Oh, the India Pale Ale — bemoaned by many, beloved by more. And though people love to loathe them, IPAs are the current bread and butter of the American craft brewing industry. And whether they want to or not, almost every brewery in the nation carries one on tap.
Part of the style’s success are its numerous substyles, which have allowed IPAs to straddle nearly every major beer category on the market. Some sip like lagers, some like sours, and others like witbiers or stouts. There’s very little that the IPA hasn’t been able to achieve. Some would say that the style has become something of a shell of its former self. But as with most good things in this world, evolution is necessary to thrive. And from the early IPAs of the British Empire to the sticky-sweet Milkshake IPAs of the mid-2010s, the style has persisted as a means to showcase one of the core pillars of beer: hops.
To catalog the IPA’s travels and makeovers since its inception, we’ve put together this chronological list of every major iteration of IPA. Here’s a breakdown of the IPA’s journey through the ages.
1829: English IPA Bow Brewery October Ale
Back in the mid-1700s when the British Empire controlled vast swaths of land across the globe, it was standard practice to fortify beer with high ABVs and heavy hops so that suds wouldn’t spoil on their months-long sea voyages to India. More often than not, these beers were porters, but
