IPA Beer, or Indian Pale Ale, is a particular type of pale ale developed at the height of Britain's Empire and enjoying a recent resurgence amongst craft beer producers. Our selection of IPA beer and other classic types of beer including pilsner, stout beer, bitters many more are all available to order online at the lowest prices you'll find anywhere in Australia. We don't have ‘specials' at Boozebud. What we do instead is scour the internet for the cheapest prices available across our entire range of IPA beer, wine and spirits and then we match those prices every day of the week. You'll find a complete range of liqueurs, vodka, brandy, whiskey, Scotch whisky, rum, pisco, tequila and mezcals, as well as the best in Australian sparkling rose and sparkling wine, genuine French champagne and cognac.
We also deliver to your door right across Australia with delivery available in both Sydney and Melbourne. Online shopping has revolutionised everything else we purchase so why not where you get your alcohol from as well? You can choose from the very best brews from around the world and from here at home, delivered directly to your door and always at the lowest prices that you'll find anywhere else, guaranteed. Whether it's a fine dessert wine you're looking for or an alcoholic ginger beer, whether you're a fan of cider or gin, you'll find the best price online and available for direct alcohol delivery to your door from Boozebud. Stock your bar with all of the classic liqueurs and enjoy the best the world has to offer, including our range of IPA beer.
What does IPA beer mean?
IPA beer stands for Indian Pale Ale and that's not because it was originally made in India, but because the British wanted to send pale ale to colonial outposts in India. Unlike lagers, ale traditionally doesn't keep as long. It's usually a crisp and lighter coloured hoppy beer and the fermentation process is very different.
IPA beer was originally created in the early seventeenth century when ale was the preferred drink of the Empire. Commercial production of ale was mostly concentrated in England and the British Empire enjoyed the bespoke honour of transporting their signature drink around the world, introducing it to all of the new cultures it planted a flag in.
During this time India was known as the Jewel of the British Empire' and existed as a thriving outpost of English society. As more and more English made the move south to the sub-continent of India, more and more English people longed for the taste of home when they got there. A big market existed for British alcohol throughout all of the colonies, but this was a time when everything sent everywhere went by sea and that involved long, treacherous and perishable voyages. Ale doesn't traditionally travel very well. Being a warm, top fermenting beer, it would usually only last a few weeks after being made. Making ale was usually a woman's job in the family home among rural families and was generally safer to drink than fresh water. The alcoholic content in home brews like this was usually quite low compared to commercial ales produced in England.
If ale couldn't be shipped from mother England, then how were the English ex-pats going to enjoy a cool refreshing class of the preferred brew? Maybe pale ale could be made in the colonies? Yes, they tried that too, but hops turned out to be notoriously difficult to ship as well. They didn't survive the journey south any better than ale did on its own. The British needed something new and different that still tasted of home and looked and smelled exactly the same as traditional ale. They needed quickly because there was big demand for it too.
When you make beer of any kind, hops are usually added as a method for preservation. That tangy taste of hops was just a by-product of its original intended use: to protect it the beer from growing bacteria and going off too early. Alcohol is also a preservative that bacteria cannot survive in, but traditional ales were low alcoholic drinks.
George Hogeson of the Bow Brewery decided to tackle the issue of poor travelling ale head on in the late seventeenth century. Based in London, he created a recipe for ale capable of lasting the long and dangerous sea voyage to India. This recipe called for increasing the standard measure of hops and with experimenting with the kind of yeast used in the fermentation process. The result was a much higher alcohol ale that was strong tasting, strong acting and very hoppy in taste. To make absolute certain that his new drink would survive its travels to India, Hogeson also made sure that the export casks he used were primed with a combination of sugar and then dry hopped. Dry hopping is the process where hops are added dry a second time to the beer.
To make any beer, of any kind, you need malted barley (or a cereal equivalent like rye) and you need to steep it in very hot water to make a wort. It is usually single hopped where hops are added wet to the wort and then boiled and then left to ferment. Dry hopping is to add more hops in again at the end. Not only does this help to preserve the ale but it also gives it that very distinct flavour profile that you find in modern IPA beer.
Hogeson's experiment resulted in a very bitter tasting beer with a much higher alcohol content than any other type previously available. It did actually manage to travel well all the way to India and that's where this signature beer variety has now gotten its name. The Indian Pale Ale is an ale strong and hoppy enough to ship from England to India.
A more modern brewing process and better technology slowly began to replace the need for IPA beer until in the 1970's a few American breweries decided to experiment with bringing the traditional IPA beer back. The development of the American IPA called Liberty Ale is largely considered the reason for the brewing renaissance in America and creating IPA beer began to take off after that. Breweries around the world now actually report their IPA Beer with varieties including English IPA, Double IPA, Australian IPA and Imperial IPA - to be their best selling products. Experimenting with hop varieties has led to the creation of types like Red IPA and Session IPA from brewers including Goose Island, Hope Brewery and Sierra Nevada.
Is IPA beer gluten free?
Experimentation with the brewing process has created a range of gluten free IPA beer varieties made on gluten free grains like buckwheat, rice and corn. Two Way Bays is a local Australian producer of gluten free beer options including their XPA. Check out our range of Belgian beer for some other example of gluten free drinking options that deliver the signature crispness and taste of an excellent beer. Order your IPA beer online with Boozebud and enjoy the cheapest prices on premium brewers and brands from all over the world as well as here in Australia. We deliver direct to your door. Stock your bar today.
Boozebud
Whatever you love to drink, you'll find it available to order online at Boozebud and conveniently delivered to your door anywhere in Australia. If it's the best beer from your favourite producers or boutique operations carefully crafting their own signature tastes, you'll find it at Boozebud. If you're a wine drinker, browse our extensive selection of wineries, varietals and blends. Our selection of spirits and liqueurs include the big name producers that everybody knows as loves as well as tasty varieties sourced from the finest producing regions around the world.
Our entire range of alcohol is available to order online for the lowest prices. We guarantee it. We don't set our prices; we just match the lowest ones on offer found anywhere in Australia. If you find our stock listed for a lower price anywhere else, then we'll match it. We also offer online-only prices that no one else can match across all of your favourites.
We are home to Australia's largest collections of craft and boutique producers which means that our range of beer, wine, spirits and liqueurs include selections plucked from the finest producers tinkering away quietly, developing the best craft beers, the smoothest whisky, in both local and far-off places that the big name alcohol distributors have never heard of. If you let us know what you like to drink, then we can personalise your shopping experience on Boozebud. We'll suggest recommendations that we know you'll love based on what we're drinking and loving too.
We are always open so you can enjoy ordering online 24/7. Delivery covers all of Australia with expected arrivals in the capital cities like Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane within 3 to 5 business days. We are always looking to improve our delivery options and are constantly improving arrival times in more capital cities so you can get the best tasting beverages that you love delivered even faster.
Read Less