Me myself and IPA - history of the most famous beer

A title we stole from Brouwerij Uiltje. One of the many craft breweries that have ensured that the IPA has made a huge advance in recent years. Also, and perhaps especially, in the alcohol-free beers the IPA is very popular. In our shop alone we sell 86 (June '25) different types.

The history of the IPA is a bit of a mystery. The story goes that the Pale Ale from England became increasingly popular in India during the colonization in the 19th century. In order to survive the long boat journey, the brewers added extra hops, which made the beer more bitter and gave the beers a higher alcohol percentage. These Pale Ales for India then also became popular in England itself and are therefore still among the most important beer types to this day.

The real, less romantic, story is that the Bow Brewery used India Pale Ale as marketing to (re)conquer the English market in the 1830s. According to the BJCP (the beer style guide) IPA beer was never even transported to India at that time. The brewery itself went out of business a few years later, but they did ensure that we can still enjoy these bitter beers today.

In the meantime, dozens of types of IPAs have been created. Some brewers started adding aromas or using hops that had more flavor to suppress the bitterness. In the US, brewers focused much more on using different types of hops and a proliferation of IPAs emerged. While in England, brewers focused on making the IPA more consistent and better and used a limited number of hops. English IPAs are also generally lower in alcohol percentage.

In addition to the American and “original” English IPA, there is now also a Black IPA, Double or Imperial IPA, Triple IPA, New England IPA (NEIPA) and a Session IPA. All variants in which the addition of multiple and different types of hops is varied. They have in common that they all have an IPA bitterness.

For the alcohol-free beers, the bitterness of the IPA is very well suited to compensate for the loss of taste due to the alcohol. By adding the extra hops, the beer still gets a full taste. And certainly if you combine this with the addition of aromas of fruit, flowers and/or herbs, you get very nice combinations.

A bitter (non-alcoholic) beer takes some getting used to. It's like coffee, the first time you really have to swallow it but after a few tastes you get used to it and you start to appreciate it. And there are a few IPArels among them 😉

Cheers!