Yesterday was the first day I put most of my knowledge to the test for IPAs. IPAs, or India Pale Ales, have a really cool history (or so I have been told)! If you know any truth to the history I am about to tell (and have been told by word-of-mouth), then, please, let me know and correct me (politely, please) if I am wrong.
From what I was told, the IPA (in essence) became more popular during the times of war when England tried to get beer to their India Company. As the transportation time impacted fermentation, flavour, and (often) spoiled the beer before consumption, beer makers added extra hops to aid in the preservative-eateries needed for the beer to maintain flavours and palatability during the voyage. And so it was created that (often heavily hopped) IPAs increased in consumption and preferences. I think, in future blogs, I will do a better job at finding sources and referencing where I heard/read information, but I also remember reading (during Covid) that the division of consumed beer is over 50% IPAs (or a sub category of IPAs) in Canada and the USA. Thus bringing me to the realization that, even if I prefer the dark lagers, porters and stouts, in order for a beer-business to be viable, they SHOULD have a decent/good IPA…So that’s what I brewed yesterday.
Yesterday, batch only had a small percentage of the hops being added as a buttering agent (used in the boil); and, almost double, the hops being used at flame-out (after the heat has been cut from the boil and when the wort-chilling starts). And, if you total all yesterday’s hops, I still have almost DOUBLE that amount of hops to put in my fermented product 3-4 days from kegging (ie: dry hop). This will allow the FLAVOURS from the hops to enter the beer and expand the profile while not significantly impacting the bitterness of the beer. I will run the calculations later today (in between our kids’ rep basketball games) and let you know what the values are, but, since the bulk of the hops is after fermentation, I have a hypothesis that the flavour is the best thing for me to focus on with this batch.
Either way, thanks for reading and I’ll do my best to figure-out how to update y’all once I know more!
Be good to yourselves and those around you!
SKaL!