What are you... a Hop-Head?

What is an India Pale Ale?

IPA descends from the earliest pale ales of the 17th century. The term "pale ale" originally denoted an ale which had been brewed from pale malt. The pale ales of the early 18th century were lightly hopped and quite different from later pale ales. By the mid-18th century, pale ale was mostly manufactured with coke-fired malt, which produced less smoking and roasting of barley in the malting process, and hence produced a paler beer. One such variety of beer was October beer, a pale well-hopped brew popular among the landed classes, who brewed it domestically; once brewed it was intended to cellar two years.

Among the earliest known named brewers whose beers were exported to India was George Hodgson of the Bow Brewery, on the Middlesex-Essex border. Bow Brewery beers became popular among East India Company traders in the late 18th century because of the brewery's location and Hodgson's liberal credit line of 18 months. East Indiamen transported a number of Hodgson's beers to India, among them his October beer, which benefited exceptionally from conditions of the voyage and was apparently highly regarded among consumers in India. Bow Brewery came into control of Hodgson's sons in the early 19th century, but their business practices alienated their customers. During the same period, several Burton breweries lost their European export market in Russia because of new tariffs on beer, and were seeking a new export market for their beer. At the behest of the East India Company, Allsop brewery developed a strongly hopped pale ale in the style of Hodgson's for export to India. Other Burton brewers, including Bass and Salt, were anxious to replace their lost Russian export market and quickly followed Allsop's lead. Likely as a result of the advantages of Burton water in brewing, Burton India Pale Ale was preferred by merchants and their customers in India.

Demand for the export style of pale ale, which had become known as "India Pale Ale," developed in England around 1840 and India Pale Ale became a popular product in England. Some brewers dropped the term "India" in the late 19th century, but records indicated that these "pale ales" retained the features of earlier IPA. American, Australian and Canadian brewers manufactured beer with the label IPA before 1900, and records suggest that these beers were similar to English IPA of the era.

Hodgson's October beer style clearly influenced the Burton Brewers's India Pale Ale. His beer was only slightly higher in alcohol than most beer brewed in his day and would not have been considered a strong ale; however, a greater proportion of the wort was well-fermented, leaving behind few residual sugars, and the beer was strongly hopped. The common story that early IPAs were much stronger than other beers of the time, however, is a myth. Moreover, porter shipped to India at the same time survived the voyage, and common claims that Hodgson formulated his beer to survive the trip and that other beers would not survive the trip are probably false. It is clear that by the 1860s, India Pale Ales were widely brewed in England and that they were much more attenuated and highly hopped than porters and many other ales.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Home Brew Batch #3

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Homebrew Batch #2 Tasting

I divided up the beers for the second batch for me, Mark and Kirk. We gathered at Mark's for a tasting, and he also smoked salmon and Kirk did chicken thighs wrapped in bacon. Yes, it was as good as it sounds. An old friend who I hadn't seen in a while, Marxsen, was also there hanging out and also got a taster of batch 2. I wasn't able to be at the first tasting, but Kirk brought me down my share from that batch from his house in Dana Point. He put one up in the fridge to cool for us to have later on in the afternoon.

The second batch's was carbonated well, almost too well. The first pour into our tasting glasses produced big foamy heads. The beer color was a deep, rich amber. The taste was good, but not as hoppy as I was hoping. We failed to take the gravity while we were brewing, so we can only estimate the ABV. I would guess it is in the low 5's.

Later on I did get a chance to have a pint of batch 1, and it was not carbonated as well (at least in this bottle). It also was not as hoppy as even batch 2 was, and probably was in the low 5's for ABV as well.

All in all I'm very pleased with these 2 efforts. I think we are getting more confidence and may want to try to do our own recipes and try different hop combinations. We have to work on the beers we have now and start brew cycle #3!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Stone/ Ishii/ Baird Japanese Green Tea IPA

This is a collaboration between the 3 breweries, and they really made a winner. The proceeds of sales will go to Japan earthquake relief, so drink one for a good cause! This beer has a very different taste than normal IPAs. The hops are there, but the normal "dryness" of the beer is not. This is a smooth IPA, and goes down easily. My wife Robin, who generally dislikes IPA, enjoyed it quite a bit and joined me for a pint. I didn't detect a green tea taste, although Robin did. However, watch out how many you drink because these bad boys kick you in the ass with a massive 9.2% ABV. Luckily they come in 12oz. bottles. Do yourself a favor and buy a few.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Midas Touch

I subscribe to the Smithsonian Magazine, and I was excited to see an article about Dogfish Head and their attempts to recreate ancient beer recipes with help from scientists by analyzing the chemical components found inside of pottery and other vessels. One of the beers they wrote about was this Ancient Ale, from a recipe believed to be a few thousand years old. This is not an IPA, but I was excited to give it a try. The first thing about this beer is that it is a bit expensive. I paid $13.99 for a 4 pack at Vons. I guess this is due to the reverse engineering to find the ingredients, and also because it contains saffron, which is expensive on its own. The saffron gives it a very light golden color. The taste is crisp and reminded me of a White Ale. The lighter taste hid a massive 9% ABV which kind of sneaks up on you when having more than one. Although a great beer, I tried it pretty much for the novelty and I probably won't be buying it again. However, if you are looking for a nice special occasion beer I don't think you could go wrong choosing this one. Enjoy!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Bear Republic's Racer 5.

7.0% ABV

I was really craving a Racer 5. Kirk was wondering why I hadn't been posting reviews, and I thought last night was a great time to enjoy an IPA. My wife is teaching summer school and told me she was going to the store after work. I asked her to pick me up an IPA. Nothing specific, just an IPA. She knows the brands I enjoy and I knew she'd get a good one. Imagine my surprise when she comes home, I unpack the groceries, and there is a Racer 5 staring right back at me! I was stoked! If I drink an IPA during the week, it is usually while I cook dinner, and I couldn't wait to get cooking! I usually start at 6, but I was wanting the beer so bad I had to start at 5:30. I cracked it open and immediately smelled the delicious hops. Racer 5 is just a great, great IPA. Not too dry but really hoppy. The alcohol content comes in at a solid 7%. There are some IPAs that I can drink really quickly, but the Racer 5, for me, is a sipper. Like my recent obsession over Green Flash beers, I'm thinking I'm going to be trying out more of the Bear Republic beers. Now if they'd only bottle the Apex...

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Redhook, Long Hammer IPA

6.5% ABV

I've had Long Hammer quite a few times, especially while I was living in Washington. I've actually been to the brewery a couple times... it was 10 minutes from where I lived. It is color is very light for an IPA, but what it lacks in hoppiness, it makes up for in smooth taste and drinkability. It's not going to win any IPA contests or anything, but not bad for a budget IPA fan.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

I have to find this...

Ballast Point, Big Eye IPA

7.0% ABV

This is a solid effort by Ballast Point Brewing Comapny. It's dry and hoppy with good balance and a crisp taste. Being 7% ABV, it's close to tasting like a double IPA and packs a good punch. I see more of this IPA in my future...

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Bottling Homebrew IPA Batch #1

Tony, Mark and I got together to bottle IPA batch #1. Tony and I picked up the 1 liter clip top bottles and arrived at Marks just as he was getting home. Sanitizing the bottling equipment and bottles turned out to be quite a bit of work.

Sanitizing Bottles

Next we transferred the beer to the bottling bucket and the additional corn sugar for carbonation. Before starting we did take out a sample and gave it a taste... it was pretty good. This step took a minute to get right... getting the siphon to start without using your mouth on the hose was a challenge. Filling the tube with water first solved the issue and soon we were ready to put the beer in bottles.

Bottling Bucket

Getting a sample.

Finally Tony and I started putting beer in bottles. Soon we had 17 1 Liter bottles of Homebrew IPA. Now the hardest step, waiting for 2 weeks before opening one!

17 Bottles of IPA

Sunday, June 19, 2011

New Belgium, Ranger IPA

6.5% ABV

I'm on my 4th Ranger and I'm feeling good. I like this IPA, although it's not as rich or complex as many of the IPAs I've been drinking lately. Being from a larger brewery, it's got more of a middle of the road feel to it. There are hops in there, it's just not ridicules. It is on the more affordable side, as I only paid $8.99 for a 6 pack. The label could be better too, but that's just a minor cosmetic observation. All in all, drinkable... I'll be back for more I'm sure.