East India Company Formed

In 1600 a monopoly was given by Queen Elizabeth I to the East India Company - a body that had arisen from a group of traders specialising in products from the East Indies.   The East Indies were everything East of the Indus river - now in Pakistan - that wasn't China or Australia.   A huge market.

Trade grew and by the late 18th century, people from England (The whole of the UKⁱ & Ireland were part of the territory of England, all people subjects of the English Crown) were stationed throughout the area and they looked for home comforts.   Pasteurisation wasn't invented until 1862 and ordinary beer became stale and infections grew during the 6 month trip around Africa, as they crossed the equator twice.

IPAⁱ Invented in London

George Hodgeson in the 1780s at the Bow Brewery in London brewed a strongly alcoholic , heavily hopped beer.   He was already exporting other beer styles to India, but this one survived the journey best.  

His new beer style - India Aleⁱ - was popular with the expats and he held a stranglehold on the beer supply for 40 years.   His exports were helped by the fact that his brewery was near the East India Docks and heavy goods leaving England had a cheap carriage cost.   England imported bulky raw materials and exported less bulky finished items.   Ships were always looking for good ballast on the way out and items such as beer were good for this purpose.

Competition from Burton

Burton-on-Trent was the largest brewing centre in England due to its favourable natural water and access to the port of Hull via the river Trent.   It exported huge amounts of beer to the Baltic region, then suddenly the trade collapsed.   First the Russians increased their import taxes, then the Napoleonic Wars brought blockades of the Baltic ports to English ships.   The East India Company asked the brewers of Burton to make beer for export to the East Indies to give competition to Hodgeson in London and drive prices down.

Soon the exports to the East Indies were taking up the slack from the lack of trade to the Baltic.   By 1820 the Burton brewers were dominating the trade in beer to the East Indies.   Burton was famous for its pale ale style of beer and this export version was called India Pale Ale.

Modern IPA

Ever since the railway connected Burton to inland England in the mid 19th century, its beers were enjoyed by more and more people.   The IPA style was not a big seller locally as the journey through the tropics on a constantly moving ship aged it quicker than leaving it in a cool, static cellar.   The style was made less alcoholic and less bitter so it didn't need to age so much before serving and it became popular.

Todays IPAs have produced beers of less than 4% alcohol which would have no chance of surviving the old sea journey, but have evolved from the style.   Quite often though it is just a marketing tool to name your beer an IPA and imply that it has historical connections.

Very recently, some beers have been made that are more faithful to the original style: strong in alcohol and very bitter and earthy hop flavour.   The Americans have taken the IPA style and made their own version very successfully with a distinctly more citrussy, floral hop taste.