IPA Boat: The Greatest Historic Battle in Beer

There is a handful of things beer geeks will always battle about

• Kids in a taproom.

• The history of why IPAs are called IPAs.

End of list.

Okay, there are many more things we argue, but these will never die. I don’t care about the kids in the taproom thing because I think it’s fine (let the beer geek parents have their break) as long as the parents don’t let their kids be annoying - and there is the debate.

No, I am here for the history of how India Pale Ales got their name. There are two camps:

• Camp #1: IPAs got their name because the Brits (200-300 years ago) discovered that the beer they sent on trips to India would fall-off by the time they arrived to India. So they started over-hopping the beer and adding more malt so by the time they made that long trip they still tasted decent.

• Camp #2: There is no factual evidence this is why the beer style is called India Pale Ale.

I am mostly Camp #1.

Mostly because I understand that it might not have happened exactly like the old IPA Boat story goes, but it’s a nice edited version - the movie version, if you will.

The same way you watch a film based on a real event, they give you the gist, the juicy parts, so that the story is still interesting.

This is the IPA Boat Story. We have compressed it into a nice shorthand version.

Fact is, Camp #2 loves to tell you how the India Pale Ales, getting their name the way we know it, is a myth. But when you press them and ask, “Okay cool guy, what is the REAL story then?”

You are then met with “Well, okay, you see…it was probably a marketing thing they came up with in, like, the late 1800s and then, um, there was a guy…”

Yeah, okay, you don’t fucking know any more than me.

So, I will keep my IPA Boat stories, thank you. I just won’t be the guy in the taproom telling the story to everyone like I know what the hell I am talking about.

Let us keep our fun!

*You can see the debate for yourself on Pints and Panels post. Or watch this and get the closest version we probably have to this whole thing:

Okay, just wanted to chime in on the IPA Story debate. I hope you’re having a killer week with your beers and your weather (Wooohoo, Patio Season!) is as nice as mine. Many thanks for the read.

-Mikey

Peace ✌️ Beer 🍻 & Metal 🤘