Beer History: An Irish Brewed 'American IPA' in 1882

As I (too) often point out, the standard beer styles we think of as 'new' to Irish brewing are rarely so. IPAs, Milds, Imperial Stouts and Amber ales have all already done their journey through the breweries of Ireland and into the hands and mouths of its beer drinkers, and although many would contend that using American hops in beers in this country is a new phenomena it is something that has been done for a couple of centuries at least.

Take the above advert from May 1882 from the Clonmel Chronicle showing where Keily's in Waterford were using Californian hops in an IPA in the late 19th century - with Perry's malt as you can see  - so 'American IPAs' are certainly not a new thing in this country, it was more of a case that we had forgotten that we brewed with them. Okay, style-wise Keily's IPA is hardly going to be 'West Coast' or 'East Coast' or whatever but is there still a fair justification for calling this an American IPA as it used Californian hops?

Yes, perhaps I am stretching style terminology a little, but even still it is certainly nice to see the early use of American hops in print - and in a beer - and it might help burst another brewing myth in our beer history.

The availability of American hops is not a new or unusual phenomenon here, the aforementioned Perry's of Rathdowney were using them in the early part of the 20th century - as well as Californian malt I might add - and certainly the bigger breweries were using them too. Indeed back as far as 1795 American hops were being sold via Irish newspapers and touted as being 'remarkable [sic] strong', presumably compared to English hops. The very early years of the 19th century show up more American hops for sale and in 1818 a Dublin newspaper carried an advertisement stating that a batch of hops being offered were 'nearly one half stronger than British or Flemish [hops], and free from any unpleasant flavor[sic]', which would lead us to believe that even back then American hops were noted for their stronger aroma.

So next time someone asks who brewed Ireland's first American IPA you will be able to start a long and unwinnable argument by quoting this advertisement ...

Good luck!

Liam

(I've posted about Keily's previously here.)

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