quickly followed suit . Initial exports of this new "India Ale"or "India Pale Ale" proved very successful, and the beer was very well received in India. This beer was more heavily hopped and had a slightly higher alcohol percentage than most other beers of the time.

Enjoying some IPA 

This early connection to India is where the beer gained its name. Subsequently, the beer was also exported to other markets such as the Americas and Australia, often under the name pale ale as India was not the destination. However, due to its more hoppy nature and connection to India, the name did stick and later emerged as a distinct beer style!

Enjoying a Pliny the Elder Imperial IPA 

Enough history, back to the present…

IPA is currently enjoyed worldwide, and has a whole number of varieties. there are three "official" (main categories) styles for IPA:

American IPA: Significantly hoppy and usually characterized by a bitter aftertaste.

English IPA: Lower average ABV percentages (due to taxation over the decades) and is characterized by less of a hoppy flavor and more pronounced hints of malt.

Imperial/Double IPA: Intensely hoppy, and higher in ABV.

Several other "unofficial styles" or subcategories, include:

- Belgian IPA (IPA's fermented with Belgian yeast)
- India Session Ale (IPA with low ABV level)
- White IPA (Begian witbier hopped like an IPA)
- Wild IPA (IPA that experiences fermentation with wild yeast)
- Red IPA (American red ale brewed with the strength and hop level of IPA)
- Rye IPA (IPA brewed with rye)
- Spiced/Herbed IPA (IPA brewed with additional spices, herbs or flowers)
- Black IPA (IPA brewed with dark specialty malts)
- Triple IPA (more hops more glory)
- Quadrupel IPA (very extreme, not for the faint hearted)

So plenty of IPA's to choose from, and that all without the 6 month waiting time!

Cheers!