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South Bay, Los Angeles County, California |
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Ray Daniels and Tom Nickels did this presentation as last minute substitutions for a speaker who couldn't make it. They did a great job. Ray is Editor of Zymurgy and author of Designing Great Beers and Tom is Head Brewer at Stuft Pizza. Ray covered IPA's well known history, breaking it into three time periods. These were market making and monopoly (1780-1825), general competition (1825-1870) and decline due to a change in drinking tastes (1870-1910). Tom picked up the thread and talked about the characteristics of modern American IPAs and explained why they are the true heirs to this style's tradition. In phase one, the time was ripe for something different. Britains in India were thirsty for beer. Prior to the invent of refrigeration, Indian weather was too hot for brewing. Cheap freight was available because ships were sailing half full on the East bound leg. And, the sweet, dark ales of the day usually arrived flat and sour after a 3 month sea voyage. In the 1780s, London brewer George Hodgson seized the opportunity and crafted an "India Ale" that could withstand the time, temperature variations and constant rousing of the journey. Ray thinks this first India Ale was also the first Lite Beer. Maybe. It probably did have a lower OG, lighter body and paler color than the popular beers of the period. Contrasting today's Lite efforts, this beer actually had flavor, and its assertive hoppiness is what we love it for. Unfortunately, that's about all that can be said about the first IPA. Since spelling, metrics and record keeping were optional at that time accurate records don't exist. Hodgson's IPA probably was highly attenuated because of the length of the voyage. It may have been yellow to amber in color. It was "well bittered" but no one knows how strong the hops were at the time so any guess at an IBU is just that. It may or may not have had an oakey character (my own opinion is no, a pitch treated French oak cask doesn't impart an oak taste to the flavor profile but YMMV). I can hardly imagine the slow rate of social change 175 years ago. Hodgson lost his monopoly in a very political and scandal ridden environment in 1825. It was another 15 years before IPA was sold in Britain and then only because of an accidental ship wreck. The Durden Park Beer Circle and Clive La Pensee have published recipes, based on original research, dating from 1837 to 1910 describing 1.052-1.070 OG, 2.5-7 oz/gal hopping with Goldings type hops, single infusion IPAs. Their thought is that the early recipes were based on Hodgson's IA. For sure, these were typical approaches of brewers like Ind Smith, Allsopp and Bass during the second and third phases of IPA export and home popularity. Historical IPA survived in a shrinking market until WWI and prohibition. After those two tragedies, only the name IPA exists in Britain. None of the IPA sold there today even comes close to the manly man beer of old. Tom Nickel picked up the story of modern IPAs at this point. Tom has a wonderful combination of behaviors for a public speaker. He really knows his shit, is organized and speaks clearly and loudly. He described the history of America's IPAs leading to an all out assault on maximum bitterness. Ultimately, BU's exceeded 100. Alcohol was also higher in these beers but this was self limiting as "Big beers only get you stupid faster". Over time, this profile has only held the interest of a small group of hopheads. The most popular IPAs currently have BU in the 40-60 range, and BU:GU ratios of 0.8-0.85. Now the emphasis is on layers of hoppiness from multiple late kettle, knock out and dry hop additions. Hop flavor and aroma are more critical than bitterness. Commercial examples are Stone, Alesmith, Acme, Nimbus and naturally Stuft Pizza. Typical details are OG 50-70, BU 40-60, color 6-14 SRM single infusion mash from pale malt with some 2 row, carapils and light crystal, Columbus, Centennial or Chinook for bittering and Cascade or EKG for late additions. I think, considering the mellowing effects that the sea voyage to India would have on IPA, a case can be made that this modern interpretation is truly close to the original. References for further reading:
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