AROUND 1820, officers serving in the East India Company discovered their daily dose of quinine to ward off malaria was more palatable with added sugar, water, lime and a dollop of gin. The squaddies had no such luck. Their habitual refreshment was beer, initially dark, heavy porter.
The company’s main supplier was George Hodgson’s Bow Brewery, principally because he offered 18 months’ credit. Some beer historians claim the dark stuff was prone to spoilage on the long sea journey, causing George to try several remedies, including a beer concentrate diluted at destination.
In desperation he tried a few casks of “October beer”, a strong, pale ale infused with lots of fresh hops to keep it from spoiling in transit. The troops loved it, and India pale ale (IPA) was born. A lovely tale, even if many chroniclers damn it as myth, pointing out the pale, dry style was common to many brewers.
What is true is Hodgson’s sons lost the plot, hiking prices, shortening credit and losing out to Burton-upon-Trent brewers using the higher-pH, more mineral-infused local water for a classier beer. Burton beers such as Double Diamond and Worthington’s White Shield became the flag-wavers for IPA in Britain.
By the mid-20th century, Double Diamondwas filtered and pasteurised into the mainstream while White Shield, still bottle-conditioned, dwindled to cult status.
Advertisement
The revival of craft brewing brought a revival of IPA and now every brewery has at least one. It has also spawned subspecies: American; black (surely a contradiction); double (extreme hopping); Belgian (a witbier hopped like an IPA ); “Session” (lower-alcohol content); and even IPA infused with herbs, spices and flowers. Many of these beers exhibit little in common.
Ruth Deveney runs the eponymous Dublin 14 wine merchant, an early espouser of craft beers with about 750 in stock. When I put it to her that the term “IPA” is now devoid of meaning, she was quick to disagree. “Today’s IPAs focus on high alcohol and generous hopping, like the originals. It’s an evolutionary process,” Deveney says.
In pursuit of a modern definition, I also consulted Kristin Jensen, co-author of Sláinte: The Complete Guide to Irish Craft Beer and Cider, who told me: “It’s all about the hops. IPAs have become the poster child of the craft beer movement, with brewers amping up the flavour and embracing hops’ bitterness.”