Last week's session of Ale Together Now explored the unique side of India Pale Ales. We sampled a variety of beers, from light, crisp session IPAs to fuller, hoppy, and even spicy IPAs, and explored how this beer style developed, how they're brewed, and just what it is about those tasty hops that make the India Pale Ale so special. Join us as we venture through new style and unique IPAs with our fearless leader, Michelle!
India pale ales are a hoppier form of a pale ale, brewed with light/pale malts and top fermenting yeast. Hops are used in many stages of the brewing process, including the boil, the fermentation stage, and in post-fermentation. The IPA has a deep history in the beer world, but the style is also ever-changing with shifts in craft beer culture. The IPA has been growing in popularity in the US since the mid 1990's, and today, you're likely to find at least 2-4 IPAs on tap in most breweries.
Here are just a few of the MANY current IPA styles you could find at a local brewery or beer store!
- American IPA
- Belgian IPA
- Red IPA
- Brown IPA
- White IPA
- Rye IPA
- West-Coast IPA
- Milkshake IPA
- Double IPA
- Triple IPA
- Imperial IPA
- Brut IPA
- Session IPA
- Cold IPA
- Alesmith IPA
and more!
A cold IPA is brewed with a lager-style malt bill and fermented at lower temperatures with a Kolsch or lager-type yeast, then cold-stored for crispness and clarity. It has a light body and a clear, clean finish, which intensifies the hop flavors and aromas. This style is not an IPL (India Pale Lager), which is an IPA made with a lager yeast.
The first beer we sampled was Demo Days by River's Edge Brewing Co in Milford. This cold IPA features pine and citrus flavors, with a wonderful crisp mouthfeel and sitting at 6.8% ABV.
As we beer lovers know, hops are the star of the show when it comes to a good IPA. Hops come from the Humulus lupulus plant, and grows as a green, cone-shaped flower bud. Lupulin, small yellow pods within the cone, contain hop oils like humulene, myrcene, caryophyllene, and farsensene, which contribute enormously to the IPAs that we enjoy. Hops add bitterness to beer, which counters the sweetness of the malt, and provides a variety of aromas and flavors like fruit, floral, spice, citrus, and pine. Alpha acids and beta acids in hops also provide antibacterial properties, allowing beer to store for longer periods of time. Alpha acids provide the bitterness that we love so much in an IPA, while the beta acids provide the lovely aroma.
As a response to the wonderfully indulgent IPA beer style, brewers have created a lighter, but still very tasty, version of the India pale ale. Session IPAs, or low-calorie IPAs, feature wonderful hop flavors and aromas but are lower in calorie and ABV, making them "crushable", crisp, and easy to drink. Session IPAs tend to be 2-5% ABV, and are much lower in calories than a standard IPA.
All Day Chill Day by Founders Brewing Co is a sessionable IPA at 4.8% ABV. It has a lighter body than Demo Days and a little more crispness, but still packs those wonderful hoppy flavors we love in an India pale ale.
The IPA has evolved from the 18th century into the beer we know today. In the 18th century, Burton/October ales were brewed as strongly hopped pale ales-- but they were still quite malty and dark. Majority ales were a malty, aged beer that was brewed around this time as well. In the 19th century, the India pale ale was brewed in England for both domestic and international consumption. The hops helped to preserve the beer as it was shipped overseas, preventing spoilage. At this time, Scotland was brewing beer that was more golden and slightly sweeter than English IPAs, and the United States brewed a lot of malted wheat and rye beers.
The West Coast IPA was brewed in the 20th century, the brain child of Fritz Maytag at Anchor Brewing Company. This light, clear, bitter, piney brew was an ode to English traditions, but was brewed with local ingredients. The midwest IPA was a popular style for homebrewers and craft brewers in the 1990s, featuring mild bitterness, a little maltiness, and a mild haze.
The New England IPA is a somewhat newer beer, a hazy style with delicate hop aroma and citrus juice, for a fruity, hoppy beer that does not feature the bitterness of the West coast style. Weird IPAs have sprung up as brewers get more creative and experimental, leading to the development of interesting beers like milkshake IPAs and fruited sour IPAs. We have also seen the development of IPA styles like imperials, double dry-hopped, double wet-hopped, black, rye, red IPAs, and more!
With the weirdness of contemporary IPAs, we also have the development of adjunct IPAs. An adjunct is an ingredient added to a beer that does not include the four standard beer ingredients: water, malt, hops, and yeast. In an IPA, adjuncts focus on adding citrus flavors or an extra sweetness, and can include ingredients such as tropical fruit, citrus, dessert ingredients, and breakfast cereal. Lactose, glitter, and other weird ingredients have also been added to IPAs for interest or shock factor. In the past few years, we have seen more subtle adjuncts added to beer, such as rye, corn, and rice. It's amazing to see how much the versatile IPA has changed over the years!
We sampled Fuggle Snuggle from River's Edge Brewing Co, an IPA brewed with a touch of rye. It makes for an interesting and tasty brew, at 7.4% ABV!
The last IPA we sampled was from Steele Street Brewing Co in Ionia, MI. The Hot Brazilian is a hot pepper beer, combining bold hop flavors with extra spice! It's a great winter warmer for those chilly days.
We hope to see you at the March session of Ale Together Now, which takes place in the Community Room on March 20! Learn more and register for the program on the online calendar, and don't forget about your homework for this month-- get yourself to a brewery, sample a few beers, and be sure to tell us about it when we meet again!
Cheers!