But there is a steadily increasing amount of people who are obsessed, almost creating cults around these IPA’s. We’ve started a new series here, cleverly titled ‘Everything You Need to Know About…’ so this week we popped down to Beatnikz Brewery to find out… yup… everything you need to know.
Firstly, Indian Pale Ales, are not actually from India but were in fact popular with British troops stationed in India during our dark Colonial times.
Why it was invented is still a bit of a mystery – some people believe the added hops (what makes it different from just a pale ale) and extra alcohol acted as preservatives to allow the beer to survive the month-long trip to India from Britain, through tropical weather and no fridges.
Some say it’s just a matter of taste, the extra hops adds a more bitter flavour and a stronger scent, masking the somewhat stale flavour and lack of any fizz in the usual pale ale.
Others reckon the stronger percentage of alcohol sweetened the fact you were stationed out in India making it easier to drink and easier to forget.
Craft beers in recent years have seen a huge resurgence, possibly for different reasons than any of the above, as all of the colonial powers fell apart and fridges miraculously appeared everywhere.
The number of trademark registering of new beers rose 20% in 2017 and in Scotland alone, the number of new breweries rose by 229% between 2010 and 2018. Basically, everyone bloody loves it.
Luckily for you lot, Beatnikz current have 5 IPAs on draft and 3 available in the good old tinny.
Party Time (Excellent!) 7.2%, IPA (Keg)
A gift to Coteridge Wines, Birmingham to celebrate their 24th birthday; a full-bodied, chewy and luscious IPA. There’s plenty of fruity notes from the hopping processes from Galaxy, el dorado and Enigmad giving passion fruit and apricot flavours and even candy aromas from the dry hopping process with Idaho Gem.
Writer’s Block 7.1%, IPA (Cans)
I like the name of this one, I feel like I relate. I’m gonna guess it stems from the high ABV which is carefully hidden behind a sweetness left from a high gravity (technical term alert! – basically, this means how much sugar is left when fermentation is over and in this case, it’s pretty damn high.). There is a citrus base and notes of floral and pine from Amarillo, Columbus and Mosaic. Beatnikz also say there’s plenty of bite to this IPA, leaving it ‘uncommonly drinkable’. Dangerous.
Blanc Atomium 6.2%, Belgian White (Keg)
Similar to what you may find in Belgium on a hot summers day, this yeasty yet US hop-forward IPA is peppery, super orangey with plenty of apricot and citrus notes. It’s also dead fizzy.
Beatikz have plenty of others from DDH Topic Fiesta (4.0%) their flagship session, Riding East (6.4%) juicy and tropical and guest beers including Bag of Bones and Bizarre Love Tringle.
Beatnikz recommends two ways to get yourself into drinking IPAs: ease yourself in or jump balls deep into the deep end.
I suppose which one you chose depends on your character, if you wanna take it easy try their session DDH Tropic Fiesta. An accessible introduction, easy to drink and a welcoming tropical flavour profile.
Or, go all out and try the 7.1% Writer’s Block. It’s heavy-hitting and a shock to the taste buds to any newbies to the IPA scene.
There are well over 10 different types of IPAs from English IPA to West Coast IPA and even Milkshake IPA. There’s plenty of options in ABV too, from as low as 2.9% to an eye-watering 22%!
The future of IPA seems just as crazy as the past, as hops become more of a flavour addition and competition between breweries to see how many different types they can get in without ruining the flavour increases.
Originally hops were just a mere preservative – not anymore. IPAs have even become the most requested beers in the Beatnikz bar.
There are even talks of a milkshake IPA being run through the slushie machine… REJOICE.
Get down to Beatnikz this week and try some of there amazing IPAs. Don’t be afraid to ask for all the details too, the staff know just about everything!
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Beatnikz Republic, 35 Dale Street, Manchester, M1 2HF
www.beatnikzrepublic.com
