What kind of man would intentionally attempt to re-create a harrowing 4-month sea journey around the Cape of Good Hope (Africa) from England to India, just to prove a historical point? A crazy man? Well, he may be that. But he is also British beer and travel writer Pete Brown, and in his new book, Hops and Glory, he creates the historic1800s sea voyage of India Pale Ale, complete with a keg of it. It is a highly entertaining, amusing and surprisingly informative read. But why am I telling you?

For one, I recently read it and had a great time. But more importantly because Mr. Brown does something even more important – he corrects a historical inaccuracy. In his research for the book, Brown uncovers that IPA is actually 70 years older than we thought. Rather than India Ale being the creation of the genius but rather unscrupulous George Hodgson in the 1780s, it appears brewers were shipping a stronger, hoppier pale ale made for India as early at 1716, usually in small quantities – they just weren’t calling it IPA. Hodgson, much like the mega-brewers of today, just simply figured out how to market it better and sell shiploads of it to British imperialists posted in India and Burma.

This may seem a small, rather geeky point, but I think it brings history around to a more appropriate place. IPA, much like all of history, was portrayed as the creation of “one great man”. The reality, it turns out, is that it is something that evolves slowly by the handiwork of hundreds of unsung men and women. And then some loudmouth comes along and steals all the glory…

The third reason I am telling you about this is because it was the topic of my CBC column last Friday. You can give it a listen here (it is the first mp3 listed). If you want to hear the original piece on IPA, which goes into more detail about its history and design, scroll down on that page to the May 1, 2009 column. However, I am not providing a link to any online book seller so you can purchase the book. If you want to buy it, go to your local independent book store as they are just as important as local breweries.