The History of Aging IPA

[Clint Yeastwood]

I read something interesting about IPA today.

I already knew the story about IPA being suited for shipping to India by boat. What I did not know was that the British believed shipping certain beers improved their flavors. I also didn't know that some of these beers that were not shipped were cellared for two years. So Englishmen were taking the ancestors of modern IPA and keeping them cool and dark for a long time before drinking them. This comes from Wikipedia, which we all know is never, ever wrong.

It looks like aging ale was very important to them, whether they did it by punishing the beer with an ocean voyage or putting it in cellars.

Earlier this year, I got some skeptical comments when I said some bottles of Sierra Nevada Torpedo tasted better after sitting in my hot workshop for a year or so. I wasn't making it up. They seemed to have a nice caramel flavor. I also really enjoyed a can of Top Gun IPA that had been in my pantry forever. A guest had left it.

So...should modern homebrewers be putting kegs of IPA and similar beers in their closets to see if they improve?

 

[DuncB]

Not sure, the barrels they used for the " abuse " would have been oak so with the temperature shifts, barrel hopping there probably was a long secondary ferment with brett that contributed to the change and allowed them to arrive bright ( as in sparkling).

That caramel flavour may well be oxygenation that has occurred and some beers benefit from a bit of that others don't.

I find the beers stashed away except those meant for keeping like barleywine and imperial stout do fade in the cupboard.

 

[AmarikinBrew]

I thought about devising a "keg rocker". It would emulate the ships movements while dry hopped, perhaps powered by a rotisserie motor and some concentric discs lined with rubber. I would run it for mebbe a 6 week voyage? Maybe just use a corny keg to keep it simple and only emulate the motion of a ship on the sea.

 

[mac_1103]

You need a "cask rocker" not a "keg rocker." And some seawater.

 

[kevin58]

You need to read Ron Pattinson's blog and books. For perspective the journey by sea from London to India could take up to 9 months or a bit longer. That's how long IPA would have been in transport not counting the time it sat in the brewery yard before being loaded onto ships.

One more interesting fact brought up by Ron, there was far more porter shipped to India because the lower class soldiers, servants etc drank the less expensive porter. That porter was also hopped at a higher rate just like the pale ale which became known as India Pale Ale and for the same reason... to account for hop fade that would inevitably happen in those 9+ months of travel. To which Ron wonders, why isn't there an India Porter?

 

[Erik the Anglophile]

To be fair there are quite a few Barclay Perkins "EI" and "EIP" designations in recipes from brewlogs, designating a porter as Export India or more plainly Export India Porter.
Those are usually way heavier hopped than ordinary porters, although I have through myfascination for recreating late 1800's/early 1900's Porters and Stouts come to accept these beers were quite heavily hopped compared to the stuff we have today.

So for an authentic IPA I'd say make a pale ale with Chevalier and 10-20% cane sugar to 1.055-60ish, late boil hop it with 1.5-2g/L of EKG, rack to secondary with maybe a few cubes of boiled french oak(you only want a little tannins, no strong oak flavours) about 1g/L EKG dry hops and let it ride for at least 6months on brett.
And get the bittering charge stupid big, you want like a 100 IBU in it before racking to secondary...

 

[AmarikinBrew]

You need a "cask rocker" not a "keg rocker." And some seawater.

Yes! and some seamonkeys
and sirens
and a generator for St. Elmo's fire to really light things of right!

 

[AmarikinBrew]

You need to read Ron Pattinson's blog and books. For perspective the journey by sea from London to India could take up to 9 months or a bit longer. That's how long IPA would have been in transport not counting the time it sat in the brewery yard before being loaded onto ships.

One more interesting fact brought up by Ron, there was far more porter shipped to India because the lower class soldiers, servants etc drank the less expensive porter. That porter was also hopped at a higher rate just like the pale ale which became known as India Pale Ale and for the same reason... to account for hop fade that would inevitably happen in those 9+ months of travel. To which Ron wonders, why isn't there an India Porter?

I don't think I could wait that long. Maybe turn up the HopWavolater to "gail force" and apply 220v juice to it, geterdone early?

 

[AmarikinBrew]

Patterson is nice, but some ways of the old brewery's and ships ect can't be recreated accurately IMO so we just do the best we can with what we have no?

 

[AmarikinBrew]

To be fair there are quite a few Barclay Perkins "EI" and "EIP" designations in recipes from brewlogs, designating a porter as Export India or more plainly Export India Porter.
Those are usually way heavier hopped than ordinary porters, although I have through myfascination for recreating late 1800's/early 1900's Porters and Stouts come to accept these beers were quite heavily hopped compared to the stuff we have today.

So for an authentic IPA I'd say make a pale ale with Chevalier and 10-20% cane sugar to 1.055-60ish, late boil hop it with 1.5-2g/L of EKG, rack to secondary with maybe a few cubes of boiled french oak(you only want a little tannins, no strong oak flavours) about 1g/L EKG dry hops and let it ride for at least 6months on brett.
And get the bittering charge stupid big, you want like a 100 IBU in it before racking to secondary...

"Cane sugar" prolly came from West Indies route back then. Was prolly heavy unrefined like the piloncillo I get from the local Spanish influence market here down South, who due to locality/Expats prolly learned the practice from them. I grind it up and stick it in a lidded can the fruity and winey smell coming from it is intoxicating all by itself, it would make a great authentic addition I believe.