Celebrate National IPA Day

By Chuck Sudo in Food on Aug 4, 2011 9:40PM

Today is National IPA Day, a celebration of the India Pale Ale beer style that dates back to 17th century England. The style, like other pale ales, gets its name from the color imparted by the malt. By the mid-18th century pale ales were brewed from coke-fired malts, which needed less smoking and roasting during the malting process.

A long held assumption about IPAs is that the beer was brewed extra strong and given added hops so that it wouldn't spoil on its passage to India. Beer historian Martyn Cornell points out that's largely a tall tale as porters, which British troops perferred, also survived the journey to the subcontinent. IPA was the preferred beer of choice for the upper and middle class Europeans in India.

Although today the IPA style is associated by some with excessive hoppiness, the hops themselves don't necessarily have to be bittering hops. Some of our favorite IPAs, like Three Floyds Dreadnaught, New Holland's Mad Hatter and Bell's Two-Hearted, have a prominent citrus aroma from the hopping. Others like Two Brothers Resistance IPA impart a pine flavor to the palate. Then there are IPAs like Emmett's Black IPA, which intensify the malt color but still drink like a session ale. Like snowflakes, no two IPAs are the same.

If you're interested in diving head first into the IPA pool, Small Bar Fullerton is offering a wide range of them tonight. Featured drafts include Clown Shoes Hoppy Feet Black IPA,

Green Flash West Coast IPA and Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous on draft. They're also offering $1 off bottles of He'brew Leny Rye IPA, Dogfish Head 60-Minute and 90-minute IPA, Avery IPA, Lagunitas Maximus, Ska Modus Hoperandi and Stone Ruination IPA. The Twitter hashtag #IPADay is also trending, although we wonder if that's because beer geeks are using it or people are mistaking it for a free iPad giveaway.