IPA's Historical Question/Discussion

[Wolfbayne]

We have an internal club/friendly discussion about IPAs and how they were created historically and should we incorporate this technique in our IPA recipes today.

During the beginning days of IPAs, they were aged and shipped in casks. These casks were made of a lighter oak that were cold soaked and then had water boiled in them. Burton Coopers chose slow-growth oak from the Baltic and Poland due to the little flavor being given off from the oak. There have also been claims of barrels lined with pitch (still trying to find that reference). I have read the Mitch Steele IPA book and seems like each chapter seems to reference to barrel/cask ageing, some upwards of 18+months and however long to ship out. Then some areas would age the IPA even longer before serving. My opinion would suggest some type of "oak" flavor to be given off during this.

BJCP guidelines states for all IPAs..."Oak is inappropriate in this style."

So here's the question...knowing that the ageing and shipping process utilized barrels, usually of an oak variety, should we look at using a light oaking technique in our IPA recipes today? Does anyone in HBT land oak their IPAs to be more historically "correct" verses guideline specific?

Any input on this topic is welcomed.

Cheers!

 

[patto1ro]

19th-century British brewers didn't want any oak flavour in their beers, especially not in an IPA. That's why they used oak from the Baltic and treated their barrels before they used them.

I've never found a shred of evidence that British brewers pitch lined their casks in the 19th century. Casks were sometimes lines in the 20th century, but not usually with pitch. The vast majjority of British wooden casks have always been unlined.

Bass left barrels of Pale Ale piled up in the brewery yard, open to the elements for up to 12 months. It supposedly made the beer resilient to changes in temperature.

What you should have if you want an authentic 19th-century IPA is a touch of Brettanomyces.

 

[unionrdr]

I remember an episode of The Beer Hunter where he was at the Pilsner Urquell brewery. They lined there large aging caskes with pitch. Re-lined them after each use. But the British def didn't with regard to IPA's. Combined with using oak that didn't give off any appreciable flavor,I'd say it shouldn't be done. Not much to gain since nothing is intended to be added by the oak. It was just a neutral storage medium of the time.

 

[Fasadi]

As an experiment (and partly prompted by our in-club discussion), I tried an American IPA with oak (5 days, 1 oz of oak chips). I'm still regretting it. I suspect you need to strongly consider what hops are used so they marry up with the oak. Going from memory, it was Sorachi Ace, Amarillo, and Galaxy for the hops. The primary gravity sample was fantastic tasting, and after it was oaked it became very...muddled? The clarity of the hop flavors just got obliterated.

I suspect the barrels were poland oak, or the tightest grained oak they could get their hands on (just suspicion, no good resources to back it up).

 

[TopherM]

BJCP guidelines states for all IPAs..."Oak is inappropriate in this style."

So here's the question...knowing that the ageing and shipping process utilized barrels, usually of an oak variety, should we look at using a light oaking technique in our IPA recipes today?

What does "historically correct" have to do with modern brewing techniques and BJCP guidelines? Trying to coorelate the two when it comes to IPAs is a VERY silly assumption. BJCP guidelines are MODERN guidelines, and have nothing to do with historical accuracy except where historical criteria are still being used today.

If you are shooting for historical accuracy, awesome, and brew on, but don't bring the modern BJCP standards into the conversation and think they should reflect some arbitrary period in time. They reflect TODAY!

 

[AnOldUR]

Does anyone in HBT land oak their IPAs to be more historically "correct" verses guideline specific?

Not to be historically correct, but because when done right it makes a wonderful beer.

That's what category 22C is for.