International IPA Day 2025

Today is IPA Day 2025 (daysoftheyear), when we celebrate India Pale Ales, indeed, celebrated on the first Thursday of August every year now, and how IPAs have been influenced by craft brewers, and hops, from the USA. IPAs were originally brewed to be transported by boat on the long trip to India from Britain in the 18th century, thus had plenty of strength and plenty of hops as a preservative, to help survive the long journey. The idea of IPA Day has its origins in 2011, the brain child of American beer enthusiast and author, Ashley Routson*, who I send my thanks to for making me also take advantage of this day every year in Britain too, cheers!

With thanks to Pints and Panels (website) for the image above, the evolution of the IPA, from a slightly darker English hoppy beer transported to India, to the later U.S. craft brewery influenced paler versions, or, as I prefer to call them, APAs. I know where I'm going to imbibe later on, so may just report back on my IPA Day ales sometime very soon, cheers m'dears! 🍺

*Ashley Routson, The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer: An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer.

Hoppy International Beer Day!

Happy International Beer Day! 🍺 Today is a day of global celebration of beer (website). The first Friday in August has been International Beer Day since 2013, before that it was August the 5th, confused?!? Anyway, now just remember it's the first Friday in August! A celebratory day created by Jesse Avshalomov at his local bar in Santa Cruz in California in 2007, you have to love those Americans for suggesting I celebrate beer regularly, cheers! 

The purpose of the day is to gather with others and enjoy a few beers, indeed, to celebrate the variety of beers, and to celebrate those who brew, manage, and serve beer to us, not to forget the wonderful pubs and bars where we drink. As Simon Difford suggests, let's raise a glass "to Beer, a drink that brings the world together." (diffordsguide) 🍻

And yesterday was IPA Day 2024 (daysoftheyear), apologies I forgot to say before, a day to celebrate India Pale Ales, and how they've been heavily influenced in recent times by craft brewers and hops from the USA. IPAs were originally brewed in England in the 18th century to be transported by boat to India, hence the name and, consequently, they had plenty of strength and were heavily hopped as a preservative, so that the beer could survive the long journey. The origin of IPA Day was 13 years ago in 2011, and the brain child of the American beer enthusiast and author Ashley Routson, who has written an excellent beer guide* and to whom I have to thank for making me also take advantage of the day over here in Britain, cheers m'dear!

To celebrate I drank a couple of pints of Hopback Summer Lightning (5.0% - website) This always excellent pale (originally a summer ale, but now brewed all year round) is brewed using East Kent Golding aroma hops (hopslist). I have used this ale to tempt lager drinkers into drinking cask conditioned ales over the years (plus Thornbridge Jaipur works very well too 😉). Light, dry, and refreshing with a bitter finish, it still hits the spot, cheers! 🍺

* Ashley Routson, The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer: An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer (2015), Voyager Press, Quarto Publishing Group. My Review.

International Beer Day Today & IPA Day Yesterday!

Kent Prohibition

Yesterday was IPA Day 2023 (daysoftheyear), as I suggested in my blog, and a day to celebrate India Pale Ales, and how they've been heavily influenced in recent times by craft brewers and hops from the USA. IPAs were originally brewed in England in the 18th century to be transported by boat to India, hence the name and, consequently, they had plenty of strength and were heavily hopped as a preservative, so that the beer could survive the long journey. The origin of IPA Day was 12 years ago in 2011, and the brain child of the American beer enthusiast and author Ashley Routson, who has written an excellent beer guide* and to whom I have to thank for making me also take advantage of the day over here in Britain, cheers m'dear!

To celebrate I didn't drink what I thought I would, as mentioned in my blog, as the Citra ran out the night before! Instead I had the even more impressive ale pictured above, from the same brewery (Kent), but their stronger Prohibition (4.8%). This excellent pale ale has a big fruity aroma and taste, tropical as well as the citrus/grapefruit flavours expected (although I still haven't been able to discover what hops are used), refreshing, and a great dry bitter finish. This encapsulates how IPAs have been influenced by brewers and hop growers working over the other side of the Atlantic, and creating what are often called American Pale Ales over here.👍

Random Archive Image😉

And today, as the first Friday in August, it's International Beer Day (website), and has been the first Friday in August since 2013, although from 2007-12 it had been on August the 5th, confused?!? Now, just remember the first Friday in August! Another celebratory day created by another American, Jesse Avshalomov, at his local bar in Santa Cruz in California in 2007, you have to love those Americans for suggesting I celebrate beer regularly, cheers! 

The purpose of the day is to gather with others and enjoy a few beers, indeed, to celebrate the variety of beers, and to celebrate those who brew, manage, and serve beer to us, not to forget the wonderful pubs and bars where we drink. As Simon Difford suggests, let's raise a glass "to Beer, a drink that brings the world together." (diffordsguide) 🍻

* Ashley Routson, The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer: An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer (2015), Voyager Press, Quarto Publishing Group. My Review.

Hertog Jan: Grand Prestige

As I mentioned in a postscript to my review of The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer earlier this month (blog), I unwittingly destroyed my last 2 notebooks... Consequently, all of my notes concerning darker beers I have been drinking over the winter months are not available. However, I did notice that I still had the photograph above on my laptop, and I know that I did rather enjoy drinking that Dutch beer, and my blogs about Dutch beers don't exist yet, so...

The history of the Hertog Jan Brouwerij goes back to 1915, when 4 friends came together to build their own brewery at Arcen in the Netherlands (website). Their 10.0% Grand Prestige was first brewed in 1983, and has become the 'crown jewel' of the brewery and is usually laid down for years before drinking, allowing the beer to mature and develop. Grand Prestige is top fermented, thus an ale rather than a lager, using up to 4 different malts in the brewing process, and likened to a barley wine. I remember it being rich, but I'll use their own description of the beer here.

The colour is a deep reddish brown, full bodied and sweet at first taste, but drying out to bitterness in the mouth. Indeed, the "taste is a varying palette of roasted malt, a hint of caramel, spicy and full-bodied and in the aftertaste you can taste a pleasant bitterness with a touch of sweetness. The aroma is wonderfully fruity." (website) 

They recommend at least 2 years to allow the beer to develop, but they will store the beer for you for up to 6 years, "waiting for true enthusiasts who will enjoy the special taste of an aged Grand Prestige." I was given a 2 year old bottle by a friend, but didn't do the research, so I drank it (destroyed the notes!), although I'm not sure I could have lasted very long even with this information, as a previous blog from over 4 years ago may suggest. 😉

Maybe I'll get an older vintage one day, cheers! 

'The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer' Review

I first mentioned Ashley Routson, self-proclaimed (I'm not being sexist) Beer Wench, and her 'guide' 7 months ago (blog) because of her invention of IPA Day, that was first celebrated back in 2011. I said I would order a copy of her book The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer: An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer, which, as you can see above, I have in my possession.

I did mean to write a review of this book a while ago, but, well, I do get mixed up with other stuff too, including my other blog (Steve on Hastings), a wee bit of work here and there, visiting friends and family, not to forget following football and failing at playing in minigolf competitions, anyway, I didn't write the review before. So I've re-read The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer and can confirm that it certainly is An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer. The book was first published back in 2015, but I've not seen anything written by her for a few years. She was originally from the wine trade, I do believe, but her experience in tasting follows through to her beer journey very well.

Although it's subtitle is An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer, it is a well-written guide indeed, a slim (256 pages) but very informative softback publication. Ms Routson explains how she became interested in beers and its different styles and where they come from, her Eureka! moment when she discovered IPAs and Centennial hops, and Belgian beers. Early on I discovered why beers should be in green or brown bottles, and I own up that I didn't know beforehand how UV light effects beer in the bottle, and she goes on to explain and discuss the different styles of beer, the difference between lagers and ales, providing examples of each style to try. Because this is a book from across the Atlantic, many of those beers aren't available in Britain, but for obvious European styles, European beers are mentioned, as you would expect.

So, among many others including beers brewed in the USA, for English ales she includes beers from Meantime Brewery, Fuller's and Wychwood; for lagers she includes Pilsner Urquell, Spaten Premium Lager and Radeberger Pilsner; for Belgian beers she picks Westmalle Tripel (readers and friends will be aware this is my favourite Belgian beer) and the uniquely (for Trappist beers) dry-hopped Orval, her favourite, "arguably the best beer on the planet" she enthuses!

In my early days visiting Belgium, in the 1990s, I used to always panic when entering a bar and looked at their beer menus with numerous beers included, and immediately plumped for Orval as first beer of choice. But my favourite, as I state above, is Westmalle Tripel, although I'm happy to drink all others, purely for research purposes, of course; even drinking Stella in Belgium, it is certainly better than what you get over here, actually, a bit like drinking Guinness in Ireland! 

The Guide goes into the brewing process and the 4 essential ingredients of beer, that are malted barley, hops (above image of Hukins hopfield), water and yeast (yes, other ingredients are sometimes used too, but they're what's needed). She explains mashing, the wort, boiling, cooling and fermenting, and even mentions how some brewers Burtonize the water used, that is certain minerals are added to help try and replicate the water found in Burton upon Trent; something we used to do when I worked at Kelham Island Brewery 20 years ago.

She also adds a chapter about respecting beer and how to serve beer, the best glasses to use for each style, and tasting and evaluating beers. The later chapters include how to pair different beer styles with different foods, using beer in cooking, and suggests recipes and beer cocktails (!). In conclusion, Ms Routson certainly provides a more than unpretentious guide, this book is an easily read 'guide' and packed with easily digestible information. It would be good to be in touch with her sometime to swap information and discuss how brewing, craft beers and cask ales have developed in more recent years, oh well, likely not to be, cheers!

Postscript:

I always seem to be apologising for not writing many blogs, but, as my brother would say, I am a wee bit of a bampot... My last 2 notebooks have both been in the back pocket of trousers that were placed in the washing machine and I have lost notes going back months 😒

I must try and do better, stay safe folks!

2 Cracking IPAs, cheers to the Beer Wench!

When I celebrated IPA Day a couple of weeks ago, I gave thanks to Ashley Routson, the creator of that celebratory day, and said I had ordered a copy of her book (blog). I'm halfway through reading her book now, and she says an IPA started her "obsession with hops" and I had a couple of excellent IPAs today, so I thought I should share the experience! The first being from Kent Brewery (website), another single hopped ale from them, their 4.5% Huell Melon.

Huell Melon is a German hop which came out 10 years ago and is descended from Cascade, "noted to be intensely fruity with flavours and aromas of honeydew melon and strawberry" (Hopslist), and it's pretty damn good, if you like pale dry bitter ales as I do. On drinking the ale, I expected more to the aroma, however, I didn't really notice that much fruit, and it was subtle to the taste too, but a pale golden ale with a very dry and bitter finish, I loved it!

The second is a stronger IPA from East Sussex Three Acre Brewery (website), and their 5.0% India Pale Ale, which they state is "packed full of New World hops" and the aroma and taste are testament to that claim! This is another pale golden ale, but this time with a big fruity aroma and tropical and citrus fruits to the taste, plenty of body with a dry bitter finish, quality, although I admit to the Kent ale having the slight edge for me personally, both excellent ales though!

Now, before anyone accuses me of sexism because of the title of this blog, Ms Ashley Routson, who hails from the U.S. of A., calls herself "The" Beer Wench, that is, her book is called The Beer Wench's Guide to Beer, subtitled An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer, Quarto Publishing Group, 2015. "Wench" a term I only heard before when I lived in the West Country. Although only halfway through her book so far, her taste in beers, and knowledge, and some of her language for that matter (despite being from the other side of The Pond), have convinced me that we'd likely be good friends if we met, only good friends though, unless I was 20-30 years younger! 😉

Anyway, I look forward to reading the rest of her book, cheers to Ashley!

The ales I drank above were imbibed at the Dolphin Inn, 11-12 Rock-a-Nore Road, Hastings, East Sussex TN34 3DW (website).

Happy IPA Day 2022!

Yes, today is IPA Day 2022 (zeebiz), celebrating India Pale Ales on the first Thursday of August every year, and how they have been influenced by craft brewers, and hops, from the USA. IPAs were originally brewed to be transported by boat on the long trip to India from Britain in the 18th century, thus had plenty of strength and with hops as a preservative, to survive the journey. The idea to have an IPA day began 11 years ago in 2011, and is the brain child of American beer enthusiast and author, Ashley Routson, to whom I have to thank for making me also take advantage of this day over here in Britain, cheers!

To celebrate I had 2 ales, one from South Yorkshire, the other from Kent. From up int' North of England, just around the corner from where I used to live in Sheffield, and Little Critters Brewing (website), their #3 Session IPA (4.5%), brewed with Galaxy and Sabro hops, a true international mix! Galaxy hops are descended from a German variety, Perle, and is an Australian hop noted for 'citrus, peach and passion fruit aromas' (Hopslist). Sabro hops, meanwhile, are from the Yakima Valley in the USA, the result of a "cross-pollination of a female neomexicanus hop" with "tangerine, coconut, tropical fruit, and stone fruit aromas" (Yakima Valley Hops). I have to admit I didn't get anywhere near the amount of fruit suggested in the aroma, the #3 Session IPA is a pale golden IPA, very dry and bitter aftertaste, and not bad at all!

From Kent Brewery (website), back down in the South East of England, and their #4 in their single hopped pale series Simcoe (also 4.5%), and, unsurprisingly, brewed with Simcoe hops. Simcoe hops are another hop variety from the Yakima Valley in the USA, with bright "citrus flavours with earthy undertones, aromas of grapefruit, pine and herbs" (Hopslist). Out of the two I prefer this ale, though they are both very decent, again a pale golden bitter, with a hint of the fruit aromas suggested, and a hint in the taste too, nice dry bitter finish, and very good indeed!

Anyway, Happy IPA Day, and cheers Ashley, I've ordered a copy of your book! 🍺