Which is authentic IPA?

I stumbled over an intriguing table the other day. Showing the hopping rates for British beer types in 1905. Rather than just reproduce the table by itself, I've also put together another of my own. Based on information from Whitbread's brewing records. You guessed it: compare and contrast time again.

Here's the table from the book:

Average amount of hops used in different types of beer
Beer	Specific gravity before fermentation	lbs. of hops per barrel of wort
Mild ale	1050º-1058º	0.75 - 1.5
Pale ale	1048º-1055º	2 - 3
India pale ale	1055º-1064º	3 - 4
Strong ale	1065º-1083º	3 - 4
Porter	1050º-1056º	0.75 - 1.5
Single stout	1063º-1070º	2 - 3
Double stout	1075º-1083º	2.5 - 3.5
Imperial stout	1085º-1098º	3 - 4
Export stout	1060º-1098º	3 - 5
Source: "The Brewing Industry" by Julian L. Baker, 1905, page 92

What stands out? The relationship between Pale Ale and IPA. The latter is indicated as being both stronger and more heavily hopped. You can probably recall me mentioning the odd 3,000 times that IPA was not a strong beer. But here it is clearly indicated as PA's big brother.

Now here's my table of Whitbread's beers of the same period. I've taken the information from their brewing records, so it must be correct.

Whitbread beers in 1905 - 1906
Beer	Style	OG	FG	ABV	App. Attenuation	lbs hops/ qtr	hops lb/brl
X	Mild	1055.1	1013.0	5.57	76.42%	5.00	1.23
IPA	IPA	1050.1	1013.0	4.91	74.04%	11.99	2.63
FA	Pale Ale	1050.2	1014.0	4.80	72.14%	11.97	2.62
2PA	Pale Ale	1056.8	1018.0	5.13	68.30%	9.46	2.38
PA	Pale Ale	1063.4	1022.0	5.47	65.29%	12.01	3.40
KK	Strong Ale	1075.1	1028.0	6.23	62.73%	12.02	4.06
2KKK	Strong Ale	1080.2	1033.0	6.24	58.83%	12.02	4.33
KKK	Strong Ale	1085.8	1032.0	7.11	62.69%	12.02	4.63
P	Porter	1055.5	1013.0	5.62	76.58%	6.36	1.56
S	Stout	1075.6	1027.0	6.43	64.28%	7.76	2.89
SS	Stout	1086.0	1032.0	7.14	62.78%	8.57	3.81
SSS	Stout	1095.5	1037.0	7.74	61.27%	8.57	3.97
Source: Whitbread brewing records held at the London Metropolitan Archives

Whitbread's X and Porter both fit Baker's specifications, in terms of SG and hopping rate. Whitbread's Stouts, though they have slightly higher SG's, have about the same hopping rate. The Strong Ales are a bit more heavily hopped than specified. But not by any crazy amount.

Then there's Pale Ale and IPA.You know what's funny? Whitbread's IPA fits the Pale Ale spec and their Pale Ale the IPA spec. Weird, eh? What's going on? Did Whitbread get their styles mixed up? Or did IPA mean something different to southern drinkers? I suspect it's probably the latter.

It looks very much as if Baker has based his IPA specification on Bass. Which I suppose isn't unreasonable. It's just that in London, brewers and drinkers had other ideas about what constituted an IPA. Which was the authentic IPA: London or Burton?

I'd have to say both. Because both types of IPA were brewed for the rest of the 20th century. Drinkers clearly weren't confused. But I suppose it's irritating for style nazis to have two different types of beer using the same name. It doesn't worry me. I'm here to record and describe the past, not to judge it. I'll leave that to the nazis.