August might just be our favourite month of the year.
Why, you ask? Well, because along with being the month of the very best International Beer Day, it also harbours one more beer related day—National IPA Day.

Both happen to be on the 4th of August, and while ‘International’ Beer Day might have hogged the limelight, we saved this for later. You know, dedicated moment of glory and all.

Plus we thought it might be the perfect opportunity to share some IPA smarts. Read on.

It wasn’t hopped up for the reason you think.

This is the famous one. The one everyone tells you. So we thought we’d debunk it first.
Turns out, Pale Ales didn’t miraculously come into being when they were hopped up to survive a long journey to India, for the British troops.

Pale Ales have been around from the 17th century, and was usually the beer of choice of the high ranking British officers.
And that’s probably why ship loads of it made its way to India during colonisation.
While the hop content might have been tweaked for the beer to stay consumable after reaching the subcontinent, it wasn’t actually created for that sole purpose. A similar brew was doing the rounds much before, and was quite the favourite already.

You should drink it ice cold.

Sure, sure. We’ve all gained enough beer knowledge by this point to know that not all beers are meant to be had at near freezing temperatures.

While its true that different beers are meant to be served at different temperatures to best enjoy their flavour, the traditional way to drink the English IPA was as cold as could be.

Makes sense for why the British in India were particularly insistent on having a generous shipment to help them handle the extreme weather conditions.

The Double IPA

It is exactly what it sounds like—also referred to as the Imperial IPA, this beer type is higher in both hop and alcohol content compared to a regular IPA. It’s quite the doozie, and the owner of Russian River Brewery, Vinnie Cilurzo, was the one to add the ingenious ‘Double’ and officially christen the beer.

Girl Power (or female plant power anyway)

It’s only fitting that the more robust and no-nonsense of beers is derived from the female plant. Well, this is actually true for all beers. The male hops are what are used to grow the plants.
The female plants are used for the actual brewing process. But it’s a strain of the female plant that gives the IPAs their signature hoppy-ness.
Betty makes better beer bitter.

IPA aren’t the easiest brews to make

IPAs are definitely a very popular brew style, but getting them right isn’t all that easy. That’s because a good IPA is all about the balance—the right amount of hops, the right amount of alcohol, the right amount of brewer love. (Matt spends the first 15 minutes of his day hugging the brewing tanks. True story.)

And sometimes when the hops are a bit too bitter, for example, the entire brew can lose its flavour. That’s why, the next time you try an IPA you end up liking it, voice your appreciation loud and clear, particularly from table tops.
Also, speaking of good Pale Ales, we’ll just leave this mysterious link here, ok? The only way to know what it is is by clicking. And then drinking.

You know where to come.