INTRODUCTION

"...like bringing hops to Yakima"

Although the hop harvest festival held each fall in Yakima attracts hop farmers, hop brokers, and hopheads from around the country and across the globe, this event is not the largest or best known celebration of the hop. The true celebration of the hop is called India Pale Ale, and you don't need to be anywhere near the fields of Washington to attend. Microbreweries are serving up little bits of beery bitterness everywhere.

The quality of the average IPA currently made available by the U.S. craft brewing scene is very high. However, IPA's are famous for their bitterness, an attribute which probably turns away twice as many tasters as it intrigues. Any microbrewery will attest to the fact that the blandest beer in their arsenal is the one they can't make fast enough. True, a brewery's IPA may never be the flagship beer, bringing in the cash to keep the business afloat. Looking at the most succesfull breweries in America (the big boys), it is plain to see that distinctions of flavor pale in comparison to distinctions of packaging and marketing image. Focusing on the name of the beer is often placed in a higher priority than focusing on the flavor. And let's face it: India Pale Ale is a great name. As we'll see below, it's also a great story. It may be inevitable, but we hope not to see gradual decrease in IPA gravities and hopping rates as larger breweries dress up standard (if not downright watery) pale ales with the mystique of IPA.

In a country where entire advertising campaigns (see: Keystone) are centered around the near-absence of one of the main ingredients of beer, there may be no hope for us. Then again, as craft brewing sweeps across the nation, beer appreciation and education are gaining footholds that they've never had. Despite the many imposters sure to come, it's safe to say there will always be good, full-flavored IPA's.

HISTORY

"The pale ale, prepared for the India Market...forms a most valuable restorative beverage for invalids and convalescents." - J. Pereira, 1934

By this time, the British Empire had expanded to every corner of the globe, including India. The soldiers and British expatriates living there, long accustomed to the fare of their previously local pubs, found themselves without a brewery in sight. Meanwhile, back in merry old England, breweries were growing to immense capacities, fueled by the fires of the industrial revolution. Beer had become big business. All that was needed was a link between the market for beer in India and the makers of beer in England.

There were huge profits to be had in other trades. One of them was the importation of highly valued silk and spices from India, and many a shipping company involved itself in the Indian trade. Occupied India, however, had survived on it's own for centuries, and there was little demand for British goods there. Which meant ships were heading to India chock full of nothing and coming back loaded. This meant shipping to India was cheap, even for a brewery. However, the India market presented one unique problem to the brewer: India was one of the distant corners the Empire had spread to, but it was still one hell of a voyage away. Not only did it take months to get there, but the tropical seas needing to be navigated made for very poor storage conditions. How could the beer survive?

The beer survived by packing extra hops and an alcoholic punch. It so happens that both hops and alcohol are preservatives, perfect for counteracting a beer's malt sugars, which would otherwise feed wild yeast and bacteria. Although humans can ingest alcohol in moderation with little damage suffered save a hangover, single-celled organisms often cannot survive in the presence of any alcohol. By definition, alcohol is a preservative. Hops also have preservative qualities. The acids naturally present on the hop flower not only deter predatory animals in the fields and lite beer drinkers in the bars: they also deter microbes that would otherwise spoil beer within days. That's one of the reasons they were chosen as a main ingredient in beer, and the main reason why they were central in the recipe for IPA.

If there is one name most associated with the beginnings of IPA, it is George Hodgson. He is known as the originator of the style, seizing the economic moment by capitalizing on the market in exporting microbiologically stable beer to the India market. He dedicated his London brewery to brewing beer that would weather the voyage, and created something of an Empire of his own. The beer market in India belonged to Mr. Hodgson for years. Of course, others eventually caught on, most notably major Burton breweries like Bass. Although Hodgson pulled out all the stops to control the market entirely, his competition eventually gained a foothold. By the 1820's, more and more breweries had edged in, and more and more "India Ales" had come to be. Thus, India Pale Ale, one businessman's solution to a problem of distribution, went from being a recipe to being an entire style.

STYLE DEFINITION

"Hairspray, Imported Hairspray, and Historically Correct Hairspray"

BREWING PRACTICES

"Brewers, Don't Lose Your Marbles"

The character of the hop can be brought out using flavor and finishing hops to some extent, but the real personality of the hop plant comes through most purely and strongly by dry-hopping--the addition of fresh hops to the secondary fermentor.

DRY HOPPING

There are some hurdles to jump when dry-hopping with whole leaf hops. For one, a few ounces of dry hops packed into a hop bag is a pretty bulky package to shove through a carboy neck in either direction. Once you've worked them in, they need to be weighed down in some way--otherwise, they tend to float on the top of the beer, making little contact with the beer. Marbles, which are easy to come by and easy to sterilize, are the anchor of choice for dry-hop bags.

Another possibility for dry-hopping available to brewers who keg their beers is to put whole leaf hops or hop plugs into the dispensing container. This is the traditional advantage of the hop plug, a compressed puck of whole leaf hops which fits perfectly through the bung hole in a conditioning keg for real ale. Of course, it'll also make it through the top of your Cornelius keg. Keg-hopping beer can be considered the height of fresh hop flavor. And, although our Corny kegs are worlds removed from the shipbound barrels of yesteryear, keg-hopping provides yet another link to the history of this beer style.

USE OF OAK

Opponents argue from several sides, but generally propose that oak flavor, if any, would have been at an absolute minimum. The reasons are that the barrels, re-used over and over again just like modern day kegs, could not possibly have had many of their flavor compounds left to impart. Secondly, as any winemaker or cask-conditioning expert might tell you, European oak has a much more subdued, subtle flavor than American Oak. The harsh tannins and vanilla notes of American oak have no place alongside the sweetly aromatic spiciness of the classic English hops.

How about European oak, then? Well, you will find that oak chips in U.S. wine supply shops are generally either American or French oak, not English. But there's no harm in trying out French oak. However, like in winemaking, the addition of Oak chips to your fermentor will require regular sampling until the desired flavor is achieved. Our recommendation is to find or develop an IPA recipe that you are happy with, and then begin experimenting with oak. You may find that it adds another level of complexity to perfectly complement the flavor, or you may find that it's best to leave well enough alone.

Brewing from Malt Extract:

Specialty grains like light crystal malts and dextrin may work well with this style, although they should be avoided in an historical interpretation.

Brewing from Grains:

Because an IPA is made with fully modified pale malt and little or no specialty grains, a single-step infusion mash at 150-158 F for one hour is all that is required for English Pale. If American 2-Row is substituted for English Pale, a step-mash is recommended for clarity (Hazes are particularly noticable in a pale beer like an IPA).

Return to Top

---

---

RECIPES

---

Rainy Day IPA

Our Rainy Day IPA hits the style right in the bulls-eye, and represents a good mix of American and English qualities. Since it does not involve specialty grains or dry hopping, this is an excellent IPA recipe for a beginning brewer to experiment with.

RAINY DAY IPA

India Pale Ale (Extract)

O.G. 1.060 - 1.065

6 lbs.	British Bulk Malt Syrup
2 lbs.	Munton & Fison Light Dry Malt
2 oz.	Chinook or Columbus Hops (Boiling)
1 oz.	Kent Golding Hops (Finishing)
3/4 cup	Priming Sugar
1 pkg.	Whitbread Dry Ale Yeast or British Ale Wyeast

Click here to find the catalog version of this recipe kit,
including 50 caps, muslin bags, and instructions.

RAINY DAY IPA

India Pale Ale (All-Grain)

Round the Horn IPA

This recipe is definitely an example of the American approach to the style, but very heavy handed with regard to both malt and hops. The aggressive flavor mellows with a few weeks' aging.