The IPA at the end of the journey: Why Pete Brown is smiling

Pete BrownIf you don’t want to drink this beer then I will:

“It poured a rich, deep copper colour, slightly hazy. It reminded me of American IPAs – you could almost see the weighty alcohol content. The nose was an absolute delight – an initial sharp citrus tang, followed by a deeper range of tropical fruit – I was reminded of mango and papaya. Later, after it had breathed for a while, it went a bit sherberty. On the tongue it simply exploded with rich, ripe fruit, a little bit of pepper, and a wonderfully clean bitter finish that left my tongue buzzing.”

After months of drinking dreadful beer along the way, Pete Brown finally got to open the India Pale Ale hauled from Burton-on-Trent to India.

He’s writing a book about this journey — which better be available in the U.S., dammit — but promises details in his blog first.

Meanwhile, consider this:

I’ve found large elements of the IPA story to be myth, but this central fact – it wasn’t just the brewer but also the journey that created this beer – holds up.

I guess this means a beer terroir could include the open sea.

3 thoughts on “The IPA at the end of the journey: Why Pete Brown is smiling”

  1. I’m very surprised the beer reminded Pete of an American IPA. I tasted it (albeit from a cask that hadn’t been carted around the world!) and I’d say it was very traditionally English, which was presumably the brewer’s intention.

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