I keep harping on the fact that I think our craft beer scene is as healthy as it is ever been. I firmly believe more breweries than ever are making excellent beer. And just this year alone I have visited over 200 breweries in seven states and had beer from at least 100 others. And as diverse as the styles of beer available to me, I wouldn’t be surprised if 40% of the beers I drank this year are some variation of an IPA. The style is only getting popular, and there are so many sub styles of beer within the IPA I wouldn’t have time to mention all of them. Not everyone likes IPAs, but it’s obvious a great deal people do because it seems that some breweries make nothing but them! And as long as craft beer is popular, I think IPAs will be as well, and that’s as good as any reason to celebrate!
The beer we know as the IPA(India Pale Ale) is a far cry from the beer that was made in the 19th century that was hopped sufficiently to be able to make the journey to India from England. The hop presence was subtle compared to its big American cousins. We have a slightly fiercer version of that beer in America that we call the New England IPA. And before I start throwing around all these different sub genres, I will finish up what I was saying about the origins of the style. It slowly came into prominence among American craft beer drinkers during the first wave of craft beer in the 1970s. A great deal of that movement was on the American west coast and proximity to hop farms undoubtedly led Brewers to create a more robust American version of the beer. And if we fast forward to the craft beer scene today, we see a very diverse style of beer that is re-created almost every time someone makes a new beer.
15 to 20 years ago, IPA’s were much more simple. You had different strengths in the single and double, and sometimes heavily hopped barley wines would be called triple IPAs(Founder’s Devil Dancer is an excellent example). Speaking of Founders, they were one of the first breweries where I experienced variations of the style including black and red rye. It wasn’t long before some of the other big breweries began tweaking the style. Sierra Nevada has his own hop farm and has been making countless IPAs. Before long New Belgium, Sam Adams, and later Three Floyd’s, Surly, Toppling Goliath, Terrapin, and many others would feature countless IPAs in their portfolio. All of a sudden I realized just how big the style had become.
So now we are at a time when there is absolutely nothing that can’t be done with an IPA. Fruit and fruit flavoring has long been used.(Heavy Seas Tropicannon and Shorts Cat’s Pajamas are two excellent examples). Now I see that milk sugar is gaining prominence in the style. Hazy IPA’s are all the rage, as are bigger and bolder hopped beers. When I got the beers in the picture above from my friends at Wedgewood, they were proud of the bold IPAs they were making. I’ve been able to drink a lot of good IPAs in many styles, and I’ve liked nearly all of them. Maybe my palate isn’t as refined as some people, but I feel I know a good beer when I drink one.
The breweries know that their IPAs are some of their best beers. I have visited a lot of breweries and asked the bartender to pour the best beer only to have it be a excellent IPA. This happened last week at Iechyd Da in Elkhart. And when I visit a brewery for the first time, I go on Untapped to see what beer has the most check in’s from them. There is almost always an IPA near the top! There are some styles of beer that I can tell you the best one I ever had, but I’d be hard pressed because of the sheer volume of IPAs I’ve been blessed to drink just this year alone. But if I could mention one that still sticks in my head, it is from the good people at Neshiminy Creek in Corydon, Pennsylvania. The Shape of Hops to Come is an amazing beer that I’ve been lucky enough to drink multiple times. And you can rest assured the next time I’m in Pennsylvania I’m gonna secure some!
As I finish this article, I’m enjoying a Moon Rambler from Founders which is one of the beers featured in that picture at the top. I have loved all the specialty IPA’s that Founders has made from Azecca to Mosaic Promise. I also feel that way about several other breweries including Sweetwater, and 18th St. I realize I have really only touched the surface of the style we know as IPA, but I really think I have done justice to its popularity. I was just in several liquor stores and can attest that there are dozens of options when you go to buy an IPA. I just encourage you to drink what do you like, and also try new beers from time to time. The beauty of it is there is something for everyone whether you want a Hazy, fruity, Imperial, session, or plain every day single IPA. I like most of them and should we be enjoying one together, let’s toast to success of this style!
So Much Beer So Little Time 