I posted this some time ago and found it on a jazzfanz.com archive, but when I tried to go to the actual thread it didn't exist.
Anyway, there is a very pervasive myth about how IPAs came to be, that they added a bunch of extra hops to pale ale so that it could survive the long journey to India. That is not correct. England was exporting all sorts of beer LONG before IPA was ever even remotely conceived.
Here's a reposting of something I submitted on IPA day several years ago:
This style originates from the early 1800s when English brewers began shipping their beer to India via the East India Trading Company. At the time the EITC allowed their ship captains to purchase items, including beer, on their own and transport them on their ships for the voyage to India. Most of the goods being transported were coming out of India, so the ships had extra space during the voyage to India.
The Hodgson’s Bow brewery became a popular source for the beer that they purchased primarily because of its location. It was located east of London just a short distance up river from the docks used by the EITC. Hodgson’s also offered incredibly favorable terms to the captains, giving them low prices and not demanding payment until their return. Because the ship captains favored Hodgson’s so heavily the brand became the standard of quality amongst the ex-pats living in India. In India the popular beer supplied by Hodgson’s was named “Hodgson’s Select Pale Ale” and was not a distinct style separate from the pale ale (bitter) of the day sold all across England. However, at the time porter was far and away the most popular beer in England.
There is a popular myth, one that I have been guilty of repeating on occasion, that IPA came to be as a result of necessity in order for the beer to survive the “long” (four month) sea voyage to India. This turns out to be flat out wrong. Many styles of beer were shipped to India, including porter and even “small beer” which contained low levels of alcohol and hops. English brewers had been trading their beer around the world for some time and were well aware of various methods to preserve it for long journeys and in all climates. It is likely that it was just a matter of the ship captain’s preference for doing business with Hodgson’s and Hodgson’s particular version of pale ale, which was paler and more bitter than most popular pale ales of the day, that led to the popularity of that taste in the Indian market.
In 1821 Frederick Hodgson and Thomas Drane were heading Hodgson’s brewery. They decided they could increase their profits by cutting out the EITC ship captains, shipping their beer to India and selling it themselves. At the time, shipping their beer to India cost no more than shipping it to Edinburgh. Hodgson’s no longer offered their beer on credit, demanding only cash up front, and they raised prices by 20%. In India Hodgson’s attempted to maintain their dominance by grossly under pricing their beer any time a merchant attempted to import a different brand, thus scaring merchants into avoiding their rivals. Hodgson’s believed that their actions combined by their fine reputation amongst the British ex-pats would prevent any other brewer from finding buyers in India.
The EITC had other plans. In 1822 captain Campbell Marjoribanks, who represented the EITC’s shipping interests on the company’s court of directors, invited Samuel Allsopp, a well known Burton upon Trent brewer, to his home for dinner. The Burton brewers had just been hit hard by new tariffs in Russia on all English ale imports. Capt. Majoribanks informed Allsopp that the market for English ale in India was 10,000 barrels a year, more than enough to make up for the loss of the Russian market. He also informed him that “we are all now dependent upon Hodgson’s, who has given offence to most of our merchants in India” so there was an opening for a new supplier. Capt. Majoribanks had selected Allsopp for his experience in exporting beer to distant lands.
Allsopp returned to Burton and attempted to recreate “Hodgson’s India Beer” which was much more pale and bitter than the beers Allsopp was currently brewing. It turned out that the well water in Burton was far better suited for brewing pale hoppy beers than the water Hodgson’s was using near London. Allsopp commissioned his maltster, Job Goodhead, to create a pale “East India” malt perfectly suited to making this new pale hoppy beer. Allsopp’s new pale ale began shipping to India in 1823. Within a year reports were returning that his beer “is almost universally preferred by all old Indians [Europeans in India] to Hodgson’s.” The only complaint levied against the beer was that it needed to be a little more bitter and a little less strong.
This “India beer” was exclusively exported overseas. That is, until a ship wrecked in the Irish Channel in 1827. The ship contained 300 hogsheads (one hogshead is just shy of 240L) of beer. Several casks of which were the “Burton bitter beer” headed to India. The ship’s underwriters sold the beer off in Liverpool where this new India ale was greatly enjoyed. The reputation of this beer spread rapidly across England. It wasn't until 1835 that the first reference to “India Pale Ale” can be found in an advertisement for Hodgson’s beer in the Liverpool Mercury. However, the beer was still much more popularly referred to as “Pale Ale as prepared for India” until about 1846. The first brewer to refer to their own beer as India Pale Ale was Bass. Their rival brewers quickly followed suit.
Anyway, there is a very pervasive myth about how IPAs came to be, that they added a bunch of extra hops to pale ale so that it could survive the long journey to India. That is not correct. England was exporting all sorts of beer LONG before IPA was ever even remotely conceived.
Here's a reposting of something I submitted on IPA day several years ago:
This style originates from the early 1800s when English brewers began shipping their beer to India via the East India Trading Company. At the time the EITC allowed their ship captains to purchase items, including beer, on their own and transport them on their ships for the voyage to India. Most of the goods being transported were coming out of India, so the ships had extra space during the voyage to India.
The Hodgson’s Bow brewery became a popular source for the beer that they purchased primarily because of its location. It was located east of London just a short distance up river from the docks used by the EITC. Hodgson’s also offered incredibly favorable terms to the captains, giving them low prices and not demanding payment until their return. Because the ship captains favored Hodgson’s so heavily the brand became the standard of quality amongst the ex-pats living in India. In India the popular beer supplied by Hodgson’s was named “Hodgson’s Select Pale Ale” and was not a distinct style separate from the pale ale (bitter) of the day sold all across England. However, at the time porter was far and away the most popular beer in England.
There is a popular myth, one that I have been guilty of repeating on occasion, that IPA came to be as a result of necessity in order for the beer to survive the “long” (four month) sea voyage to India. This turns out to be flat out wrong. Many styles of beer were shipped to India, including porter and even “small beer” which contained low levels of alcohol and hops. English brewers had been trading their beer around the world for some time and were well aware of various methods to preserve it for long journeys and in all climates. It is likely that it was just a matter of the ship captain’s preference for doing business with Hodgson’s and Hodgson’s particular version of pale ale, which was paler and more bitter than most popular pale ales of the day, that led to the popularity of that taste in the Indian market.
In 1821 Frederick Hodgson and Thomas Drane were heading Hodgson’s brewery. They decided they could increase their profits by cutting out the EITC ship captains, shipping their beer to India and selling it themselves. At the time, shipping their beer to India cost no more than shipping it to Edinburgh. Hodgson’s no longer offered their beer on credit, demanding only cash up front, and they raised prices by 20%. In India Hodgson’s attempted to maintain their dominance by grossly under pricing their beer any time a merchant attempted to import a different brand, thus scaring merchants into avoiding their rivals. Hodgson’s believed that their actions combined by their fine reputation amongst the British ex-pats would prevent any other brewer from finding buyers in India.
The EITC had other plans. In 1822 captain Campbell Marjoribanks, who represented the EITC’s shipping interests on the company’s court of directors, invited Samuel Allsopp, a well known Burton upon Trent brewer, to his home for dinner. The Burton brewers had just been hit hard by new tariffs in Russia on all English ale imports. Capt. Majoribanks informed Allsopp that the market for English ale in India was 10,000 barrels a year, more than enough to make up for the loss of the Russian market. He also informed him that “we are all now dependent upon Hodgson’s, who has given offence to most of our merchants in India” so there was an opening for a new supplier. Capt. Majoribanks had selected Allsopp for his experience in exporting beer to distant lands.
Allsopp returned to Burton and attempted to recreate “Hodgson’s India Beer” which was much more pale and bitter than the beers Allsopp was currently brewing. It turned out that the well water in Burton was far better suited for brewing pale hoppy beers than the water Hodgson’s was using near London. Allsopp commissioned his maltster, Job Goodhead, to create a pale “East India” malt perfectly suited to making this new pale hoppy beer. Allsopp’s new pale ale began shipping to India in 1823. Within a year reports were returning that his beer “is almost universally preferred by all old Indians [Europeans in India] to Hodgson’s.” The only complaint levied against the beer was that it needed to be a little more bitter and a little less strong.
This “India beer” was exclusively exported overseas. That is, until a ship wrecked in the Irish Channel in 1827. The ship contained 300 hogsheads (one hogshead is just shy of 240L) of beer. Several casks of which were the “Burton bitter beer” headed to India. The ship’s underwriters sold the beer off in Liverpool where this new India ale was greatly enjoyed. The reputation of this beer spread rapidly across England. It wasn't until 1835 that the first reference to “India Pale Ale” can be found in an advertisement for Hodgson’s beer in the Liverpool Mercury. However, the beer was still much more popularly referred to as “Pale Ale as prepared for India” until about 1846. The first brewer to refer to their own beer as India Pale Ale was Bass. Their rival brewers quickly followed suit.
