The Rise of The IPA Melbourne Private tours

To withstand the boat ride, producers had to make strong beers with lots of alcohol and lots of hops, both acting as beer preservatives.

Hops are flowers from the Humulus Lupulus plant. They’re added to the boiling brew because they act as antiseptics and natural preservatives. The flowers, mostly added when dried or as pellets, also impart bitterness to beer and aromatics, ranging from guava and grapefruit to pine nuts and fresh-cut herbs.

IPA’s aromas are crowd-pleasing, but the style’s bitterness is another matter; either you love it or hate it.

Much like seeing the alcohol by volume in spirits, wine and beerat Private Winery Tours Yarra Valley; the latter will often tell you how many IBUs you can expect from that particular beer.

IBUs are International Bitterness Units. Heineken has 16 IBUs, and a Melbourne Bitter scores a respectable 28. Still, IPAs can have between 40 and 70, and a Double IPA can display whopping 120 bitterness units, which's mordaciously bitter!

IPAs are strong, alcoholic, aromatic and bitter. They’re amped-up brews sitting at the throne of the realm of beers. Try one, you might find it too strong for your taste, but then again, you might just fall in love with the style.