Hyper 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. The newest sub-style emerging in the realm of IPA’s is the Hyper IPA. Created by Beachwood Brewing in Long Beach, CA these beers fall somewhere in between the Brut and West Coast sub-styles. The Hyper IPA is designed to be extremely light in color, bone dry, and have an incredibly expressive and loud hop character!

This beer was created by pFriem brewer Riley Curran. The goal of this beer was to create an ultra-dry, yet palatable IPA. With the use of a lean malt base of Pilsner malt paired with rice, corn and a little amylase enzymes, this beer finishes very dry. Adjusting the water profile to provide some balance and structure on the palate lends way for a light bitterness expression from the hops that burst with tropical aromas. Two experimental hop varieties (HBC-1019 and HBC-638) leading the way with a newly commercialized varietal in Krush, this beer is a look into the future. Enjoy this ultra sessionable beer that begs for another glass.