Old Empire's taste of history
Scores of beers in Britain carry the curious and cryptic label "IPA". I wonder how many drinkers know what it stands for and how important it is to the history and tradition of brewing in this country? I once heard someone in a pub say "I'll have a pint of Ippa", as though it rhymed with "kipper". You have, of course, to pronounce each letter separately and it's important to know that those letters stand for India Pale Ale. It's a style of beer much abused these days that changed the course of brewing in Britain and had a great impact in other countries. It was, for a short time in the 19th century, the dominant beer style throughout the world, until it was supplanted in Britain by weaker versions called pale ale and bitter and in most other countries by golden lagers. Many modern IPAs are too dark to be true to the style. They were called pale ale because they were truly pale bronze in colour. They stood in sharp relief to the milds, porters and stouts that dominated the British beer scene in the 18th and 19th centuries. Until the Industrial Revolution, all beers in every country were brown, the reason being that barley malt was cured over wood fires. Once coke was invented it became possible to produce a much paler malt. Pale ale met a demand from India and other outposts of the empire for a more refreshing beer than mild or stout. The first pale beer brewed for the India market came from a small brewery in East London, Hodgson's, that was conveniently close to the East India Docks. But Hodgson's annoyed the powerful East India Company that controlled trade between Britain and the sub-continent. The company encouraged the big Burton brewers like Allsopp and Bass to make their own pale beers for the India market. These were almost immediately successful, driving Hodgson's out of India. India Pale Ale, strong in alcohol and high in hops, became famous throughout the world and was exported to all parts of the British empire. Brewers from Pilsen, Munich and Vienna hurried to Burton to see this new style of beer and returned home determined to move from dark to pale lagers. IPA's heyday was effectively over by the end of the 19th century when it was driven from the colonies by the very golden lagers it had spawned and replaced by weaker versions back home. From time to time brewers, including Bass in the early 1990s, have recreated genuine IPAs and given us a glimpse of what the style was like. But those were one-off beers. Now we have the opportunity to drink a genuine IPA on a regular basis and to marvel at this rich part of our brewing heritage. Marston's Old Empire is 5.7% abv and is brewed only with pale malt, with no added sugars, darker malts or other cereals. It has a colour rating of 12, compared to Pedigree's 20. The hops are English Fuggles and Goldings, with some American Cascade used for late hopping in the copper. The bitterness units are 40, which is high for an English pale ale. The beer is a delight to drink, with juicy malt, floral and spicy hops, and tart citrus fruit on the palate, and that famous sulphury aroma that comes from the natural spring waters of the Trent Valley. It's the water or "liquor" of Burton, rich in gypsum and magnesium, that gives pale ales their special character. Old Empire, launched this month as a cask beer for Marston's pubs and the free trade, is not an occasional or seasonal beer but a new, regular member of the portfolio. I welcome its arrival and urge other brewers to dig deep into their history and recipe books to bring Britain's vibrant brewing heritage back to life. * * * * * * * * * DUNCE'S CAP. Last week, in my column about McMullen's, I said that John McMullen had led the campaign to sell the brewery and its pubs. It wasn't John but Ian McMullen who wanted to sell up. My sincere apologies to John. www.protzonbeer.com
