For the uninitiated it may appear that all beers are alike, this of course could not be further from the truth. The popularity of craft beer particularly the IPA style has soared in the last 10 to 15 years and seem to show no signs of stopping. The history of the IPA-styled beer can be traced back to the 18th century with the English imperially owned East India trading company, unfortunately getting beer to and from their destination was a mission in of itself with many barrels turning sour by the time they had arrived. A solution was needed and was duly found! It was discovered that a new style of beer with increased hop additions called a ‘pale ale’ would act as a type of preservative and stop the beer from spoiling.
By 1760 the vast majority of breweries were aware that an increased quantity of hops acted to prolong the shelf life of beer. Its interesting to note that the Indian market was only ever a small player in the beer market paling in comparison to the vast amount being shipped to North America (You can find out more about the East India Trading Co. and its dealings with the English breweries in Pete Brown’s book ‘Hops and Glory’). Nonetheless IPA beer was now a commercial success, ironically the Indian Pale Ale never really sold particularly well in the country it was named after, preferring the dark Stouts and Porters. IPA’s can be broken down into two categories, firstly English IPA which is typically around the 4–5% ABV range with a modest hop schedule, whereas the America IPA are a touch stronger typically 5–6% and boast a more hop-forward tasting and aroma beer.
The style remained fundamentally untouched until the 20th century. During World War II all beers were required to be brewed to a lower ABV to save grain which changed the IPA style permanently, bringing the alcohol content below that of its Pale Ale cousin. Meanwhile in the USA prohibition was in full swing which all but ended the popularity of IPA’s there. Fast forward to the 1990’s on the west coast of the United States where it was discovered the climate was ideal for growing fruity, resinous and juicy hops and once again boosting the popularity of the IPA. Not to be outdone the east coast of the USA introduced their take on the IPA, characterized by a hazier appearance and white-fleshed fruit and stone-fruit flavoured hops. Cut to current day and when you think of craft beer the default image is an IPA.
Now we have a run-down of the history of the IPA style, how exactly do we make an IPA beer? Well, that would depend on what type of IPA you prefer. Firstly, lets explore the English IPA. This is the style that got the ball rolling in terms of the IPA we know and love today, an English IPA can be recognized by its earthy hop profile which does vary but typically includes classic British hops such as EKG and Fuggles to name a few. British base malts typical to the style are generally bready and biscuity with toffee tones such as British Pale Ale and Crystal malt. A standard yeast for fermentation process is usually a British yeast such as WLP 005 British Ale Yeast or perhaps the WLP 039 Nottingham Ale Yeast.
American IPA can be separated into two groups, first we have the West Coast IPA which is packed full of piney, citrusy, grapefruity notes. Chinook, Citra, Cascade, and other ‘C’ hops immediately jump to mind when one thinks of a west coast-styled IPA (Sierra Nevada Torpedo is a case and point). Most brewing guidelines will tell you that the accepted style for a west coast IPA is pale copper in appearance, with slight to no chill haze (although hop haze is quite acceptable) with a low to medium malt flavour, and a hop profile that is typically high to very high with piney, resinous and tropical flavour notes. Malts widely used in west coast IPA’s are 2-row pale ale malt, crystal malt as well as Vienna and American Ale malts.
Turning our attention now to the East Coast IPA, which is famous for its hazy, cloudy beers with a much lighter straw-like colour and this means very little malt character. Like its West Coast cousin, the East Coast IPA is full of hoppy flavour and aroma with low to medium bitterness present. East Coast IPA’s are usually medium to medium-high body and mouth-feel beers and sometimes fruity esters can be present, adding to the juicyness of the beer. A variety of yeast strains can be applied to an East Coast IPA from a SafAle US05 to a yeast specifically designed for such a beer the White Labs East Coast Ale WLP008.
Next, we discuss breaking trends and the future of the IPA, which its safe to say is being driven by the new varieties of hop now available. As well as other flavourings to add more flavour and complexity to the beer. A new frontier has been opened up with the inclusion of new sub-styles such as NEIPA, Black IPA, Milkshake IPA and so on, The Brut IPA is perhaps the newest variation to have come to the forefront, using a champagne yeast it leave a drier than normal beer as well as adding enzymes popularized now with New World hops and opening a whole new accessible outlet especially with home-brewers to make their own clone recipes with the new Kveik yeast which is very forgiving with a wide fermentation tolerance. For more on this check out the book IPA: Brewing Techniques, Recipes and The Evolution of India Pale Ale by Mitch Steele.
A typical IPA when concocting a recipe is usually around 90–95% base malt and then 5–10% specialty malts, a general rule of thumb is if using Crystal/Caramel malts it is best to not exceed 20L as this can produce a overly bitter taste as well as when the beer ages it can affect the overall flavour of the beer, giving it a raisin-like character. So, if you like your hoppy beers, just how much hops should you add? In brewing circles its generally accepted that once you attain 75IBU’s adding even more hops after this is not able to be detected. Although it is more common to see IPA beer around the 50IBU mark especially with the emergence of Hazy IPA’s and Double IPA’s and even triple IPA’s. Dry-Hopping is the practice of adding either pellet or leaf hops to the fermenter after or just as fermentation is about to cease and it is pretty much par-for-the-course when it comes to hoppy IPA beers and the further into the boil they are added the less bitterness is extracted and the closer to the end of the boil they are added the more flavour and aroma is added to the beer.
As far as yeast goes, California Ale Yeast WLP 001 is very popular amongst Brewmasters, but it is not uncommon for Champagne Yeast WLP 715 to be used especially in Brut IPA’s but a wide range of Ale yeasts are perfectly acceptable to accentuate the character of an IPA. Water chemistry plays a big component in the overall flavour profile of the IPA style for those brewing a NEIPA water with a high chlorine content is essential as this is an excellent additive for minimizing bitterness in beer. The biggest challenge the craft-brewing industry faces is actually getting people to drink craft beer, breaking away from traditional macro beer makers for which most people are used to and opening up a whole new taste in beer with the new variations of IPA leading the way.
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