Cold IPA

By the 1790’s the British were established in India and needed beer, which was considered a staple in every household. India, however, presented serious problems for brewers. Hot temperatures, poor water and short supplies of basic ingredients made it impossible to brew beer. Attempts to ship beer out of Britain to Calcutta failed. 

George Hodgson of London produced a pale ale of greater strength and bitterness than those he sold in London. The hops helped protect the beer from spoilage, as did the increased alcohol content. Hodgson’s India Ale arrived in Calcutta in fine shape-clear, strong, and bitter, with a big, resinous hop aroma.  The word spread of India Pale Ale and people throughout England and the United States were clamoring for this wonderful new beer. The rage lasted through 1970’s, but lost steam in the 1980’s and became just another name for low alcohol bitters. 

As craft beer has emerged and grown, so has IPA! IPA has helped grow Craft Beer to what it is currently today. There are now many shapes and forms of IPA, but they all share bright aromatic hop aroma of citrus, tropical fruit, and pine.

pFriem’s Cold IPA is inspired by a wave of new school Lagers that are very hop forward, but still hold on to the nuance of Lager brewing. Our friends over a Wayfinder and Highland Park brewery have made breakthroughs in what we are now calling the Cold IPA. Using clean pilsner malt, punchy American hops, leaving sulfur behind, and holding on to the crisp, clean, and cold subtleties of a Lager. At pFriem, our version is clean, punchy, tropic, pungent, and very smooth.