History of the American IPA?

I'm drinking one now...This might have been the first American beer I tasted...One of the greats, a classic...

 

Hmm... yeah, that's right - I never updated my list after they re-opened in 2009 (my files have them being closed). The original - which I toured back around 1991 or so (and previous to that known as Geyer Bros.) - was destroyed in a tornado and was closed for quite a few years afterwards. Not sure of any ownership changes.

I gotta take some of their claims with a big grain of salt, but as I understand it, it was never a licensed brewery until its became a legal brewery in the craft era. Certainly it is not listed in any industry, governmental or amateur list of US breweries before that period, that I ever recall.

 

Leinenkugel? "Merged' with Miller about 82 but still got family involved in running the place.

 

What is this alchemy? Such a thing is not allowed!

There are always going to be 'hybrid' beers that don't neatly fit, and in those cases it would be up to the brewer to decide how they want them categorized. But... if they were going to enter them into a competition as an American IPA, then they would ultimately be judged on how well those beers express the American/New World hops, because in that instance that's what the category is all about.

As an example, I tend to think of DfH 90 Minute as a bit of a hybrid myself because of the fruity yeast strain but it tends to get lumped into the American IIPA category due to the hops.

The example of the Harpoon IPA is all about the Cascades, in much the same way that Two Hearted is all about the Centennials, so those seem much more clear cut to me.

I have seen some beers that will use noble hops in a supporting role, although the dominant character tends to be American. One of them may have been the old Jim Koch Oregon Label IPA, that had a dominant Cascade character but might have also used some domestic Goldings or Willamettes- but if you smelled it you'd get an American character immediately.

Speaking of which- that beer may have also been one of the early 'craft' products to market themselves as an IPA. I'm guessing 1994ish? Do you remember @jesskidden ?

 

Well, 100% outright purchased by Miller in 1988 and I noted them under "Coors", where it appears they'll wind up with little or no input from the Leinenkugel family (I don't even recall them being mentioned in any of the articles are the ABInBev/SABMiller deal or the MolsonCoors purchase of the Miller breweries or brands). But, yeah, their original brewery is still running while their Milwaukee brewery is actually post-craft era - built by Heileman in the 80s as their in-house "microbrewery" and operated under the Val Blatz name.

 

I'm drinking a celebration as i read this. yum!

 

Funny that Liene's website lists the youngest "6th Generation" of the family on their website to "take over" next... I'm guessing the family involvement at this point is little more than some marketing for the brand.

 

Yeah, '95, I think - and an India Pale Ale was the first "Oregon Original" beer (brewed at Saxer, although the OO brand later became infamous for being brewed at Stroh/Heileman's Blitz-Weinhard brewery and then an Oregonhio Original at the Hudepohl-Schoenling (eventually owned by BBC - I'd have to check that chronology).

And it was definitely well before the IPA boom - I'd guess there were quite a few around at the small local "micros" and brewpubs but the major bigger craft brewers with IPA's that I can think of mid-decade were Great Lakes, Harpoon, Dock St. and Long Trail (<the one I remember the best in NJ). I'm not even sure Bell's - well, then Kalamazoo - had an IPA in the 90s - Two-Hearted came later IIRC? I think it might be safe to say that Oregon India Pale Ale might have been the IPA with the widest distribution in the 90s - thanks to being a BBC brand.

Tony Magee got a lot of shit when he tried to defend his trademark on the design of his "IPA" logo but he was one of, if not THE first brewers in the US to use the "IPA" term rather than "India Pale Ale" on his labels.

 

When did Brooklyn start brewing East India Pale Ale? It's one of the first I recall being around.

 

But that's one of those weird hybrid IPAs that uses English malts/hops and American hops.

 

It is now I guess but back than it wasn't.

 

Joking aside, the recipe is different today than the original?

 

know- eye- deer

 

From what the Brooklyn rep told me when it came out (1995, I'm guessing ) Garrett based it on an original IPA recipe, and used Kent Goldings all the way. So, it was decidedly English then, but, yeah, it's more of a hybrid now. I wish they would have stuck to their guns, but whatta you gonna do?

 

So did the original IPAs. And the Scots liked to throw in a ton of Saaz hops as well.

 

So speaking of this citrus/fruity hop bomb IPA style...who gets credit for the creation of beers similar to this HF one pictured?

 

Yeah, that was another one of my "to check" list - looks like the same year as Koch's Oregon Original - 1995 - according to Oliver's Brewmaster's Table book.

Since I've got his book out - BEIPA was inspired by the "East India Pale Ale" chapter of Wm Tizzard's The Theory and Practice of Brewing Illustrated [1842].

 

If I had to guess, Heady Topper?

@jesskidden?

 

The Alchemist brewery started in 2002. I'm having a hard time believing that no one created a citrus bomb before then. The Alchemist can probably be credited with popularizing the variant though.

When I had Anchor Liberty it seemed very citrusy from the dry-hopping and has that bright yellow color, albeit filtered, reminiscent of many of today's citrus bombs. If Liberty was unfiltered, I think you would have a clear winner.

 

Have you had Heady Topper or hoppy beers from Hill Farmstead/Trillium/Treehouse...etc.?

These beers are VERY different than Liberty Ale, and not just because they're unfiltered. Very little bitterness, very tropical fruit forward to put it in general terms.

For a more stylistically direct comparison, if you had Sierra Nevada Pale Ale/Liberty Ale next to Trillium's Fort Point Pale Ale I think you'd be hard pressed to say these were the same type of beer.