History of the IPA

[Gameface]

It's IPA day today!

 

[Beer]

It's IPA day today!

Better get me some Hop Nosh's then.

 

[babe]

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.

So I thought this thread was about the history of the Intermountain Power Association or something. But right there in the last sentence of your post, it looks like IPA stands for India Pale Ale.

Did you know about Lambanog and Tuba?

 

[Gameface]

bump

 

[str8line]

Damn GF, you really are the beernoisseur.

I wish I could have these offered on tap all of the time:

Konigsbacher
Staropramen
Pilsner Urquell
Bitburger Pils
Stiegl Pils
Efes

Drank all of these last summer(on tap). And I'm a bourbon/whiskey guy mostly here in Utah. But I love the Euro pilsners.

Sounds cheesy but I think the best beer I ever had was Hofbrau on tap at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. If I lived in Europe I would drink a lot less bourbon.

 

[The Midnight]

bump

Ah ok, thanks GF - so the question was:


Another quick question, like you can get a 12 pack of Corona for like $24, so it's like $2 per bottle. But when you go to the craft beer section, it's like $6 PER BOTTLE.


Why is it so much more expensive? Do they use higher quality hops and malts, and do they actually supposed to taste 3 times better (i.e., as the price is x3 more expensive)?

 

[The Midnight]

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.

Really fascinating. Just out of interest, how did they prevent the beers from going off in those days on that long journey to India? Wouldn't the beer be stale by then in those barrels?

 

[Gameface]

Really fascinating. Just out of interest, how did they prevent the beers from going off in those days on that long journey to India? Wouldn't the beer be stale by then in those barrels?

Beer is inherently stable. It is slightly acidic, contains alcohol and hops have preservative qualities. You should watch the show, "How Beer Saved the World"

[video=vimeo;23278902]https://vimeo.com/23278902

 

[The Midnight]

Beer is inherently stable. It is slightly acidic, contains alcohol and hops have preservative qualities. You should watch the show, "How Beer Saved the World"

[video=vimeo;23278902]https://vimeo.com/23278902

But it does have an expiry date though right? I remembered drinking beer that was off once... yuck.

 

[The Midnight]

GF, what do you recommend between buying beer with glass bottles or buying canned beers?



I was discussing this with somebody once and he said glass is better, because with can you get the 'metallic' taste as well.


Would love to know your thoughts...

 

[RJF]

GF, what do you recommend between buying beer with glass bottles or buying canned beers?



I was discussing this with somebody once and he said glass is better, because with can you get the 'metallic' taste as well.


Would love to know your thoughts...

Personally I have never had beer from a can. Bottle or tap. I think most people Who drink and beer do so because of the volume they drink, cheaper that way I think.

 

[Ron Mexico]

GF will giver a much better answer but I generally think canned is better. It is more airtight and does not let light in. They are easier to transport and recycle. Most of the blind taste tests I have seen show that people prefer the taste of canned to bottled. I will buy either, I am not picky. But if I was at the store and they had the exact same beer for the exact same price I would grab the canned. The main reason you dont see canned more from microbreweries is because it is expensive to get a cannery. It is much easier and cheaper to start with bottles until business get bigger.

I think the main reason some people prefer it bottled is that cans feel cheap and there is a stigma against them. Some people prefer bottles because the beer might stay colder longer in your hand. Bottles feel classier to people over cans. But taste, convenience, environmental reasons and portability all go to cans.

 

[Gameface]

Yeah, if a beer is offered in a can and a bottle I buy the can.

I don't drink beer out of a bottle or a can if there is an option to pour it in a glass or a cup. Beer has an aroma and you don't get that very important aspect of the flavor if you're drinking out of a bottle or a can.

 

[MVP]

I loved IPA taste - did not like how it was giving me a headache. For some reason my body was not agreeing with it.

 

[Gameface]

But it does have an expiry date though right? I remembered drinking beer that was off once... yuck.

Beer can spoil. The biggest cause is going to be oxygen, so if you can really minimize that you'll greatly increase the shelf-life. The second biggest cause is UV exposure. If you take care of those two things beer can last a very very long time.

 

[Boris]

Damn GF, you really are the beernoisseur.

I wish I could have these offered on tap all of the time:

Konigsbacher
Staropramen
Pilsner Urquell
Bitburger Pils
Stiegl Pils
Efes

Drank all of these last summer(on tap). And I'm a bourbon/whiskey guy mostly here in Utah. But I love the Euro pilsners.

Sounds cheesy but I think the best beer I ever had was Hofbrau on tap at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. If I lived in Europe I would drink a lot less bourbon.

Aphrodisiac (stout)
Westvleteran Extra 8 (Belgium dark). If you can somehow hit up someone to smuggle this out of the monestary I will find a way to pay you a million doll hairs.
Maple Bacon Coffee Porter from Florida.
Batch 7000 Ale. (Michigan DAMN UTAH FOR NOT ALLOWING IMPORTS BY MAIL!)
Fonteinenen's Schaerbeekse Kriek. Beer is so random how can you not enjoy? Sugars come from rare cherries an it is cherry colored an still strong not like this Reds apple ale crap.

 

[Gameface]

Ah ok, thanks GF - so the question was:


Another quick question, like you can get a 12 pack of Corona for like $24, so it's like $2 per bottle. But when you go to the craft beer section, it's like $6 PER BOTTLE.


Why is it so much more expensive? Do they use higher quality hops and malts, and do they actually supposed to taste 3 times better (i.e., as the price is x3 more expensive)?

I'm going to necro bump this to answer.

There are many things that go into the cost of producing beers and also the market value of finished beer.

No, the price of beer is not linear to the extraordinarily subjective concept of how that beer tastes. There is not a single scale of taste. So there is no way to determine if a certain beer tastes 3x better than Corona.

Small breweries do something that many people are willing to pay a premium for. They make styles that are not otherwise available or are only available from other small breweries. If those styles are not impressive to you compared to Corona then I encourage you to continue to drink Corona.

There are dramatic differences in the cost of ingredients in beer. This cost is not trivial in the overall market price of beer. It isn't like a Corona costs $0.05 to make and a craft beer costs $0.07 to make. It is vary likely that a craft beer costs $1 or more to produce at the brewers costs. There is a lot of variation here. Some may be less than $0.50, some may be $2 or more. Small breweries don't buy at the same scale as Budweiser. Bigger beers use more grain. Hoppy beers use more hops. Beers with fruit flavors often contain actual fruit. Sour beers are harder to make and take MUCH longer to be ready.

If Corona is what you want, buy Corona. Corona is the best in the world at making Corona. They've got it nailed down and they are producing in volume and they have a clear cost advantage. You want Guinness? Buy Guinness. You want a ****ing Blue Moon brought to you by Budweiser? Buy that.

One Love. That sweet little troll mod. I guess he must have found the person of his dreams and left us.

He's still a mod. There are several people listed as mods that haven't logged in in years. Whatever.

 

[str8line]

I love a IPA but when I travel to Europe those pilsners are the ultimate IMHO.

 

[Scat]

Not a fan of IPA

 

[MVP]

I love the IPA taste. Do not love what it does to my head next morning.