Rattlesnake Mountain Brewing
Our Blog on Brewing and Beer
India Pale Ale
Monday, November 26th, 2007Just like any other pale ale that is made from ale yeast and pale malts, India Pale ale (IPA) or sometimes called Bitter are just some of the most popular pale ale made with the same ingredient and a higher alcohol content.
India Pale ale (IPA) or bitter also contains plant infusion or extract such as hops (flowers). Hops (Humulus lupulus) acts to stabilize beer and also confers the bitter taste of IPA. Since malt produce sugars that may give India pale ale its sweet taste, hops balance its sweetness and confer its characteristic bitter taste.
IPA has been in the market since the early 1700’s and was thus created because of British brewers’ efforts to combat beer contamination. When pale ale is exported, particularly to India and other territories, the beer often experienced contamination. The contamination was due, in part, to fluctuating temperature conditions. This apparent temperature fluctuation allows bacteria and other microbes to compete with the fermenting yeast which, along the process, produce acids that spoil the entire brewing process. This then gives the beer its sour taste.
Brewers during that time discovered that hops flower extracts and alcohol could prevent microbes from competing with yeast in the consumption of sugar in the brewing medium. By doing so, brewers concluded that such process resolved the outstanding issue of spoilage but were able to discover another variety of beer with characteristic bitter taste of hops, i.e. IPA.
