True English IPA or RIS?

Quite a few. Sam Smith makes good examples of each.

 

Wells & Young's Courage RIS is a very good English RIS

 

You can, I believe, get both of these in the States:

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13029/27952
http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/13029/27953

 

St. Petersburg is an awesome under-the-radar RIS, especially on cask.

 

Yeah, I'd certainly recommend it first-and-foremost on cask, but I assume (maybe incorrectly) that it's more plentiful in the bottle format over there.

 

Why have I never had an RIS on cask before? This needs to happen.

 

On the link below click on the drop-down list to the style that you want to see and you'll get a list of the top-rated beers in each category. Many of the highest scorers are difficult to find but look down the list and you'll see many that are generally available. http://beeradvocate.com/lists/popular

 

This thread illustrates the shortcomings of style guidelines because IPA over the years has existed in a multitude of forms.I don't think anyone had accurately recreated an 1800s IPA (and what part of the 1800s do we mean, things altered a hell of a lot during that time) as one characteristic for the export versions was extreme attenuation.Too dry and astringent for modern palates.
In the UK you will find that about 90% by volume of all beer sold as IPA is a modestly hopped beer of around 3.6%.This interpretation of IPA is perfectly valid, it's had a century to get established , because IPA was simply a name , often used interchangeably with Pale ale and Bitter.Originally all IPA was shipped to India but domestic versions soon appeared which were different.
By far the longest established so-called English IPA is Worthington White Shield (brewed by Coors) which claims to go back to the early 1800s.It's the correct strength at 5.6% and uses well established English hop varieties.
Many UK breweries make a beer labelled IPA. Fuller's,Marston's and Meantime come to mind though Meantime's at 7.5% it's probably stronger than any 19th century IPA.
We talk about English IPAs but the Scots were very prominent brewers of IPA in the 19th century as well.Despite rumours to the contrary the Scots used lots of hops in brewing.

 

Samuel Smith Imperial Stout and India Ale; however, they are not going to taste like the BIG American versions of these styles.

 

“I don't think anyone had accurately recreated an 1800s IPA …”

Town Hall Brewery (Minneapolis, MN) brews a beer called 1800 Historic English IPA.

Below is a description from the Northern Brewer website (for the homebrew clone kit):

“Bronze Medal Winner, 2005 Great American Beer Festival. “Recipe converted from historic recipe dated from the year 1800. Bittering calculations were off the charts, so we used the same number of pounds of hops, but moved much of the addition to the later part of the boil. Original recipe called for 1 bittering addition. Very earthy, nutty malt character with a tremendous hops flavor!” -Town Hall Head Brewer”

Cheers!

 

Meantime IPA is english, and readly available. Sam Smith, obviously as mentioned.

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php

A good resource; find the style you want to try and then they list well known, pretty widely available beers.

 

I've done it before and I'll do it again in vouching for Meantime IPA. Its a bit of a grower. Thornbridge also make another excellent Russian Imperial Stout which is their take on Courage RIP. Also add my support for Samuel Smith's Imperial Stout which probably did more to spark interest in this 'style' than any other beer.

 

Getting the recipes matched is not that easy as malt in particular has changed though Goldings hops date back to the 1700s. A reasonable approximation is possible but another stumbling block is the process , the yeasts used and as I mentioned the fact that attenuation was taken much further. Then there's the maturation to take into account.

Surprising to find a recipe for 1800 when the first mention of IPA was around 1840! But IPA was simply a name and a new name didn't imply a new beer.Styles weren't thought of until perhaps 1970 and brewers called their products more or less what they wished.

 

It is indeed true that the ‘style name’ of India Pale Ale was not explicitly used in the year 1800. This didn’t occur until 1835: First use of the term “India Pale Ale” was in an advertisement in Liverpool Mercury on January 30, 1835 (Cornell).

Having stated that, we obviously know now that Pale Ales destined for shipment to India was indeed produced in the year 1800. In fact it occurred earlier than that in the year 1793: First arrival of Hodgson Pale Ale to India: September 1793 (Pryor; reference 10 – Calcutta Gazette).

You have a valid point that beer ingredients have indeed changed over the years but I thought it was of interest that a brewery (Town Hall) has commercially made an English IPA based upon a historical recipe from 1800.

Cheers!

 

Thanks, it was a useful and interesting post.
It's good to see breweries trying these things.

 

+1 for Meantime
Tastes great =)

 

Jack and Marquis... I got to say, that was one of the most polite and informative discussions I've ever seen on the internet. Thanks for restoring my hope in the information superhighway.

 

Meantime..yep
Thornbridge..yep
Samuel Smith..only one available locally, sometimes...yep.

 

Williams Bros. Joker Ipa is true to style. Thornbridge is a great brewery!!!