" . . originating in England in the early 1800’s, IPA was brewed to survive the voyage to the troops all around the world where many were stationed in India, where the hot climate wasn’t conducive to brewing. The beer was brewed strong and hoppy to prevent spoilage during the long trip, and the extreme temperature changes combined with the rolling of the seas resulted in a highly attenuated beer upon arrival."
Kegworks blog, http://www.kegworks.com/blog/2010/09/13/top-5-american-ipa/
"The original English IPAs were very strong and extremely hoppy, running 7-10% alcohol by volume. Brewers soon began producing similar ales for domestic consumption, but toned down both the alcohol content and the bitterness. This was partly as an effort to cater to consumer wishes, and partly because of the English taxation system. Until 1880, taxes were charged based on the raw materials used in the brewing process, but with passage of the “Free Mash Tun Act,” the tax assessment became based on the alcohol potential of the brew. Higher strength beers were taxed at a considerably higher rate, so lower strength beers became popular."
Angie Rayfield
http://www.suite101.com/content/whats-an-ipa-a26747
"The formal use of the term “Brown Ale” is tied to the introduction of Porter in the early 1700′s. Brown ale was likely known simply as “Ale” before that since almost all English ales would have been brown prior to 1700. The term “Brown Ale” was also used interchangeably for the next 100 years to describe both Porters and Stouts. Brown was in fact a generic term used to describe the insanely popular Porter of this period. [Ref: Daniels]
In the early 1800′s, some distinction was being made between Stouts, Porters and Milds. In many cases Brown ale was produced by making a Stout or Porter with the first runnings and then collecting the second runnings of the Mash to produce Brown ales. However, throughout the 18th century “brown” was still used extensively to describe Stouts, Porters and other dark beers brewed primarily around London."
Brad Smith
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/07/09/brown-ale-recipes-brewing-styles/
"Russian imperial stouts were first brewed in the 18th century by brewers in Burton, England to be shipped to the court of Russian Empress Catherine the Great. Catherine apparently became quite smitten by stouts during a visit to England and demanded some be sent back to her when she returned home; unfortunately the first few batches did not survive the long trip to Russia. Catherine demanded that the English find some way to get her beloved porter to her, and being empress, she got what she wanted. To accomplish this goal the Barclay Perkins brewery crafted a stout to survive the trek much sweeter and stronger than anything available in England at the time and a new style was born."
Beeriety
http://blog.beeriety.com/2010/02/25/style-profile-russian-imperial-stout/
The more ludicrous the claims, the better your chance of winning one of these prestigious prizes
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18 comments:
I claim that JW Lees invested India Pale Ale. It was called Jumbo Ale after Indian Elephants. You must have seen Lees Jumbo Ale in the brewing books, but not IPA, which proves my point.
What do I get?
I have plenty of claims, but unfortunately none of them in English.
Just one quick translation from a quote from a recent press release (quoted by a news site below) by one of the largest Latvian breweries (Royal Unibrew).
http://www.financenet.lv/nozares/348110-alus_sacensibas_uzvarejis_kastanu_alus
Lāčplēša Chestnut beer is a traditional ale, brewed in accordance with methods used in Europe since medieval times. Ale, similarly to Pilsener, denotes name of the beer style. Ales for the first time were brewed in the UK, London, in the 17th century. During those times, the most popular was the pale ale. Nowadays ales are widely available in England, Belgium and the North America.
Lāčplēša Kastaņu alus ir tradicionāls eils, brūvēts saskaņā ar metodēm, kas Eiropā pastāv kopš viduslaikiem. Eils, tāpat kā lagera vai Pilzenes tipa alus, ir alus veida nosaukums. Pirmo reizi eila tipa alus brūvēts Lielbritānijā, Londonā, 17.gadsimtā. Tajā laikā populārākais ir bijis gaišais eils. Mūsdienās eila tipa alus ir ļoti izplatīts Anglijā, Beļģijā un Ziemeļamerikā.
"The last sub-variety is the Imperial IPA, so named because the beer was originally produced for exportation to czarist Russia."
http://www.suite101.com/content/whats-an-ipa-a26747
And there was me thinking this was just a previously non-existent style made-up by American home brewers.
That's a cracking article by the way! Yes I know you have already quoted it but I liked this one.
It is worrying that Tandleman's comment is one of the least ridiculous assertions.
OK, here's the usual nonsence from Beer Advocate, but with an interesting new twist:-
First brewed in England and exported for the British troops in India during the late 1700s. To withstand the voyage, IPA's were basically tweaked Pale Ales that were, in comparison, much more malty, boasted a higher alcohol content and were well-hopped, as hops are a natural preservative. Historians believe that an IPA was then watered down for the troops, while officers and the elite would savor the beer at full strength. The English IPA has a lower alcohol due to taxation over the decades. The leaner the brew the less amount of malt there is and less need for a strong hop presence which would easily put the brew out of balance. Some brewers have tried to recreate the origianl IPA with strengths close to 8-9% abv.
Watering-down the ale for the troops, eh? That's a new one to me. I wonder if there is any evidence for that...
Scottish Ales according to Garrett Oliver in his book, "The Brewmaster's Table," p.153.
"From the earliest day, Scottish beer was different. The hop cannot grow in cold, blustery Scotland... Even when the Scots started to import hops, they did so grudgingly and at considerable expense. Not only were hops expensive, they were English; this did not exactly endear the hop to the Scots, who constantly sought to blunt arrogant England's expansionism. Scottish beer drinkers cared little for the taste of hops, and brewers used them sparingly, only for their preservative qualities... Scottish beer even fermented differently from English beer. Colder ambient temperatures led to slow, cool fermentations by ale yeast strains that could stand the northern chill. Long cool fermentations tend to produce malty beers with muted fruitiness, even when ale yeasts are used. Scottish beer took weeks rather than days to ferment, and then settled in for a long cold storage before being served. In this regard it resembled Bavarian lagers more than it did English ales."
StuartP: Evidence? We don't need no steekin' evidence …
The answer is, of course, no, there is absolutely no evidence for watered-down beer being served to troops in India at all.
I, uh... woah, wow. There are so many.
http://www.bigsiteofamazingfacts.com/why-did-the-british-invent-india-pale-ale-and-how-do-the-hops-in-india-pale-ale-help-preserve-the-beer
Ron, The last sentence is going to make you cry.
I haven't got the actual quote but Protz had a classic one in Beers of the World a few years back.
Holt, Plant, and Deakin used to make a premium bitter called Entire. This beer is now being reproduced under the Old Swan, Ma Pardoes brand. In an issue of Beers of the World from a few years ago, Roger Protz claims that in the Midlands the word Entire refers not to Porter but to a type of strong pale Mild, his theory being based entirely on the existence of Pardoe's Entire, which is a bitter.
Finally, Entire (4.4%) is a strong amber mild, a Black Country speciality that is quite different to the 18th century London style known as Entire or Porter.
One last entry for the Papazian Cup, it's brothers, Jason and Todd Alström, founders of BeerAdvocate, on altbier:
"long before lagers Germanic brewers brewed ales, which have been crafted in Germany for at least 3,000 years. Not many specific styles of beer can be traced thousands of years, however Altbier is one of them. An ale at heart, "alt" is German for "old" and helps to reflect how far back this style has been around."
http://beeradvocate.com/articles/260
Where to start?
The idea that altbier has existed unchanged for thousands of years. And the maddening, ahistorical insistence on fitting it into the American homebrewers' category of 'ales'. Their seeming ignorance that lagering is what makes an altbier makes me wonder if they have ever been to Düsseldorf and drunk it. If they ever saw it described as an 'obergäriges Lagerbier' their brains might just explode.
During the 18th century, both Munich and Vienna were well-established brewing centers....... They differed, however, in that Vienna was brewing ales and Munich, its renowned bottom-fermented lagerbiers.
Florian Kemp at allaboutbeer.com
"Porter is said to have been popular with transportation workers of Central London, hence the name. Most traditional British brewing documentation from the 1700’s state that Porter was a blend of three different styles: an old ale (stale or soured), a new ale (brown or pale ale) and a weak one (mild ale), with various combinations of blending and staleness. The end result was also commonly known as "Entire Butt" or "Three Threads" and had a pleasing taste of neither new nor old. It was the first truly engineered beer........."
Beer Advocate, beer styles section. There are many contenders for the prize to be found here.
One of my recent favorites, from a Boston, MA, USA based website about beer and wine called "French Oak":
"Lager is the German word for “storage” and the beer is named so as the beer is stored for at least three weeks before being served and is most often served chilled. For this reason and due to lagers’ colder and longer fermentation process, ales had long been more available and widely consumed than lagers. But in 1953, lagers became very popular due to a newly invented way to ferment lagers called “continuous fermentation”. The process allowed for the production of lager beer at a much faster pace and made possible the mass production of lager beer at a rate competitive with ales."
http://frenchoaktv.com/beer/lagers/
I've mentioned this in the original Protz Shield thread, but I now enter it as a formal contender -
On beerpages.com it says that pilsner was first brewed in
"the Czech village of Pilsen."
Three mistakes in five words is going to take some beating, although I have to say that my personal favourite for sheer head-shaking "you-what-ness?" is Pete Brown's assertion that Hoegaarden is a Bitter............
"Pale Ale is an American term for Ales; other countries use different names for Ales. For example England calls them Bitters, Germany Altbier and so on. Although Pale Ales are generally medium bodied with a light golden to light copper color, India Pale Ale, Amber Ale, and Red Ale fall into the Pale Ale category."
"Stouts and Porters are generally very malty because they are made using roasted malts and barley. There are also other ingredients that are used like oatmeal, coffee, chocolate and milk. They are usually heavy bodied"
"England is one of the few countries in the world where ales are more the rule than the exception. Also beer is still traditionally matured in caskets at the pubs, instead of at he brewery. Beer in England is normally served at cellar temperatures.
Beers is eastern England generally contain more hops than other regions. Traditional styles of English beer are Bitter, Mild, Old Ale, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, Porter and Stout."
"When most of the United Kingdom weren’t using hops because of growing climates, Scotland imported hops extensively for their brews."
"Pale lager does not have a noticeable amount of bitterness or aroma. This type of beer includes quite a few varieties, but the best know are the Helles and the Pilsner. It can be difficult to differentiate the two, but it becomes easier when one remembers that in a Helles, the hops flavors should dominate, while in a Pilsner, the malt should take precedence."
Read more at Suite101: Types of Lager http://www.suite101.com/content/types-of-lager-a296566#ixzz18D4ydqDY
You will have understood by now that this is a target-rich environment...........
I promise this is the last, but it's a good one.....
"was probably monks and nuns who discovered the importance of adding hops......
Flavoring beer with hops was known as early as the 9th Century, however, because of the difficulty in determining the proper ratio of hops to other ingredients, using hops only gradually became an accepted practice...... Many countries soon adopted laws requiring the use of hops. In England, such laws led to riots and revolts because the English preferred naturally sweet ale to bitter beer."
Read more at Suite101: The History of Beer - Dark Ages, Middle Ages & Discovery of Hops http://www.suite101.com/content/a-brief-history-of-beer-part-2-a250635#ixzz18D8QxAVW
A lot of nonsense there I think
I've seen Protz argue a couple of times that the word lager "may" be etymologically related to English larder. This insight is based on both word beginning with "la" and having something to do with cool places.
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