The history of IPA

A beer similar to IPA already existed in the 18th century in England under the name October Beer, a variant of the usual Pale Ale but with more hops. The beer was often stored for a year or so.

At the end of the 18th century, the beer was used during the trips from England to India. Bow Brewery was one of the first breweries to become popular with the merchants of the British East India Company. Allsopps Brewery was another brewery that later took over sales to the East Indiamen. Around 1830, the beer also began to be called India Pale Ale.

In the town of Burton the beer was developed, the water was extra hard there and the beer became bitter and lighter than other beers at the time.

Then the IPA almost died out at the beginning of the 20th century. There were some wars, the light lager became more popular and work against temperance were some of the reasons.

In the 70s, microbreweries began to become popular, especially in America. Anchor Steam produced their Liberty Ale in 1975, which is very similar to today's Amercian IPA. Since then, IPA has gained a greater and greater spread throughout the world and different IPA styles have emerged.