National IPA Day Date in the current year: August 1, 2024

There are a lot of styles and types of beer, but all of them can be divided into two big groups depending on the fermentation method: lagers and ales. Lagers are brewed and conditioned at low temperatures, while ales are brewed at warm temperatures. Craft breweries typically produce ales rather than lagers because they take less time to ferment. This means that ales are a) easier to brew on-demand and b) allow small-scale breweries to make the most of their production capacity.

Pale ale is a style of ale brewed with pale malt. The broader category of pale ale includes various beer styles, and India pale ale (IPA) is one of them. IPA is hoppier than other pale ales, has a bitter flavor and floral, citrus, fruity, earthy, piney, or resinous notes in the aroma.

India pale ale originated in England in the early 19th century, although early IPAs didn’t have much in common with their modern counterparts. It evolved from a heavily hopped ale called October beer that was brewed in October (hence the name) and aged before drinking.

October ale became a popular type of export beer because it survived a long journey to British colonies in India. Over time, it became paler, lighter, and more refreshing to better suit the taste of Indian customers and India’s warm climate. That’s how India pale ale was born. It was almost forgotten for a while during the 20th century, but the craft beer revolution resulted in the revival of IPA.

Although India pale ale originated in Britain, its newfound popularity started to develop in the United States and has spread across the world from there. A lot of popular types of IPA were invented by American brewers. They include Black IPA, Brut IPA, Double IPA, New England IPA, Triple IPA, West Coast IPA, and White IPA.

American-style IPAs typically are hoppier and tend to have a higher ABV than their English-style counterparts, while English IPAs are smoother. Due to English and American brewers using different types of hops, English IPAs have spicy, flowery and earthy notes to them, while American IPAs tend to have a fruity/citrus-y and piney taste.

India Pale Ale Day was founded in 2011 by Ashley Routson, a craft beer expert and the author of The Beer Wench’s Guide to Beer: An Unpretentious Guide to Craft Beer. The best thing about this holiday is that it wasn’t created to promote a particular beer brand or brewery. IPA Day gives an opportunity to all breweries, brands, pubs and bars to promote themselves and foster the love of India pale ale in the beer community.

How to celebrate National IPA Day? Of course by treating yourself to a delicious IPA or two. It is the perfect day to get adventurous and experiment with various IPA brands. You can go on a pub crawl, throw an IPA tasting party for your beer-loving friends, or attend a beer and food pairing class, beer festival or IPA-themed event near you. And don’t miss out on promotions that some bars and breweries offer on National IPA Day!