Since starting work at Pumphouse Brewery in Moncton last
year, Greg Nash—the man who brewed Garrison’s first batch of Imperial
India Pale Ale in a plastic vat—has waded even further into the deep
end of extreme beer making.
“My mouth is still in shock and awe,” he says, after tasting a batch
of his triple strength India Pale Ale. At the Pumphouse Pub in Moncton,
he’s brewing house batches of India Pale Ales that are double and
triple the strength of the Imperial Garrison IPA. “When you see the
number of hops that go into it, it seems insane. I like to go off the
edge,” he says, sounding nearly like a normal person.
“Die hard beer geeks,” (his name for real ale enthusiasts) really go
for them. Nash says hoppy microbrew IPAs have seen the “biggest market
segment increase over the last couple years.” There are over 1,500
craft breweries in the States and most of them would brew an IPA. You
know a trend is peaking when the New Yorker writes about extreme
beers in their food issue.
The story of India Pale Ales is pretty familiar to beer-o-philes.
British soliders of the Raj wanted English beer, so English brewers
developed a strong, hoppy alcoholic beer that could survive the long
journey to India.
Part of the ale’s strength comes from making what brewers call a
“wet, hot beer.” That’s when they add fresh hops to the boil within 24
hours of the picking from the field. They’re not dried, so they produce
a bitter green, vegetative quality that characterizes these popular,
macho ales.
Related Stories
Big beer news: Master brewer Greg Nash to open Halifax micro-brewery
Nash talks about his move to Hart & Thistle
This article appears in Mar 12-18, 2009.
