It's purely arbitrary as the examples below scan a gravity range from just over 1030º to just a hair short of 1060º. And just about everything inbetween. I just opted to split them at 1045º. Which is about halfway.
Fascinating to see an English and a Scottish IPA in sale in Belgium. Not a style particularly associated with the cross-channel trade.
Most are highly-attenuated, but there are a few exceptions. The two examples from Fussell stand out in particular, with their much lower degree of attenuation..11 of the 16 beers were over 80%.
Alcohol content is all over the shop: low 2.8%, high 7.3%. What would a drinker expect when ordering an IPA? No doubt it depended on where you lived. And what the local brewers decided IPA was. Imagine what might happen if an IPA fan visited a town where his favourite was double the strength.
| Weak IPA between the wars | ||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | OG | FG | ABV | App. Atten-uation |
| 1923 | Cannon | IPA | 1040 | 1007.7 | 4.20 | 80.75% |
| 1925 | Vaux | IPA | 1036.6 | 1007.8 | 3.74 | 78.69% |
| 1930 | Cannon | IPA | 1034 | 1012 | 2.84 | 64.71% |
| 1933 | Fussell | IPA | 1044 | 1017.2 | 3.46 | 60.91% |
| 1936 | Hammerton | IPA | 1040 | 1004.1 | 4.69 | 89.75% |
| 1936 | Jeffrey & Co | India Pale Ale | 1039.5 | 1012.1 | 3.55 | 69.37% |
| 1938 | Hammerton | IPA | 1031.4 | 1004.4 | 3.51 | 85.99% |
| 1938 | Hammerton | IPA | 1038.6 | 1007.7 | 4.02 | 80.05% |
| Average: | 1038.0 | 1009.1 | 3.75 | 76.28% | ||
| Source: | ||||||
| Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001. | ||||||
| Strong IPA between the wars | ||||||
| Year | Brewer | Beer | OG | FG | ABV | App. Atten-uation |
| 1921 | Benskin | IPA | 1053.2 | 1007.6 | 5.96 | 85.71% |
| 1922 | Ushers | IPA (Belgian sample) | 1049.9 | 1009.2 | 5.31 | 81.56% |
| 1922 | Watney | IPA (Belgian sample) | 1059.7 | 1004.4 | 7.27 | 92.63% |
| 1926 | Smithers & Son | India Pale Ale | 1048.1 | 1008.9 | 5.11 | 81.50% |
| 1926 | Tamplin | IPA | 1057.9 | 1004.8 | 6.97 | 91.71% |
| 1928 | McEwan | Export IPA | 1055.1 | 1009.5 | 5.95 | 82.76% |
| 1929 | Fussell | IPA | 1047 | 1013.1 | 4.40 | 72.13% |
| Average: | 1053.0 | 1008.2 | 5.85 | 84.00% | ||
| Source: | ||||||
| Whitbread Gravity book held at the London Metropolitan Archives, document number LMA/4453/D/02/001. | ||||||
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4 comments:
Re: your last sentence, I imagine it happened a lot - real ale culture in the early years (as you know Bob) abounded in rumours of beers you'd want to go easy on if you ever saw them, not to mention stories of the "young chap from town come in here, thought he'd drink it in pints..." variety
I thought the current proliferation of IPA styles (west coast IPA, session IPA, double IPA, Black IPA, New England IPA . . . ) was unprecedented. It turns out you have shown that the IPA label was used (or misused) for a wide variety of beers a century ago.
arnie moodenbaugh,
IPA was never very tightly defined in the UK. Even in the early 19th century, some examples were very weak for the day. Look at how weak some of these are:
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/2021/07/ipa-consumed-in-uk-in-1840s.html
Compared to a base level Mild Ale of 1060º plus of the time.
Phil,
I've heard tales about the Fullers pub the Dove, where they sold OBE, the 7% ABV Burton and people getting completely pissed because they though it was the standard 5% ABV Burton Ale.
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