If so, what is your opinion?
Posted on 01/07/2006 8:38:55 AM PST by pissant
NINE OUT OF 10 beers consumed in this country are the same dependable American-style lagers. But what about that 10th one?
Increasingly, it's India Pale Ale, a style that resides defiantly at the opposite end of the flavor spectrum. Flowery, bitter and full of fruity aromas - it's astonishing that this edgy style thrives in a world of indistinct sameness.
Yet, thrive it has. Today, it is almost certainly the No. 1 craft-brew style in America. At the annual Great American Beer Festival, IPAs have been the most popular judging entry in each of the past four years. I can't name a brewpub that doesn't make one; indeed, among many microbreweries, from Victory Brewing in Downingtown to Bear Republic in California, it's the No. 1 seller.
Don't believe me? Just take a look at the selection at your local beer distributor. The Beer Yard in Wayne, for example, lists nearly 80 IPAs, more variety than even among lagers.
Which is remarkable not just because their taste is so different from the mainstream, but because just 30 years ago, IPA was almost nonexistent on the American beer landscape, except for Ballantine India Pale Ale. So, how did we get from one to possibly 1,000 different IPAs in just a few years?
As with most craft beer trends, it's tempting to credit Fritz Maytag, the man who turned San Francisco's Anchor Brewing into America's first modern craft brewery. In 1976, he produced Liberty Ale for the nation's bicentennial celebration. No, he didn't call it an IPA, but Liberty Ale's hoppy flavor soon begat a family of West Coast hopheads. Sierra Nevada, BridgePort, Mendocino, Rogue, Deschutes - they all pushed the hop button (mainly the grapefruity Cascades variety), first in their milder pale ales and eventually in beefier IPAs.
The deeper explanation for IPA's popularity, though, might be found in the beer itself. This style was originally brewed in England in the late 1700s to cool the thirst of the Crown's colonial empire in India. London's sweeter porters and lighter ales couldn't survive the trip to Bombay. The solution, found by a brewer named George Hodgson, was to brew an ale to a higher alcohol level, then balance the increased malt content with more hops.
Hops and alcohol provided some preservative value to stave off sourness, Hodgson found. More importantly, perhaps, the increased bitterness tended to mask many off-tastes.
Two hundred years later, America's young (and mostly self-trained) brewers discovered the same trick. As most shied from pasteurization, brewers learned IPAs could last a few more weeks on the shelf. And when they made the inevitable recipe mistake, they fixed it with a bit of dry-hopping (adding hops after fermentation). As one well-known brewer told me a few years ago, hops can hide a multitude of sins so easily, "a monkey could make an IPA."
Well, maybe.
But the fact is, after making so many IPAs, American brewers have gotten pretty damn good at this classic European style. Except that, as with cars and rock 'n' roll, Americans make 'em bigger, better, faster and stronger.
"We've totally redefined the IPA in America," said Brian O'Reilly, brewer at Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery in Phoenixville. "It's a very extreme beer, the way it's made now."
The extreme nature of the style, I think, is the real reason for its popularity. Craft beer drinkers have left standard lagers behind; other varieties like Kolsch, pilsner, Oktoberfest - even lighter ales - are too subtle to do the trick. But a monster like Sly Fox's hugely bitter Rt. 113 IPA knocks 'em upside the head and tells them in no uncertain terms why they laid out 25 bucks for a case.
"Our customers," O'Reilly acknowledged, "just can't seem to get enough of hops."
Sly Fox will prove that point today with the eagerly anticipated culmination of its yearlong IPA Project. Throughout 2005, O'Reilly brewed and served a series of single-variety IPAs (using one hop variety, not a blend), saving a keg of each. Nine different single-variety IPAs will be tapped, along with a 10th, called Odyssey (a blend of the nine), as well as a handful of others. Together, the Sly Fox IPA Project boasts a staggering 14 IPAs served at one bar. And, no, they won't all taste the same.
Sly Fox Brewhouse & Eatery (Pikeland Village Square, Phoenixville) celebrates its 10th anniversary today starting at 10 a.m. with a beer breakfast. All 13 Sly Fox IPAs will be available on tap and in growlers to go. Info, 610-935-4540.
Evil is a necessary condition for the existence of good, so even though I may be evil, I consider myself an enabler of all that is virtuous, just, proper, moral, honorable and uplifting.
I gave up drinking a few years back, having consumed my lifetime quota at a very early age, but as I recall, Ballantine's was good stuff, and like others here have mentioned, I can heartily endorse their choice of spokeslady...;-)
Home Brew PING
I see. It's only the guilt that's making you behave now. LOL
But its good to see that your wild days drinking did not result in becoming blind to the "finer" things in life. ;o)
LOL...after some of my drinking escapades, I can consider my original liver and every day above ground to be, "the finer things in life".
Though I still imbibe...with moderation...I second that sentiment. Why I'm not pushing daisies is a miracle. LOL
Oh...I didn't mean "every day above ground," in a life or death context...just that a statistically significant number of "nights out," finished up in the basements of Mexican whorehouses.
I once came to in a fast food restaurant and found out I'd been working there for three years and was married to the cashier...;-)
As one who has made a nice living as a sommelier (certified by The Court of Masters, my palate is oustanding) by tasting, buying and selling high-end wines for many years along with working with some of the nation's best chefs I have to admit I do like the lighter "new-world" beers over the heavier or bitter styles.
Sometimes, there is just no accounting for taste. Be assured, preferences for beer or wine is not commensurate with the degree of one's manhood, JMO.
Then I repeat with minor modification: Why you are not pushing daisies is a miracle. LOL
Oh, I have a few stories that involved daisy wine. It's not so much a matter of pushing them up so much as it is one of holding them down...;-)
Ooops, sowwy, that was my fault! :-) How's she doing?
That's nearly as bad as Kitty Dukakis drinking her AquaNet hairspray. Yikes.
Your sister's just fine, but she still insisted on getting that tattoo for Christmas.
Outstanding! Thanks for the update. Did she mention she used to be my brother?? :-)
I'll drink to that.
She admitted that to me...even though it brought a lump to her adam's apple...;-)
If so, what is your opinion?
ROFL!! Does she still have all those little circles on her from where guys where touching her with 10-foot poles?
Cheers!
Just had a Redhook IPA for the first time last night. Extremely bitter brew, but tasty.
"Did someone say 'pale ale'?"
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