Indian Pale Ale: What You Need To Know

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What You Need to Know About Indian Pale Ale

What Is Indian Pale Ale?

Indian Pale Ales are brewed with English hops and it’s flavors are leaning towards earthy, spicy, and woodsy. This type of ale was originally brewed as extra hopped beers that could survive the long sea voyage from England to India. It is more of a hoppy, beer style and it is in the category of the pale ale. Many beer drinkers consider the IPA as both strong and bitter, and it is not for everyone. The strong and bitter taste can be attributed to the abundance of hops throughout the brewing process. This is also the reason why IPA often smells like flowers, pine or citrus. Modern IPA has different styles, which include the East Coast IPA, West Coast IPA, Double IPA, and the American Style IPA. Modern IPA’s have an alcohol content of between 5.5 and 7.5 percent and many craft breweries have made their own twist on this strong, flavored beer. The American version of the IPA has a more pronounced malt flavor using local ingredients.

History

Contrary to its name, the Indian Pale Ale is not native to India, or the US. IPA was not originally brewed in India because of the tropical climate. This style of beer was first made in England during the 1700’s when the British Empire was colonizing and trading with India. The British troops wanted their beer, but the long voyage from England to India was so grueling that their beers could not survive the trip. The temperature was so extreme and there was no refrigeration at that time, which made it very difficult to transport their beer. The only preservative that the British were using was alcohol and hops.

According to most historians, it was George Hodgson of the East London’s Bow Brewery who actually made the first Indian Pale Ale, which could survive the long voyage to India. The heavily hopped beer, which was called October Ale, was highly bitter and very strong so that it wouldn’t spoil during the six month trip. Gradually, the beer became more refreshing and the color paler to suit the Indian climate.

Why Is Indian Pale Ale So Popular in the US?

IPA has been widely accepted in the U.S.A. and it is considered as a favorite drink in pubs. Even though it can be an acquired taste because of its bitterness and high alcohol content, the majority of the American beer drinkers love to drink the Indian Pale Ale.

The flavor and the bitterness have something to do with its popularity. Americans are fond of bitter tasting drinks and food. Many Americans are beer drinkers, which make them easily accustomed to this style of strong and heavily hopped beer. Also, the beer market is saturated with bland and low alcohol content beers, which make the full flavored IPA stand out.

Drinking a strong and bitter beer such as the Indian Pale Ale provides an image of masculinity and machismo. This is also a probable reason why this beer is so popular among the American, male, beer drinkers. People love to compete with each other and boast about their conquest. They want to explore and push their palates to the limit with a very strong IPA.

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How Is It Made Differently?

The brewing process of the Indian Pale Ale was based from the style of the Pale Ale. When England wanted to send beer to India, they thought of different ways to produce a beer that could survive the trip. One of the methods for producing their original IPA is to heavily hop the beer and produce more acids that act as a natural preservative. Another method is to reduce the amount of soluble sugar of the beer through yeast to create less residual sugars that will not attract microorganisms and prevent the spoiling of the beer.

Another difference of the Indian Pale Ale is its aggressive use of hops. While the original Pale Ale has a slight hop profile, the IPA has a very high hop profile. This increase in hops provides a richer flavor and aroma with a higher percentage of alcohol by volume.

Different Types of IPA’s

East Coast IPA

The East Coast IPA is often characterized by its stronger malt presence, which acts as a balance to the aggressiveness of the hops. Also, the breweries in the East Coast mostly rely on European hops, which are considered to be spicier than those used in the West Coast. East Coast IPA is considered to be more balanced, with a dry and lingering sweetness to the flavor.

West Coast IPA

In the West Coast IPA, the hops are more prominent and the intensity is stronger than the East Coast counterpart. The malt is a bit subdued and the flavor of the hops dominates the beer entirely. The finish of the West Coast IPA is considered to be very dry.

Double IPA

The Double IPA, also called the Imperial IPA is an American style of beer. It is called “double” because this type of beer doubles the usual amount of hops. More malt is also introduced to create balance. The resulting beer has a strong, hoppy flavor with a deeper, malty taste, and a higher alcohol content that is perfect for beer lovers. Its alcohol content is usually 7.5% and above by volume.

American Style IPA

The American Style IPA is considered to be even more aggressively hopped than the English Style. There is still the usual balance of the hops and the malt, but it leans more towards the hops. The typical flavor of the American Style IPA is a bitter grapefruit flavor and resinous pine.

Conclusion

The modern IPAs today have typical alcohol content between 5.5 and 7.5 percent. If you want a stronger and more aggressively hopped IPA, you should try the Double IPA. Usually, their strong flavors go very well with foods that are also strongly flavored such as grilled barbecues, steaks, salty seafood, and spicy curries. IPA is very popular and considered as a heavy favorite among American beer drinks that prompted many breweries to create plenty of IPA varieties. If you want a strongly flavored beer, you should definitely try the Indian Pale Ale.

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Imagine Nation Brewing Company

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THE COUNTRY’S 1st COMBINATION OF MICROBREWERY

+ CENTER FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION

The INBC transcends how a brewery serves a community by being the first in the country to include a center for community transformation.  Through craft beer and education, the INBC is a unique model of celebration and dialogue, envisioned to joyfully address the challenges of our time and fuel social change in Missoula, Montana, and beyond.  

OUR BEERS & THE PRODUCTION AREA

Imagine Nation Brewing Co. uses a 7-barrel brewing system to produce smaller, artisan batches of beer. With this system, we produce 2 house beers, 4-5 seasonal  taps, and occasional higher gravity brewer’s reserve specials. We focus on selling our beer almost entirely out of the taproom in 12oz. specialty glasses and half gallon growlers.

THE INBC CENTER FOR COMMUNITY TRANSFORMATION

In addition to being a place for relaxation and celebration, Imagine Nation Brewing Co. is meant to become a house of dialogue, learning, and understanding. In order to accomplish this, we transcend how a brewery serves a community by being the first in the country to include a separate space designated as a center for community transformation. As a nexus for people from all walks of life, we believe the vision of this intentional combination of brewery and training center will create a common ground for inspiring social change in Missoula, Montana, and beyond.

A SPACE FOR GOOD PEOPLE TO DO GOOD THINGS

We are well aware that Missoula is full of many good people who are already doing good things for the community. Therefore, we offer the Center for Community Transformation as a platform for organizations and businesses to hold their own meetings, workshops, or presentations. The room is equipped with everything community groups might to support their endeavors inside the center. If any groups should need professional facilitation for their meetings, the Imagine Nation owners would be happy to help out. Charges for rental of the space or facilitation services will be available on a sliding scale based on the resources of each respective group.  Please consult the Center Rental tab for more information on how to use the space for your own projects.

INBC PROGRAMS

Dialogues

One of the roots of problems in U.S. society stem from the lack of most peoples’ ability to empathically connect with one another. We are taught from a young age to win debates, not to dialogue. The greek root of the word dialogue is dia logos, or “through the word.” For real positive social change to happen, people must understand each other and connect through the word; this does not mean that they have to agree. Part of unity is reconciling differences while honoring diversity. Therefore, one weeknight a month, we will facilitate a one-hour dialogue on different polarizing subjects during which we will guide participants through a process that helps them develop empathy, understanding, and, perhaps, links across divided lines while they share a beer together. Dialogues will be free and open to all who want to attend.

Transformational Educational Workshops

The core of our programs will be integrative trainings that help people build key skills for effecting positive change in their community. Each training will incorporate scientifically-proven experiential practices that ensure the highest levels of learning and the most effective transference of skills from the training center into the community. We will host these trainings one weekend a month. Once operational, these trainings will be two-day, six-hour intensive events and will cost on a sliding scale between $20-$100. With the purchase of the course, participants will receive coupons for two free glasses of beer (i.e. one free beer per day of instruction). Following are the titles of some of the courses that will be offered:

1. Mindfulness: The Core of Social Change
2. Bridging Divides: Facilitating Coexistence and Social Cohesion
3. Consciousness and Conflict Transformation
4. Strategic Peace building at the Community Level
5. Beyond Healing: A Systemic Approach to Dealing with Life’s Challenges
6. Integrative Healing: The Role of Self-Care in Positive Social Change
7. Dialogue: Creating Common Ground in Polarized Societies

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HOUSE BEERS

Merging Waters River Ale (ABV: 5.5%, IBU: 25, SRM: 5)

This hybrid, golden ale was designed specifically to imbibe while enjoying our neighboring Clark Fork River.   While sipping, reflect on the final paragraph of the story that put MT on the map:  “In the end, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”  This crisp ale is brewed with the finest American and English malt and touched off with noble hops to deliver a clean, refreshing partner with which to look south and contemplate Missoula’s greatest asset.

Freedom Fighter IPA (ABV: 6.8 %, IBU: 65, SRM: 8) 

We originally brewed this IPA on the 67^th anniversary of the day Mohandas Gandhi was assassinated.  To humbly salute the giant of nonviolence and Indian independence, we packed this India Pale Ale with 6 different malts that add a nuanced backbone to the best hops Yakima has to offer.  It’s big and bold like the Mahatma, but balanced to reflect his ability to reach across the political spectrum to make positive change that continues to affect millions.

BACKGROUND

Robert Rivers and Fernanda Menna Barreto Krum

The bison is the only animal known to walk towards oncoming storms.  Our logo of a bison unifying the map of the world encapsulates the vision of the brewery: to approach the challenges in society in a celebratory way to be a unifying agent of constructive change in Missoula, Montana, and beyond.

For two decades, we have worked in conflict zones around the world to promote peace and healing within communities affected by violence.   Based on these experiences, we developed the vision for Imagine Nation Brewing Co. (INBC) with the belief that it can make the process of change accessible and positive for as many people as possible.  What we have noticed over the years in a variety of contexts is that social change is generated more effectively when a constructive entity or group exists—in this case a brewery—where individuals feel a sense of belonging while they receive support for building and implementing skills that can better the communities in which they live.

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The Wildwood Brewery

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Jim Lueders – Owner
4018 US Hwy 93 North
Stevensville, MT 59870
406-777-2855

The tap room is presently open everyday from 4:00pm to 8:00pm, but keep posted for seasonal hours.

The Brewery

The Wildwood Brewery is a state of the art brewing system. It starts with three malt silos which can hold nearly 100,000 pounds of bulk malts. The malt is brought into the building with a cable and disc conveyor and empties into the malt hopper where it is electronically weighed. An intermediary hopper is used to add specialty grains which come in bags. The malt gravity flows from the malt hopper through a Künzel 4 roller mill and into the grist hopper. The Künzel is the BMW of malt mills. The grist is brought out of the bottom of the grist hopper with a screw auger, which empties into a bucket elevator bringing the grist up more than 25 feet. The elevator empties into a chain drag conveyor which gently moves the grist to the mash kettle. A grist hydrator is used to evenly mix the dry grist with temperated brew water.

The mash kettle was designed by Mr. Lueders in 1992 and custom made by Mueller, Springfield, Missouri. The other three vessels of the four vessel brew house were made by BAM, Freising, Munich. These vessels include a Brew kettle, a lauter tun, and whirlpool. There is a 50 hp high pressure boiler, two 50 bbl hot liquor tanks, and a 30 ton chiller. A 1000 square foot cooler building is built in the shadow (North side) of the larger brewery barn. For additional efficiency, there is a 600 gallon glycol reservoir inside the walk in cooler. An outside 600 gallon water/ice tank which includes a heat exchange coil can be used as a pre-chiller at times when the temperature outside is below 30°F.
There is cellar capacity of 240 barrels.

The Beer

1. Organic Mystical Stout
Mystical stout is an Irish style dry stout similar to that brewed by a renown brewery in County Cork, Ireland. Organic two row barley and black roasted malts give this beer a flavor and aroma reminiscent of coffee. This beer is easy drinking and user friendly.
13.2° Plato original gravity, approximately 5.4% alc./vol.

2. Organic Bodacious Bock
Bodacious Bock is a traditional German spring bock. Three organic malts are employed to give a complexity which hints of honey. Only German noble hops from the Hallertau region are used for a soft bitterness and floral aroma. It is decoction mashed in the old world tradition. This is a strong beer, imbiber beware!
16° Plato original gravity, approximately 7.5% alc./vol.

3. Organic Ambitious Pale Lager

Ambitious Pale Lager is a classic Munich style lager. Only certified organically grown barley malts are used. It is cold conditioned, well balanced between malt and German noble hops.
12° Plato original gravity, 5% alc./vol.

4. Lucid Cream Ale (Seasonal)

Lucid Cream Ale is an American Style cream ale. It has characteristics of both ale and lager beer. It is light and refreshing, clean, and crisp, with a hit of fruity esters.
12° Plato original gravity, 5% alc./vol.

The History

Jim Lueders, Patriarch
Wildwood Brewing began as a dream in the mind of Jim Lueders, an emigrant from Chicago. After moving to Montana in 1979 to be schooled, he started homebrewing in 1981. In 1987 he was hired as assistant brewer at the Bayern Brewery in Missoula and thus began his commercial application. In 1990 he shipped himself off to Munich, Germany and spent the next 9 months, with nothing more than weekends free, studying brewing, malting, and soft drink technology at the prestigious Doemens Acadamy. To pay for this expensive endeavor he shipped over his 1952 Chevy pick up truck, which he meticulously restored over the past two years, and sold it just a week before graduation. After finishing at Doemens, Mr. Lueders went on a tour through 12 countries getting behind the scenes tours of nearly 100 breweries and related facilities.

Upon returning to the USA, Jim found himself in demand in the young craft brewing industry which was growing fast. He was first hired as start-up consultant and head of production for the Saxer Brewing Company in Portland, Oregon in 1993. This is where he first set up the beautiful German made brewery which would later become his own at Wildwood. At Saxer Lueders’ remembers brewing 3 decoction brews by himself in 18 hours. With youth still on his side he left Saxer to continue consulting for brewery start-ups across the US and overseas.

The Wildwood Project

The Wildwood project started in earnest in 2002 when Lueders’ bought all what was left of the Saxer Brewery from his past employer. That same year Lueders’ completed a training certification class with Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI.ORG). Jim, under the tudelage of the renown Prof. George Chan and Prof. Gunter Pauli, designed and dimensioned the integrated system which will bring the Wildwood project towards sustainability.

A suitable, and affordable site was found in the Bitterroot Valley, near Stevensville, just 24 miles south of Missoula. Construction began in fall of 2008 with the pouring of the concrete which utilizes as much waste fly ash from the Eastern Montana coal burning power plants as we could put into it. In Spring of 2009, the timber frame structure, salvaged from a Wisconsin barn originally built in 1901, was put back together at its’ new home. The roof system was completed using metal from 100% recycled material and made in Missoula. Locally available wheat straw bales were used as insulation exterior of the frame, nearly 800 of them in total. By fall of that year the bale walls were competed and plastered. The inside of the building was finished in early 2011 and the brewing tanks and equipment started to come into the building in February. The building of the brewery took nearly a year since Lueders’ had to have everything a certain way and did much of the work himself.
Operations began in late January 2012 with the brewing of a Mai Bock which was labeled Bodacious Bock. The first brew, a keeper. Subsequent brews were, in order, Discerning Pilsner, Mystical Stout, White Bark Wheat, and Ambitious Lager.

Wildwood quietly opened its doors on March 16, 2012.

The Intergrated System

The Wildwood Brewing Company is building an integrated production system which will transform waste streams from the brewing process into inputs for a network of industries. The cyclical, efficient use of raw materials and energy will reduce operating costs, allow the associated businesses to sustain themselves at lower production levels than their competitors, and provide a model for sustainable development.

The Costs of a Barrel of Beer

In a traditional brewery, producing beer results in a significant waste stream. This waste is a business expense, an inefficient use of resources, a burden on the environment and community, and a loss of opportunity.

For example, up to ten barrels of water may be used in producing one barrel of beer. Most of that water ends up in a sewage treatment plant mixed with spent hops, surplus yeast, and cleaning chemicals. Of about 45 pounds of barley malt that go into making that barrel of beer, more than 41 pounds come out of the brewing process as waste. Significant quantities of heat and carbon dioxide are also released in the brewing process, and much of the packaging used in selling beer ends up as waste.
drawing: traditional brewery

Turning Costs into Opportunities

The Wildwood Brewing Company offers a better way by turning wastes into value added inputs to support other productive enterprises. Eventually, the cycles will be completed so these enterprises provide the majority of needed inputs to each other.

Our vision is based on a proven model developed by Zero Emissions Research and Initiatives (ZERI.ORG), and the success of the functioning examples in two other countries. The Wildwood Brewery will be at the heart of the cluster of enterprises that cycles and recycles materials and energy, growing toward zero emissions and imitating the interdependent processes of nature. As we build, each new link will offer enterprises and industries that benefit the people, the economy, and the environment of western Montana.

Toward Zero Emissions

Our network will be based on a flow of materials from one enterprise to another, making the best possible use of generated “waste” of each process. In this manner, value is added at each stage, and costs are lowered.
Here are some of the main enterprises and processes we envision in our zero emissions demonstration project:
a) Brewery – Wildwood brewery produces high-quality, certified organic beer.
b) Mycoculture – Spent grain from the brewery provides the substrate for growing mushrooms for local and regional sale. Mushrooms break down the spent grain and make a nutritious and easily digested food for animals.
c) Vermiculture – Used mushroom substrate feeds worms that produce compost and become feed for chicken and fish. The worms are also the base for biodegradable detergents. A unique separation technology will be used to create enzyme-based cleaners for the brewery and other users. Live composting worms may also be sold in bulk and in home composting kits.
d) Biodigestion – With inputs of wastewater from the brewery and organic waste from other operations, anaerobic bacteria in the biodigester produce methane gas that will be used as a heating or power-generating fuel. Biodigestion also produces organic nutrients that are used in aquaculture.
e) Aquaculture – Water and nutrients from the digester feed algae such as Spirulina, phytoplankton and other aerobic organisms which become inputs to polyculture fish farming. Spirulina, known as a “superfood”, can be separated and sold to the expanding health food market. Hydroponic produce will also be grown in the nutrient rich water. This water is subsequently used in agriculture.
f) Agriculture – Recycled water, nutrients from the brewery, digesters and aquaculture, and worm compost are used as inputs for growing organic produce for local market. Hops could also be grown for use in the brewery as the climate in western Montana is ideal for this crop. Carbon dioxide from brewery fermentation and mushroom cultivation are utilized by plants in the greenhouse.
g) Animal husbandry – Small numbers of pigs, chickens, ducks and turkeys will be economically supported on the Wildwood farm. The waste from the animals is flushed daily into the digesters providing the bacteria necessary for anaerobic digestion. The animals will enjoy a clean and healthy life, with good food, fresh air and exercise.
h) Maltery – A small malting plant can provide enough high quality organic barley and wheat malt for the Wildwood brewery and perhaps other breweries in the area.
i) Heat recovery – Heat produced in the brewing process will be recovered and used to heat buildings, digesters, aquaculture ponds, greenhouses, drying mushrooms, and driving other production processes.

Project Status

We are building this project on the solid foundation of an operational template based on successful models in Fiji and Namibia. We have made additional calculations specific to the Montana environment, the regional market, our brewing equipment, and the facility we envision.
A complete complement of state-of-the-art, energy efficient, and multi-use brewery equipment has been installed and has provisions for the build out of the integrated system.
Our vision is to create a sustainable, cyclical network of businesses that support each other by converting waste streams into value-added resources for other industries.

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