Topic

Probably should have checked my facts but from what I recall the tour guide said that a certain type of hop was added to the beer so that as the beer warmed in the ship's hold en route to India it went through a further brewing process that ensured it was fresh on arrival but that these ingredients gave it the pale colour.

I guess you should be the next question setter, Paul!

Sorry PQD but as student of beer and homebrewer I disagree (I've been recently reading up on the history of pale ales in general). I didn't say they were brewed strong to survive the trip (beer strength isn't related to hop content) (but they were stronger than other pale ales brewed at the time). IPAs were first brewed with extra hops to act as a preservative on the voyage to India. I also didn't state that IPAs were the first pale ales (they weren't, pale malts had been around for a good few years before that).

I do agree that George Hodgson did not necessarily "invent" IPA, however he was by far the most successful exporter of the time, and popularised it.

Fact is that IPA is a pale ale that was brewed for the voyage to India, and generally had higher hop content than those available in England at the time.

IPAs of the time, according to the best estimates of modern brewers, were around 6.5-8% abv, which was stronger than contemporary ordinary pale ales.

MG mad the part I disagreed with was where you stated "The extra hops were to preserve the beers on the long trips to India" Beer was perfectly capable of lasting the four month journey and was regularly transported greater distances and survived journeys of up to a year.

Still I hope you enjoyed your drink and look forward to your new question.

Six months ago I'd have agreed with you, but since then I've been doing a lot of reading on the history of IPA and pale ale in general. What is true is that there is no concrete evidence one way or another, but most points to the fact that the hops were added as it was felt they would help the beer keep longer - this was just before the time that brewers were becoming more scientific, and just becoming aware of what the hops were doing in the beer. It may not have been necessary to add as much as they did, but it is most likely that is the reason they were added.

In regards to other beers lasting the distance, I'm aware that beer could (and can) last a long time - the difference being though that hop flavour and character (including bitterness) degrades with time, and at the time pale ale was very new - most other beers were brewed using dark malts and hence most of the flavour was derived from the malt itself, and not the hops, so degradation in hop flavour was not as much of an issue. This is why IPAs consumed 'fresh' at point of brewing were somewhat different to the beers that arrived in India.

Anyway, the next question:

We all know that MG was primarily a producer of sports cars, however there have always been many four seater (or more) MGs. Which was more numerous (in terms of models, not numbers produced), two seaters or four seaters? (Note that for this definition, 2+2s such as the MGBGT count as two seaters).

I'm going to be out and about today, so if someone gets the right answer feel free to carry on

I don't actually know the answer but in view of the number of 4+ seater models since the war (Y Saloon, Y Tourer, Magnette ZA,ZB, Mk III and Mark IV, 1100, 1300, Metro, Maestro, Montego, ZR,ZS,ZT, ZT-T, MG6 and soon the MG3) I would assume the answer to be 4 seaters

Aha, I was just wondering what had happened to the Quiz...

Lets try a revival but I only have one MG related question and two naval but here goes
\\\what came first MG or GM
How many ropes on HMS Victory
What is currently (June 2021) the oldest ship in the Royal Navy

GM?
Loads?
HM Victory?

2 out of 3 well done
GM is older than MG
HMS Victory is still on the books and therefore the oldest ship, she also only has 1 rope the bell rope all the rest have specific names, warps, springers, hawsers, lines etc it makes sense if you said to a sailor back then pull the rope he would have been lost.