IPA. London-style IPA. You know, the stuff that's not "real"IPA because it isn't strong enough. What bastards, eh, those brewers, calling something IPA that was weaker than their PA? Whitbread did it for more than 50 years. Just as well there were no style authorities at the time to reveal their hideous deception.....IPA and Light Bitter
In London breweries, IPA was weaker, but more heavily hopped, than Pale Ale. I realise that this goes against received wisdom, but IPA was the session Bitter to Pale Ale's Best Bitter. The situation was somewhat different in Burton, where stronger, export IPA's similar to those of the 19th century were still brewed.
There were other Light Bitters, with brewhouse names such as XLK or XK. These were around the same gravity as IPA, but less well hopped. That is to say, with a gravity of around 1050º in 1914. Before the war, Whitbread's basic draught beers were IPA at 1050º, X (Mild) at 1057º and PA at 1061º. As you can see, Light Bitter was weaker than Mild.
Whitbread's IPA, like all their other beers underwent large changes during the war. Along with PA and Porter, it was one of only three beers Whitbread brewed all the way through the war.
Like with their PA, increasing the degree of attenuation offset the initial gravity cuts and the ABV even increased slightly from 4.4% to 4.9%. The hopping rate stayed pretty constant at around 12 pounds per quarter of malt. That's about 2 pounds per quarter more than PA. By 1918 the gravity of Whitbread IPA was down to just 1032º, just a little less than PA which was around 1036º.The grist contained 20% sugar for most of the war years, except for a blip in late 1917/early 1918 when it dropped to 10%. I assume because of a shortage in supply as the same happened to all their beers. There were even some versions of MA brewed with no sugar at all.
The strength of Whitbread IPA only increased very slightly after war's end, settling at around 1036º for most of the interwar years. That's a 28% fall on it's 1914 gravity of 1050º. Which is more than the decrease in PA (25%) and X (26%).
Ron, you say that stronger export IPAs were brewed in Burton. I assume that if there were export versions there must have been "regular" versions. Were these "regular" Burton IPAs close to the London ones in gravity? I'm trying to understand if IPA was weaker than PA universally or just amongst the London brewers. You've said in the past that you don't have many records from Burton, but I'm curious to know if this was a regional difference or predominant throughout England. Thanks again. Fascinating stuff.
ReplyDeleteBill, I wish I could give a proper you a proper answer. I've only got glimpses of Burton PA and IPA. So it's hard for me to say anything very definite about it. What I have seen, is that Bass and Worthington beers were were stronger in the 1930's and 1950's than those from elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I've seen in Victorian price lists, some brewers' IPA was stronger than their PA, and in other cases the opposite was true.
I need to investigate more.