>>Well I stand corrected. I assumed IPAs were created hundreds of years ago when people were traveling/exploring by ship.
That's exactly why they developed in the early 19th century, and why - the high ABV helped them survive long ship journeys.
But after two world wars they'd disappeared in England, and after Prohibition only Ballantine's survived in the US. Ballantine's clung on, but by the 50's, drinkers in the US were completely abandoning ales in favor of watery pale lagers. Ballantine's ultimately faltered and sold out to Fallstaff, which in turn faltered and sold out to Pabst. What Ballantine's became after that we won't discuss.
Those were the dark times into which I was born, when men walked into a bar and said "beer" and looked at the bartender with scorn if he asked "which?" When I reached drinking age, I thought I despised beer. Turns out I only despised the horse-piss that was foisted on consumers as "beer" under the brands Budweiser, Coors, and Pabst. And as if that wasn't bad enough, somebody came up with the idea of watering it down even further and charging a premium for "Light beer." Americans loved it! People wonder that Americans were such fans of Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump. But that's par for the course from the country that gave the world Bud Lite and the Silver Bullet. Not that great beer really defines a country. I mean, Germany loved Angela Merkel. Go figure.
Anyway, by the 90s real beer was starting to reappear in the world. You had to go to brew pubs to get it, and it cost too much, but at least it could be had. And that's when, after millennia of brewing history, brewers finally figured out that if you categorized your product like the French and Starbucks, people will pay more for it! Suddenly we could choose among Lattes, Cappuccinos, Breves, and Mochas in the morning, and by happy hour we had to select among Nut Brown Ales, Stouts, Aspics, Pilsners, Pale Ales and India Pale Ales at Happy Hour. Good times.
