If you’ve got yourself acquainted with craft beer, you would’ve come across the term India Pale Ale, or IPA for sure. Because this pale ale isn’t quite the favorite among beer lovers in India, there are a few IPA facts that may still be unknown for the larger beer drinking population in the country.
Debatable origins, but thank our British rulers for having pale ale cravings: The term IPA was first believed to have been noticed in an advertisement by an Australian newspaper. Another story goes that in the 17th century, India’s sweltering heat made thirsty British rulers crave for a pale ale, a popular brew in their home country. They realized that transporting pale ales from the UK to India via ships was a bad idea, and neither was it possible to brew it in India itself because of the lack of infrastructure. That’s when a brewer decided to send extra hoppy pale ale all the way from his London brewery that would last the 6-month long journey to India. Yep, the India Pale Ale was never originally brewed in India.
Global craft beer king, but unpopular in India: The craft beer universe is huge, with ales, lagers, stouts, porters, and pilsners forming its varied types. Each of these types have sub-categories of their own. But the IPA has gotten so popular, that it forms a majority share of the craft beer market around the world. It’s probably because of the extra hop component making it a really strong and bitter brew, also allowing brewers to experiment with varied flavors at the same time. Strangely though, the IPA hasn’t quite caught on among Indians, because we’re naturally used to more lighter beers.
The most difficult beer to brew in the world: Making a true blue IPA is not everybody’s cup of tea because it takes some serious skill. In fact, the IPA is considered the most difficult beer to brew in the world, if you want to get it right. You don’t want to get carried away with the hops, and you want to strike just the right malty balance. It’s this ideal balance that brewers find the most difficult to hit.
So many different styles, one universal favourite in American IPA: The birth of the IPA soon saw it branching out into different styles – English IPA, Belgian IPA, Double IPA and more. Not surprising though that the most popular IPA in the world comes from the biggest craft brewing nation – the USA. The American IPA is all about the hops, and its distinct aroma and flavour, as opposed to say the English IPA that is more of a balance between the hops and the malts.
The Double IPA or the Imperial IPA: The extra hoppy IPA became popular, but beer fanatics didn’t seem to be satisfied. When a point came that the IPA became monotonous for beer palates, a Russian brewmaster by the name of Vinnie Ciluzro took it upon himself to give the world what it wanted, a more hoppy beer than the already existing IPA. He also coined the term Double IPA, which is also known as Imperial IPA in some countries.
