If you're a beer drinker located in the United States chances are HIGH you've become familiar with a beer style known as IPA - or India Pale Ale. The history of the IPA is long and confusing. Essentially, the popular explanation tells of British brewers who increased the number of hops in their pale ales to act as a preservative for traveling long distances to British colonies in India in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Whether it is true or not, IPAs were invented long ago but have re-emerged over the past two decades, undergoing a steady increase in popularity.

According to the latest data from AmericanCraftBeer.com, IPAs were the third fastest-growing beer category in America from 2017-2018 and take up 6% of the craft beer market. For more by-the-numbers stats, IPAs grew their sales numbers by 10% YOY last year and brought in $895.8 million in that time frame.

To the average beer drinker, IPAs are obviously plentiful at every bar, tap room, bottle shop or gas station you might pop into, especially here in San Diego, and the numbers only add more proof to the pudding that IPAs are here to stay. But in an ever-expanding category, the question must be asked: how different styles of IPA are there?

It's hard to keep track as new categories get added to the BJCP/BA official list each year - think "New England-style" or "Hazy IPAs" in 2018 - AND - clever marketing teams at breweries across the country always add an unofficial twist to their own styles: think "West Coast IPA" from many So Cal brewers including yours truly or "Fresh Hop IPA" from craft beer legends like Sierra Nevada.

Let's start with official beer categories as determined by one of the governing bodies in craft beer, the Beer Judge Certification Program(BJCP). According to the BJCP, there are nine (9) separate IPA styles:

American IPABelgian IPA Black IPA Brown IPADouble IPAEnglish IPARed IPARye IPAWhite IPA

Now let's look at another reference for official style categories, this time from the Brewer's Association. They classify only a handful of styles - including:

English-Style India Pale AleSession India Pale AleAmerican-Style India Pale AleJuicy or Hazy India Pale AleAmerican-Style Imperial or Double India Pale AleJuicy or Hazy Imperial or Double India Pale Ale

Now we have an idea of how many official IPA styles exist. Excluding repeats from BJCP/BA, this gives us a total of twelve (12) official IPAcategories!

So, we've determined we have a good base of twelve different official IPA categories, but leave it to brewers to be creative! Other sub-categories can number in the hundreds when you examine them on Untappd, but let's take a nicely condensed list from CraftBeer.com that reminds us of a few fan-favorite categories:

West Coast-Style IPA Fruit IPAWet Hop IPACoffee IPA

For good measure, we'll rattle off a few sub-sub-categories that we've seen around town in San Diego and have come to love! Including:

Fresh Hop IPAMilkshake IPABrut IPASour IPATropical IPATriple IPAMurky IPA

The list goes on and on and that is part of the beauty of the beer industry. Creators gonna create! We'll see where inventive brewers take IPAs in the coming years. For hop-heads and beer snobs, this is a category where we will continue to not be disappointed!

Share your favorite IPA styles with us @longshipbrewery on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Enjoy IPAs but don't be afraid to try something new and always remember to VOYAGE ON

San Diego Beer Week is coming fast! This annual over-the-top can-you-drink-enough-beer tribute to all things crafty is the absolute BEST week to be a San Diego craft beer fan!

A great way to navigate the hundreds of events place across the county all week, you can check out the San Diego Brewer's Guild Website(www.sdbeer.com) - OR - just take a look at everything Longship Brewery has planned and go to that!

We strive to be adventurous, to be different, and our San Diego Beer Week 2018 lineup accomplishes that in a big way. Scope our events below and see if anything sparks your interest or your taste buds!

Nov. 2 -11: BEERAMAR SCAVENGER HUNT

Tucked away in various locations throughout the Miramar/Mira Mesa neighborhoods, amazing breweries lie in wait for you to discover them! Visit any of the breweries listed on the graphic below from Nov. 2 - 11. Get a stamp at each location and collect a prize when you've hit them all!

Nov. 4th: #SDBEER ALLSTAR FLIGHT CONTEST: ROUND 2 - 2 PM

Last year during San Diego Beer Week 2017, we launched a new Beer Week tradition and pitted four SD Beer Allstars and influencers against each other to see who could come up with the best beer recipe.

This year, we're doing it all over again and going much bigger this time around! Here are the teams and their beers:

Nov. 7th: CARIBBEAN SEAFARER RELEASE PARTY

We're launching a very special Tequila and coconut version of the Seafarer for San Diego Beer Week! Tequila-soaked oak chips blend with nutty, aromatic coconut for a tropical take on our deliciously tart Gose. When drinking, think of Viking explorers from long ago who landed on tropical shores longing for a beverage just like this | LIMITED RELEASE (get it while you can)

Nov. 8th: BEER AND ICE CREAM PAIRING WITH THE GOOD SEED FOOD COMPANY

Pairings are all the rage during Beer Week, but we wanted to be as different with our pairing as we are with our beers. We've partnered with the amazing chef at The Good Seed Food Company in Miramar to bring you a wild Beer and Ice Cream pairing you'll never forget (hopefully). TICKETS

For $15 you'll get three beers and three scoops of the following:

Bleu Cheese ice cream + Shieldwall West Coast IPAWhiskey Oil and Orange Salt ice cream + Wildlife Guardian Kölsch"Smooth" Road ice cream + Althing 2018 Scotch Ale

Nov. 2-11: BEER WEEK WHEEL

We're also building a very special San Diego Beer Week Wheel! Buy any beer to go and you'll get a turn to spin the wheel. We'll have awesome beer-related prizes as well as goodies from our friends at Mesa Rim San Diego,Gazua Sushi and Blue Box Bagels & Brew - both of which are located conveniently close to Longship!

San Diego Beer Week is always a very special event because it's brought to you by people who love what they do and the beer they make. We look forward to sharing the spoils of our beer journey with you during beer week and every other week of the year.

SKOL!

At Longship Brewery, we fearlessly brew bold new flavor combinations and look for brilliant new takes on a wide offering of beer styles. In pursuit of hoppy treasures, we launched a new series of delightful Pale Ales specifically designed to highlight unique and exciting hop combinations.

The first in this line of new Pale Ales (all to be titled Odinson) is Odinson #1 - an earthy and floral Pale Ale with a note of citrus that ties all the flavors together.

Odinson #1 is characterized by its two standout hop additions: Mt. Hood and Nugget. These hops play nicely together to create a robust Pale Ale that creates a well-balanced flavor profile including floral, citrus, bitterness and a finishing sweetness. The third hop in our primary pale ale series is Santiam - an aroma hop from Oregon that contributes to the floral theme and offers a slight spiciness. The beer also has a great head retention and nice carbonation for optimal mouthfeel.

Odinson #2: Building off of the same malt bill and recipe of Odinson #1, the second in the series will offer unique flavors from the four different hop varieties we'll be adding. The hops used in Odinson #2 are Glacier, Northern Brewer, Sterling and Vanguard. Together, these different hops will impart woody, piney, and cedar aromas to brew #2!

Listen to Longship Brewery owner Dan explain itin more detail: