Let's start with the question of all questions: what does the acronym IPA stand for? IPA stands for India Pale Ale. It is pronounced as: ij-pie-eej or simply ie-pa.

IPA beer originated in England. IPA owes its name, India Pale Ale, to the heyday of English colonialism. According to old stories, the British soldiers, who kept order in India, longed for their favourite beers from home. Moreover, every British soldier in those days was entitled to a pint of beer a day. Unfortunately, that beer never survived the four-month sea voyage of those days. British brewer George Hodgson came up with the bright idea of brewing beer with a higher alcohol content and adding more hops so that it would keep longer. Alcohol and hops are natural preservatives.

In retrospect, it turned out that there were other styles of beer that could cope with the sea voyage. It also emerged that George Hodgson was not the first to brew Pale Ale for India. He was the most popular because his brewery was on the shipping route. So let's keep the legend and stick with this iconic story of IPA.

Today, IPA beer is one of the most widely consumed speciality beers worldwide. From the United States to Canada to England, Ireland and Australia. Everyone recognises the popularity of IPA and each brewery has its own variant(s) on the market.