Lately I have noticed that IPAs have become quite popular, not just as a general drink but from sales of our Shipwright’s IPA kit. So much so that we are currently developing a new IPA kit to go on sale. It is not uncommon to see ales have booms of popularity, but what is the history of IPA. IPA was not the first type of ale to be shipped out to India, nor was it the only one when it’s popularity did grow. Heavy porters were what the lower classes drunk, while those better off chose October Ale. The main seller of which was Hodgson’s brewery and in many ways it can be seen as a prototype for IPA. A pale ale that was heavily hopped but most importantly it normally took years to age. However,
Today’s topic is on two important points, what grains did they use in medieval times and how to balance ingredients. When I started trying to make Gruit I generally chose a low amount of lighter malts. My thought was that it was better to keep that simple so it wasn’t having an overpowering effect on the brew, but I also wanted to create an accurate Gruit. The recipes I’ve found don’t really seem to share any opinion on what to use. In medieval times grains and malts were not as carefully sorted as they were in the coming centuries. Especially if you were a small time Alewife brewing in her home you got by with whatever you were given, which would depend on a myriad of factors like what crop
I thought that I would try to grow some hop plants, acquiring a few specimens of different varieties to try out. They come as rhizomes (stems growing horizontally underground) in the winter when dormant or in pots during the summer. So to give them a head start I planted them in pots in the greenhouse and put 2 ft canes for them to grow up. My first big mistake, they were at the top of the canes in a couple of weeks, so I put them onto 4 ft canes but they just keep growing. Having never planned where to plant them in the garden, I read up on Kentish hops which they grow up poles or cords about 20 feet tall. Instead I decided to plant them at the base of fruit trees, as they are about the rig
Fresh of the presses are our new beermats. Pick one up if you see us at a market or fair. You may even get one if you order from us online!
