Hi there!, back for episode two.
It did occur to me that some of you may not know the meaning of India Pale Ale so a little history lesson might be appropriate.
During the 1800’s when Great Britain still had a military as well as a colonial presence in India, the style of beer popular in Britain at that time was sweet, dark and fairly high in alcohol.
This was shipped to India for the expatriates but did not gain many friends for obvious reasons. The high temperatures and humidity screamed out for a lighter beer. Eventually a London brewer produced such a product, which was pale, higher in bitterness, and slightly lower in alcohol (about 7%).Such was the success of this product, (henceforth to be known as India Pale Ale), that many other brewers jumped on the bandwagon to produce a similar product.My beloved Worthington White Shield was one of these and I suppose could be labelled the lager of its day. Since its inception in 1830, White Shield has not changed a great deal, apart from the recently revamped label. Over the last few weeks, sales of White Shield have really picked up – we may even have to put on a second shift at the brewery. Concurrent with this we have also sent 5 pallets, (400 cases) to Japan!
A modern day adventure is currently taking place with Pete Brown, the well known beer writer, who is recreating the voyage from the UK to India, taking a cask of specially brewed 7% IPA from the White Shield Brewery.
Without wishing to steal his thunder, this story almost reads like a thriller, as the setbacks he has sustained have been nail-biting! You can keep up with his voyage on his blog at http://petebrown.blogspot.com/. I’m preparing myself to meet him in Calcutta to see if the ocean voyage has matured the beer well. I will be taking a similar cask, but by air and taking only hours rather than months on a boat. I’ll report back on this experience when I return just before Christmas.
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