Spicy Roasted Chickpeas
Picnic Recipes Galore
Corner-Store Party Food on the Fly
9 Chili Recipes, Bison to Vegan
How to Choose the Best Strawberries
Sausage Recipes of the Month
India pale ale (IPA) is a beefed-up version of pale ale, made using more hops and with a higher alcohol content. Created in England, the name is a result of its popularity with British troops stationed in India in the 19th century, when the subcontinent was still a British colony. However, there is some dispute about exactly how and why it was invented.
The most popular theory is that IPA was created to survive the tough, months-long trip from Britain to India through tropical weather with no refrigeration. “They upped the hops and [alcohol by volume in pale ale], and the beer not only made the voyage, but the troops loved it,” says Julia Herz, the craft beer program director at the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colorado.
Others dispute how much difference a little extra hops and alcohol would make in such extreme conditions, and say that it was a simple matter of taste: While normal pale ale arrived stale and flat, with off-flavors ranging from cardboard to rotten vegetables, these flavors were masked by the bitterness and smell of extra hops in IPA, says George de Piro, the brewmaster for C.H. Evans Brewing Company at the Albany Pump Station in New York. As for the higher alcohol percentage, he speculates that “it probably kept the people on the other end happy that were drinking it—you’ll get intoxicated much faster and maybe forget you are posted far from home in India.”
These days, many popular British IPAs—such as Greene King and Deuchars—are largely indistinguishable from other pale ales or bitters in terms of hops and strength. However, on this side of the Atlantic, strong, hoppy IPA has become a signature style for many American microbrewers. The beer now accounts for around 8 percent of all craft beer sales, according to market research firm Information Resources Inc. This is because more American beer drinkers are becoming interested in the assertive bitterness and interesting flavor interplay between hops and malt that IPA offers, says the Brewers Association’s Herz.
Just waiting for Stone to start bloody exporting to Canada. Their Belgian style IPA is one of the most original (and tasty) brews I've had. And as a Canadian, Alex Keith's is no more an IPA than Budweiser is a pilsener. Sorry Northforker.
writergeek313, At least you can get Stone on the East Coast.. The only time I get it is when I visit Cali. At least we have Rogue in Hawaii.
I really want to like IPAs, but I've found that the hoppiness tends to suffocate the other flavors rather than compliment them. I'm sticking with milder hopped English bitters.
I think Stone Ruination is technically a double IPA--and also one of the very best beers out there IMO. Their regular IPA is awfully good, too. I just bought some for the first time in quite awhile, and it's definitely worth the high price (on the east coast). Other IPAs I really like are Surly Furious, Victory Hop Devil, Dog Fish Head 60 Minute, Boulder Mojo, Southern Tier IPA, and Ithaca Flower...+READ
I think Stone Ruination is technically a double IPA--and also one of the very best beers out there IMO. Their regular IPA is awfully good, too. I just bought some for the first time in quite awhile, and it's definitely worth the high price (on the east coast). Other IPAs I really like are Surly Furious, Victory Hop Devil, Dog Fish Head 60 Minute, Boulder Mojo, Southern Tier IPA, and Ithaca Flower Power.-COLLAPSE
One of my fav IPAs is Ruination from Stone, 7.7% and great hoppiness.
Life, liberty and the pursuit of.... Mmmmm
While it is important to note that bitterness is not a bad thing in beer (as Northforker seems to believe), one might also note that hops can work their magic in beer in several different ways: in hop aroma, hop flavor, and hop bitterness. All three should be found in varying degrees in a good IPA (and especially in a good American IPA). It may be that the beer mentioned in the comment is a...+READ
While it is important to note that bitterness is not a bad thing in beer (as Northforker seems to believe), one might also note that hops can work their magic in beer in several different ways: in hop aroma, hop flavor, and hop bitterness. All three should be found in varying degrees in a good IPA (and especially in a good American IPA). It may be that the beer mentioned in the comment is a British style IPA, a style generally much less assertively hopped than its American counterpart.-COLLAPSE
I agree with Julia Herz regarding the history of IPA. Although George de Piro is local to me and a fine brew master, I think Julia has the better historical take on the matter. It really does not matter if the higher alcohol percentage made a difference in shipping. The fact is the people at the time thought it did and that is why they did it.
Alexander Keith's IPA shouldn't even be considered an IPA. It has little assertiveness, character or strength. A very disappointing IPA. And how can a beer be "hoppy" and at the same time have no bitterness?
Alexander Keith's IPA brewed in Halifax, Nova Scotia since 1820 is perhaps the finest IPA I've enjoyed. While it is not available in the US, it is available at duty free stores on the border. It is a hoppy ale but I detect no bitterness and the alcohol content is 5%.