Have Beer, Will Travel?

When the colonists and troops garrisoned in India in the 18 th Century found they couldn’t brew beer because of the heat, they needed to find a way to import it from England.

But put a cargo of ale in a ship, and send it across the world through insensitively hot climates amidst incessant rocking and swaying and what you get when it arrives is what was commonly termed ‘undrinkable swill.’  

The man who devised a formula to tap into this lucrative, eager market was George Hodgson, brewer at the Bow Brewery, East London. Working from the recipe for Pale Ale that Londoners had been drinking since the mid-1750s, he found that increasing alcohol content and hopping rates could protect the beer from souring over the long journey.

He finished it with abundant dry hopping as an additional preservative, rightly thinking it would mellow during the long voyage, and conditioned it with more sugar than usual.

These measures not only ensured Hogdson's modified Pale Ale arrived intact, the recipients so enjoyed the strong, bitter, effervescent ale they considered it an improvement. Legend! 

Hodgson began shipping his India Pale Ale in the 1790s, and the new beer might have remained an export-only secret if a cargo ship bound for India hadn’t been wrecked in the Irish Sea. The load of India Pale Ale had to be auctioned off, it became a success in Liverpool, spread to London and on.

Tasting Notes & Beer Profile

Tuatara India Pale Ale showcases the popular style of strong, hoppy beer originally developed to survive the long voyage to colonists in the Raj. Brewed using the finest English malts and classic English variety hops the IPA is a rich, burnished gold, and throws an enchantingly deep hoppy nose. Full in the mouth, there is some appropriate tropical fruitiness before an imperial bitter finish.

Alcohol Content: 5%

Serving Notes: To let the malt character of IPA show through it is best served warmer than most, at 12 ° C.