#whatbeerwednesdays: Episode 5

American IPA

Welcome back to the blog for another enthralling episode of #whatbeerwednesdays - and yes I am acutely aware it is Thursday in much of the world. The series dedicated to the forgotten beer styles BTT recommends you enjoy every Wednesday in lieu of what might get you the most likes on social media.

This week, we cast the net over the American iPA.

The haze craze took over the beer world like a military coup no one had quite expected. As Garrett Oliver, head brewer at Brookyn Brewery and author of The Brewmaster’s Table and primary contributor to The Oxford Companion to Beer quite rightly noted: “The #hazyIPA is the world’s first #instabeer.”

Personally I see nothing wrong with this in and of itself. However, search Instagram hashtags for “IPA” and observe the top ranking posts. Notice a trend in the appearance of each beer?

Moreover, the fun of Instagramming and Untappd checking-in beers does take away from the fun of physical socialising, and the end result is many classic styles and brands have all of a sudden found themselves struggling to remain relevant. As you know, this is more or less the premise to this blog series and other campaigns like #flagshipfebruary.

It must be remembered we wouldn’t be here in the first place were it not for this loud and proud beer style.

From here on in it’s (almost) all filter and #nofilter as we delve most deeply into the classic American IPA style.

Mr. Banks Brewing, based in Melbourne's south, is among the country's fines, particularly where hop-forward beers are concerned. Their West Coast IPA is a great example of the style. Image shows a glass of beer placed on a wooden table with a Chesterfield couch in the background

American IPAs: What you need to know

Origin: The modern IPA has its background in the English IPA and American pale ale styles.

Etymology: Here’s where things get complicated. For further reading, I have provided a link to the origins and myths surrounding the English forerunner of the modern IPA style. For now, IPA in the true modern sense is used to denote a hoppy pale ale. Many IPAs are not exactly pale and they certainly don’t have any connection to India.

Availability: All over. IPA is among the most widely produced craft beer styles. Even your local supermarket or chain bottleshop/ liquor store/ off-licence should have at the very least a couple to choose from.

ABV: 5.5-7.5%.

Approachability: Variable. If you are new to craft beer you might find hop forward beers to be something of a challenge as your palate, not naturally tuned to taste something so bitter, gradually adapts. Otherwise IPAs can range from balanced and approachable through to the more extreme end of the scale.

Glassware: The Spiegelau (in conjunction with Sierra Nevada and Dogfish Head)) IPA glass (pictured) was designed with the IPA in mind. Its tapered-in head concentrates aroma while the ribbed bottom reinvigorates carbonation. Otherwise a stemmed tulip glass with a tapered top will do.

A (not so) brief history of the American IPA

Remember in the last episode we busted open the romantic, even bucolic but ultimately inaccurate history of the saison style? The origin of the IPA tops the lot in terms of historic inaccuracies and myths perceived as facts. But as stated above, you can learn that side of IPA’s history in depth over at Martyn Cornell’s Zythophile blog (link provided below). His excellent piece that puts pay to the belief George Hodgson invented the IPA and that early IPAs were sent to India for slaking the thirsts of soldiers on the Colonial frontline. You might be shocked but not surprised to learn that, as in the homeland, pale beers were the preserve of the elite while the troops preferred porter.

Fast forward to the advent of the American craft beer movement and IPAs henceforth became a very different thing. There are two precursors to the style: Anchor Brewing’s all-Cascade hop Liberty Ale and Ballantyne’s IPA, oak-aged and brewed to a traditional English recipe.

As the American pale ale style emerged brewers and drinkers suddenly yearned for more hops. With pale ale at its base and the notable clean fermentation profile, American IPAs soon became a showcase for the country’s ever-expanding array of citrusy, tropical, piny, bitter and resinous hops. 

An IBUs arms race soon followed as brewers battled it out to see who could brew the most extreme IPA, along with double IPAs, black IPAs, red IPAs and other variations on the theme.

Philter Brewing's IPA is clean, refreshing, punchy with citrus . Unfussy, one can easily enjoy three or four of these in a sitting and not be fatigued or overwhelmed. Image shows a stemmed tulip glass of beer to the left and its matching can on the right.

Why are IPAs so awesome?

That’s like asking why burgers are so awesome? Or why Porsches are so awesome? Or rock concerts? American IPAs are a concentrated explosion of citrus, tropical fruit and resinous flavour while keeping the experience relatively simple.

The good ones, though full in flavour, are also super refreshing.

Hazy IPAs have all the fruit juice you want, but too many and suddenly 6PM feels like 6AM and it’s breakfast all over again. Unless we’re talking unfiltered IPAs which are a totally different animal. Unfiltered IPAs are absolutely chockers with bitterness.

And I’m sure the more seasoned IPA drinkers among you will agree there is nothing more awesome than an IPA with just the right amount of resinousness!

Golden Road's Heal the Bay IPA, brewed in Los Angeles, Calif is a classic example of the style brimming with massive tropical fruit flavours. Image shows a glass of beer to the left and its matching can to the right.

American IPAs are better than wine with…

Spicy food.

Or so the myth goes. The question is, do you want something to quell the heat, or enhance it?

If you are looking to quell the heat, look elsewhere (hummus is great for taming the fire of chilli). Beer’s carbonic bite (the sensation of vigorous carbonation hitting the tongue) and alcohol will elevate the heat derived from chilli’s capsaicin. Moreover, chilli is hydrophobic, which is to say it is repelled by a mass of water, hence beer will make chilli even angrier (beer being ~92% water).

To that end, resist the urge to go balls-out hot with your chosen rub, sauce or marinade if you intend to enjoy a few IPAs with dinner. Go instead for something milder, with lots of bright citrus flavours that’ll play off IPAs’ own citrus, tropical and stone fruit characters. You’ll find the heat of the chilli elevated to a satisfying level.

This match works particularly well when your chosen IPA is at the lower end of the bitterness scale.

Further reading

Four IPA Myths Busted, by Martyn Cornell.

Look out for a post taking a look at beer's kaleidoscopic weird and wonderful side in the coming days. Caramel Creme White Chocolate NEIPA that tastes like the middle of a creme egg, anyone?

Six Pack o' Beer Facts: Episode 1

Quirky and cool things you might never have known about beer you can take home with you right now.

Before we get stuck into today’s post, there’s going to be a few changes around here. Henceforth the Blind Taste Test blog will be more geared towards resources, facts and all things beer knowledge. For beer, event and other reviews, head on over to my Blind Taste Test: Beer Reviews page. For almost everything else, head to @blindtastetestgf on Instagram. I will be exploring other platforms in future to get more content out there.

The Six Pack o’ Beer Facts will be a fortnightly series of, as the name suggests, easily digestible beer facts you can take anywhere.
 
So, without further ado…

Beer is an endlessly fascinating subject, but sometimes it can get a little boring when things get long winded. Just ask Conan O’Brien who interviewed Jim Koch of The Boston Brewing Co...

But there is no reason why beer knowledge can’t be fun and engaging. To that end, here are six quick fire beer facts you can fit in your backpack or share with friends.

1. Enterobacter and lambic

Lovers of sour might be intrigued - or put off - to know that enterobacter (think E. coli, think gut flora) is imperative in the very early stages of spontaneous fermentation.

Enterobacter is quickly crowded out by Saccharomyces, Brett and other bugs, hence it is totally benign long before the final beer is done fermenting. However, many homebrewers fail in their attempts to brew the style because of enterobacter’s absence.

2. B-complex vitamins and hefe weissbier

E. coli is regarded as anything but healthy, but precisely the opposite is true of German hefe weissbier yeast. It is choc full of B-complex vitamins, including B12. It follows a Weihenstephaner Hefe Weissbier with dinner might turn out to be healthy after all.

In fact vegans looking to bolster their B-vitamins may need look no further. It is a common misconception that B12 is present in animal flesh inherently. The truth of the matter is B12 is present in soil and dirt in which animals roll about and humans are no longer exposed to.

But you needn’t think about that. Just think of the health benefits and how awesomely hefe weissbier pairs with things like dahl, masala and all manner of other foods thanks to its higher than average acidity.

3. Saison Dupont: The most underground brewery ever?

Saison is another great table beer, but we mighn’t have one of the stalwarts of the style without a bit of quick thinking and a metric shit tonne of hard work! Belgium’s Brasserie Dupont, makers of the classic Saison Dupont, was directly in the firing line of enemy NAZI air strikes during the Second World War. 


In order to save the brewery, then on the cusp of celebrating 100 years in operation (albeit operating under different owners following Louis Dupont’s acquisition of the farmhouse brewery in 1920), the brewery’s tanks were buried deep underground.

The war never quite ended for Brasserie Dupont and other brewers of fine Belgian ale. As Pilsners and pale ales grew in popularity in Belgium other beer styles struggled to remain relevant. Until writer Michael Jackson introduced the world (and indeed Belgians!) to Saison Dupont it only represented 2% of the brewery’s sales, and it was considered for discontinuation.


4. Blue cheese and barleywine - and the aristocracy

The 1% of Britain during the 1800s sure had good taste! At a time when pesky wars with the French meant fine red wines from the continent were hard to come by, what were the aristocrats to do but enjoy barleywine instead.

Indeed stronger beers such as barleywines and imperial stouts were the preserve of the wealthy elite (so too pale ales for a time) until the wars, taxation and cultural shifts saw darker beers fade into relative obscurity during the middle of the 20th Century. But before that time, the aristocrats found the now famous pairing of blue cheese and barleywine to be so damn good they kept it secret from the common folk.

5. Keep it in the fridge!

Necessity is the mother of all invention. Just ask the military or those who worked with brewing during the 1700s and 1800s. The process of refrigeration, essentially moving a heat source from one point to another, was invented at the Spaten brewery of Bavaria by Carl von Linde in 1873.

Prior to the advent of modern refrigeration brewing was at the mercy of the seasons. Refrigeration ushered in the modern era of brewing in which brewers could brew and lager beer all year round.

What followed of course was the commoditisation and globalisation of beer, a highly perishable product, which could then be distributed over long distances by railcar. Anheuser-Busch established the St. Louis Refrigerator Car Company just five years following von Linde’s landmark invention. Small wonder the 39 breweries in Brooklyn servicing the local comunity all but disappeared while beer took marketshare from cheaper, then easier to produce spirits in the South.

6. The Be-Fuggled New World

Once again necessity is the mother of all invention. Prior to the advent of Cascade hops, Cluster hops made up to 80% of Oregon’s hop production (as overseen by the US Department of Agriculture - USDA’s breeding program) before the onset of Downy mildew which blighted crops. The Cascade hop was developed by the USDA and Oregon State University not only for its aromatic properties but also its strong resistance to disease.

The Cascade hop variety (first released in 1972) is a cross-pollenation between the English Fuggle variety, the little known Russian Serebrianker and an unknown native male hop with the allocated number USDA 56013. The Cascade hop, categorised as an aroma rather than a bittering variety, went on to redefine beer as we know it today with its citrus and piny aromatic profile.




Question of the day: What is it about beer you find most fascinating? Tell us in the comments below. Oh and if you like what you see here, don't forget to head over to my Facebook Beer Reviews page and give us a follow on Instagram. Links are to the right.