How to Talk Like a Beer Geek: We Aren't in India Anymore!

Did you know ‘India’ Pale Ales aren’t even from INDIA?! Uhhhh... What?!?! Yep, they were actually made for British Soldiers. The astringent nature of the extra hops made it possible for the beer to survive travel to faraway places... Like India!

Nowadays it is getting increasingly hard to find just an IPA without a word or two before ‘IPA’ on the label. A style of a style if you will. Confusing, yes. But, I got your back! This isn’t necessarily meant to be an actual style guide per se, but more of guide to help you understand and decode those qualifier words.


First English IPAs. These are the first. The original. The real deal! English IPAs were basically Pale Ales that were hopped up, a bit maltier, and a bit bigger on the ABV percentage. Again, made so that they would survive the long voyage to the British troops in India.

Next up, American IPAs! USA! USA! USA! American IPAs are a bit more robust in the ol’ flavor area than an English IPA. Typically more hopped up and usually with hops from this side of the pond. Now, this is where things get interesting! Much like the rappers of the rap battles of the 90s, American IPAs are often either West Coast or East Coast.

West Coast IPAs are the hoptastic flavor blasts that are pretty popular. Hopped usually with exclusively west coast hops, these beers don’t try to hide the floral citrusy hoppiness. Balance? Screw balance!

East Coast IPAs on the other hand tries to save your palate a bit from the hop overload. East Coast IPAs are still hoppy, but they tend to be balanced out better with a bit more of a malt profile. East Coast IPAs are basically West Coast IPAs’ more conservative brother.

For the last one, let’s hop back over to the other side of the pond; Belgian IPAs. Belgian IPAs are IPAs that have been made using Belgian yeast strains. Think of crossing a Belgian beer with an American IPA. You get the hoppiness of an IPA and you get the flavors from the Belgian yeast like you would in a dubbel or tripel. To me, this one is the most complex of the IPAs.

There we go! IPAs are not just IPAs anymore. Next time you want to pound a couple of these hoppy tasty beers you will be able to better decide what style of this... ummm... style you wish to get in your beer hole!

Brews and Reviews: Schells Brewing Company's Arminius

Arminius, known to many of the citizens of New Ulm as Hermann the German, was a Germanic chieftain who united many other tribes to hold back Roman forces in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest.  While eventually defeated by the Romans, his legacy and symbolism lead to the unification of many Germanic tribes, and his enduring spirit would go on to become a symbol of Germanic nationality.

His name and likeness, as depicted on the statue that lies in the hometown of the Schells Brewery, also adorn the cans of Shell's latest beer, Arminius.  This beer uses a unique blend of American hops, as well as French and German, assumably from regions near where Hermann the German carved his name into history.

This beer also symbolizes a rather unique shift in the mindset of Shells Brewery.  The New Ulm staple, until recently, has not been known for hoppy beers.  Rather, they've been more likely to stick with the typical German inspired beers, such as Pilsners, Goses, Bocks, Hefes and others.  However, a recent change in marketing, most likely influenced by the surge of hoppy beers in Minnesota, coupled with the national popularity of more experimental beers, has Schells living up to its slogan of "We are German Craft Beer". Arminius now being their hoppiest staple beer, will be brewed year round according to its website.

The can says right on it "Hoppy Pale Lager", which immediately scares off some consumers. Minnesotan Craft Beer fanatics will instantly think of beers in the Surly line, for example, which usually scream of hops, becoming something that is vastly popular, but only among select crowds. With Arminius, Schell's has found a way to create a hoppy beer, without it ransacking your mouth with that overwhelming "perfume" taste.

Arminius has a little bit of everything -  hints of floral and citrus flavors, a level amount of carbonation translating into a mouthfeel suitable for most beer drinkers,  and a crisp and clean flavor that still contains just the right amount of hops that even consumers on the fence could enjoy.  Truly, Arminius is a remarkable beer made for everyone.

Photo courtesy of Schell's Brewing Company

The fact that Arminius has a high 70 IBUs and bears  the inscription of "Hoppy Pale Lager" it would be easy to cast this beer off as just another over-the-top overly-hoppy brew. However, though Schell's is a traditional German craft beer maker, with Arminius, they've proven they can think outside of the box. In fact, they may have beaten the hop head breweries at their own game.  Hoppy Pale Lager is probably a terrible way to describe this beer -- it has a clean and crisp taste, without the intense off-putting sensation that comes with many hoppy brews. Call it what you will, but this brew should become a staple in any self respecting beer fan’s rotation.

Beer Style Guide: American India Pale Ale (IPA)

The temperatures rise as we push nearer to August.  The rain storms of June have stopped, but the humidity has not.  Now is the season for lawn mower beers.  Today we will talk about what is arguably the most popular lawn mower beer in the craft beer industry:  The American India Pale Ale (IPA). 

As beers go this beer is relatively new on scene, but it parent beers the American Pale Ale, and the India Pale Ale have roots that date back hundreds of years.  The India Pale Ale dates back to the 18^th century at the peak of British Colonization.  Pale ales were very popular at the time.  Now contrary to the name, the “Pale” in pale ales only means that is lighter than a porter (a heavy dark brown or red), and it covered a wide variety of beers we now call by different names.  As Britain colonized east including India there was a growing demand for British made beers, but there was a problem with the delivery service.  It took months for the wind powered ships of the days to make the voyage.  Now it is greatly disputed who was responsible for this, but someone figured out that if you put an abundance of hops in the beer that it would survive the voyage.  Thus IPAs were born. 

American Pale Ales was the beer that launched the craft brewery industry.  New Albion Brewery, started by Jack McAuliffe , was looking to brew something the big national brewers were not.  He started with heavily hopped (at least at the time, compared to today’s standards it’s pretty mild) pale ale.  While the brewery did not last for very long, it started the trend of craft brewing in the US, and it would have an early influence on Sierra Nevada Brewing, a brewery known for its hoppiness. 

The trend of hoppy beers became very popular in the craft brewing scene, creating a sub culture of beer drinkers called “hop heads”.  This lead to extreme breweries like Surly and Stone creating hoppier and hoppier beers.  Thus the American India Pale Ale was born. 

American IPAs generally start out with a caramelish or raisin like base malt.  They are then given a fruity or citrus like aroma hops, usually Cascade.  IPAs tend to be stronger and lighter in color then Pale Ales, but this is not always the case.  IPAs can range from straw gold, to a mid-range red.  Flavor wise, it is usually a characteristically citrus like hops, usually accompanied with a sweeter maltiness.  (Mosher, 2009)

Just about every brewery these days makes some version of an IPA.  So finding a local version of an IPA should not be very difficult.

Minnesota:

MankatoBrewery:  Haymaker IPA

Flat EarthBrewery:  Northwest Passage IPA

Surly:  Surly Furious

Big WoodBrewing:  Bad Axe (Seasonal)

Wisconsin:

LakefrontBrewery Inc.:  IPA

ValkyrieBrewing:  Supernova

Works Cited

Mosher, T. (2009). Tasting Beer: An Insider's Guide To The World's Greatest Drink. North Adams, MA: Storey Publishing.

Oliver, G. (2012). The Oxford Companion to Beer. New York: Oxford University Press.