logo  
inmamaskitchen.com©
home mothers recipes food is art seasons membership

   

Beer:

IPA (India Pale Ale)

American Pale Alr
India Pale Ale
with
Brands of American Pale Ale and Indian Pale Ale

 

beer

From: 500 Beers: the only beer  compendium you'll ever need

back to beverages  
back to food is art     

745

also read: How Beer is made: Basic Beer Ingredients - Water, Malt, Hops & Yeast ;
Brewing Beer; Brewery Tours and Visits

 

India Pale Ale (IPA) is a beer with a real history. The popular tale told about IPA is that it was a beer brewed in England for export to expatriates in India. It was (so the story goes) strong and hoppy so it would survive the rigors of the long sea voyage. The beer that emerged in India was in perfect condition and found much favor among appreciative drinkers there. Like all tales, there is some truth in there, but there is also a bit of myth too. It’s true that some beers improved on the long journey to India, although to say that they were deliberately brewed strong and hoppy to withstand the journey is gilding the lily somewhat. Likewise, assertions that IPA has always been a strong style of beer are not completely correct, nor completely wrong. What can be said for certain (thanks to the online and published works of beer historians like Martyn Cornell and Ron Pattinson) is that IPAs tended to be more heavily hopped beers, with no particular bias to being strong. However, no one ever let the facts get in the way of a good story. Regardless of history, IPA has come to be shorthand for a fairly strong beer with a good, bright hop character. Malt plays a supporting role, providing body and sweetness against which the hops are displayed to sometimes dazzling effect.

 

While IPA may be English in origin, this is a style that the American craft brewing scene has taken and made its own. Some of the biggest, brightest, most striking IPAs are currently being brewed in the United States. These beers eschew the understated balance of classic ales and go all out for hop hit. To get more hops in, there has to be more malt against which to balance, and as a result, the alcohol levels rise precipitously. These are the Las Vegas of the beer world—bigger, brighter, more in-your-face, and likely to leave you waking up in the morning wondering what on earth happened last night.

Of course, as we’ve learned, good beer can be brewed anywhere. IPA has long since stopped being an English regional specialty and has become a way for brewers to cut loose and get wild with the hops. IPA is now brewed everywhere, and the notion of “authentic” IPA has been lost. Don’t get me wrong—I’m no style slave, and this is one of my favorite styles of beer. However, IPA is now an international style of beer, and as such, the beers in this chapter should be thought of in those terms—IPA is rechristened here as International Pale Ale.

 

American Pale Ale

In some ways, I feel that making a distinction between American Pale Ale (APA) and other IPAs is a bit arbitrary. And yet when I look at this group of beers, I think that APA is a real category after all. The beers here all cluster very tightly in terms of flavor descriptors, and there is also an underplayed sense of restraint about them that makes other similar beers look like they are trying too hard. No one could accuse Sierra Nevada of not trying too hard—they pretty much created the style, set the benchmark, and then rolled it out to the world.

 

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

With this beer, Sierra Nevada hit the holy grail, a craft beer with huge crossover potential. Copper-orange in color, with a zesty aroma of grapefruit and orange. The palate starts out toffeeish and slightly sweet, but the pithy hops add a layer of spicy dryness in the finish. A modern classic.

Food match: broiled or barbecued meat with a chile rub, or nachos with salsa

Country: USA

ABV: 5.6%; Serving temp.: 46-53º

Flying Dog Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale

Amber in color, and dry-hopped with (to quote the company website) “shit loads of Cascade hops,” which are married to the intensity of the grapefruit, kumquat, and pine needle aromas and flavors present here. A nice nutty malt note shows through in the finish. Very drinkable.

Country: USA

ABV: 4.6%; Serving temp.: 46-53

 

Firestone Walker Pale 31

Colored pale copper-gold, there is a pleasant balance to the nose of this beer, a mix of toffeeish malt and gently spicy hops. These flavors carry into the lightbodied palate, which carries a little orangey sweetness before a dry, spicy hop finish.

Country: USA

ABV: 4.8%; Serving temp.: 46-53º

Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale

Copper-colored, with a zesty aroma—citrus and pine resin. On the palate is grapefruit, a little husky malt, and an airy quality that is hard to describe—it could almost be watermelon or cantaloupe. Finish is fairly dry. An enjoyably fresh take on the style.

Country: USA

ABV: 5%; Serving temp.: 46-53º

Shmaltz He’brewGenesis Ale

Copper-brown, with a nicely balanced, medium-toasted malt aroma. Good hop balance, with a nice firmness to the palate and an almost austere quality. Admirably unflashy, with a good toasted malt character. Very drinkable.

Country: USA

ABV: 5.6%; Serving temp.: 46-53º

 

IPA

IPA is an old style of beer, a beer with a lot of history attached to it, but somehow has come to define modern brewing. It seems as though everyone and their (Brew)dog has a bright, hoppy beer in their range, and for many it seems to be their flagship. What on earth did these people do before IPA? Brew less interesting beer, that’s what. Beer-lovers everywhere should be taking advantage of the hop revolution that has happened—there has never been a greater variety of characterful, exciting-to-drink beers available to us. Here are some for your consideration.

Cerveceria Mexicana Red Pig Mexican Ale

This copper-colored ale has a lovely aroma of caramel andmroasted grain. The palate is medium-sweet, but a nice hop character keeps everything lively. The finish has more caramel, and citrus (even resinous) character.

Country: Mexico

ABV: 5%; Serving temp.: 45-50º

 

Deschutes Twilight Ale

This is Deschutes’ summer brew, created with a splendid lightness of touch. The pale malt and tropical fruit notes here are reminiscent of new pale golden English ales. Light-bodied and, fruity, but refreshing, and crisp with passion fruit and guava.

Country: USA

ABV: 5%; Serving temp.: 45-50º

 

Asia Pacific Tui EastIndia Pale Ale

It seems odd to describe this peachy-brown beer as an East India Pale ale given its low hop presence. However, it is quite complex—toffee and allspice, coffee notes mid-palate, with an autumnal overripe apple and pear quality. Perfectly nice.

Country: New Zealand

ABV: 4%; Serving temp.: 45-50º

 

Shongweni Robson’s Durban Pale Ale

The aroma of this copper-gold beer has notes of pineapple, mango, and bitter orange, with a little toffee to boot. The beer is big and medium-sweet on the palate, with caramel, ripe fruit, and bitter orange leading the way to a long, full-bodied, and slightly nutty finish.

Country: South Africa

ABV: 5.7%; Serving temp.: 45-50º

 

Little Creatures Pale Ale

Rather than go all out for a resinous hop hit, Little Creatures takes a more balanced approach. There is an almost tropical note to the nose (mango and pineapple), and the palate has a soft nutty malt quality that makes for a more rounded beer, vaguely

reminiscent of a good English ale. Food match: lightly spiced chicken with sweet potato, and a mango salsa

Country: Australia

ABV: 5.2%; Serving temp.: 46-53º

 

Goose Island IPA

One of the first American IPAs I ever drank, and I still think it’s a great example. Hazy orange in color, with a massive aroma of pine needles, marmalade, and dusty hopsack. On the tongue, caramel, burnt sugar, a dab of butterscotch, and a long resinous finish.

Food match: slow-cooked sticky pork ribs, strong Cheddar cheese, or barbecue

Country: USA

ABV: 5.9%; Serving temp.: 48-52º

 

Burton Bridge Brewery Empire Pale Ale

Served blind, you might mistake this IPA for a Belgian strong ale—it has a surprising estery complexity on the nose. The palate, initially sweet, becomes dry in a series of fruity flavors (mango, apricot, apple), and builds into a medium-dry finish.

Country: England

ABV: 7.5%; Serving temp.: 50-55º

 

Harpoon IPA

Pale gold in color, this looks almost like lager in the glass, but a quick sniff banishes this deception— there are pine needles and pineapples in abundance, with a little citrus pith thrown in for good measure. Fairly sweet on the palate, but finishes medium-dry with a long, zesty bitterness.

Country: USA

ABV: 5.9%; Serving temp.: 45-50º

 
 
Google

 

back to food is art    contributors   contact us  top of page   membership agreement   home   about us

©In Mamas Kitchen. Inc.