Beer Speak @ Life Cafe 983

Why the I in IPA
by Andy Mills, Bar Manager in Brooklyn


It all started in the 18th and 19th century. As is common knowledge, the British have always enjoyed drinking fine ales. Their navy was no exception. They would ration 1 gallon of beer per sailor per day which is equivalent to 8 pints or almost 11 12oz bottles, quite a decent amount of beer I would say. This proved to be a very large problem for sailors taking long voyages into warmer climates such as India (the “I”). The popular ales of that time period would spoil in a matter of weeks, leaving sour, flat beverages for the boys to enjoy. Nutritionally speaking, beer contains essential amounts of vitamin B to long traveling sailors. What could be done? What had to be done?

Freeze it! Nope… Boil more water out! Nope… What?

More hops! Yes… More booze! Yes…

Alcohol makes it harder for microbes to reproduce, while hops discourages growth of lactic acid bacteria. These were the most effective means of beer preservation. Another neat trick was the addition of additional sugars into the beer to keep the yeast alive as long as possible, thus keeping the beer even longer. Just happens, people really enjoyed this new style of beer. Now in the United States the IPA has become one of the most popular styles in the craft beer industry.

It wasn’t a choice then… It was necessity…

Now, it’s a luxury.

Stoudts Double IPA
Adamstown, PA

10.6% ABV

Stoudts Brewing didn’t start out as a brewery and is still much, much more. It started as Stoudts Kountry Kitchen, evolved into a steak house, an antique marll, and finally, turned brewery in the late 70s. All of Stoudts endeavors have been always reaching to obtain the highest quality of craftsmanship. This beer is no different. Packing an extreme amount of hops into this one wasn’t enough. They also needed to balance it with and extreme malty backbone. Amazingly smooth for a beer with a massively high alcohol content, I highly recommend it.

Now at Life Café 983

BEER SPEAK @ Life Cafe 983

Ultimate beer tasting…
by Andy, Bar Manager in Brooklyn


It took about 35 minutes of picking and choosing at Bierkraft + $154 and we had 35 of the world’s best beers ranging from Scheinder’s Aventius Wiezen Eisbock – Dogfish Head’s Raison de Extra (alcohol levels ranging between 6.7% and 28%!!! – average out at about 12%). This was definitely one of the best varieties of beer I have consumed in a sitting. Luckily, I happen to share it with my brother and step-father. We sat in my living room, each one of us had a chalice that we would rinse in between the next sample (at first anyway). We would take turns picking the next beer. It seemed a trend that I would go for Belgians, typically quads, and my family was going toward IPAs with west coast hop profiles. This got me thinking about my next pick.




The best match I could come up with was Houblon Chouffe, a Belgian triple abbey/double IPA blend. When I say this, it is actually NOT two different beers brewed separately and blended together. It is a meld of styles generally so far apart from each other that few would dare such a thing, but not La Chouffe. Being experts at brewing triple abbeys, they wanted to do something a little more challenging. Their take on this unique endeavor, was pure brilliance. In the United States and England, brewers tend to add hops early in the boil if not before the malt is even added, adding a stronger “bittering” effect to the beer. La Chouffe on the other hand, wanted all of the beautiful floral and pine essences that hops has to offer without making the beer overly bitter and acidic. Weighing in at 9% ABV, Houblon Chouffe hit the nail right on the head. Perfectly smooth body of a Belgian triple with a nice balance of hop, not turning the triple into the typical American double IPA. Highly recommended because hey, we were all happy!


Now available @ Life Cafe 983

BEER SPEAK @ Life Cafe 983

Beer as bread...
Andy, Beverage Manager in Bushwick Brooklyn


In the early 14th century, stuck with colder temperatures in Germany, monks were forced to use lagering yeast (activates @ colder temperatures) rather than the ale yeasts (activates warmer) that were more popular in milder regions of Europe. Lagers are generally light, mild flavored beers. During fasting however, monks decided they needed to throw more malts in the beer to add additional nutritional value. This was the invention of the bock style that is growing in popularity. If that wasn't strong enough, even more malts were pitched and thus... the dopplebock, or double bock. Monks would use these beers in place of bread during Lent and other such Roman Catholic holidays that require fasting.

Sprecher Dopple Bock

Glendale, Wisconsin

(8% ABV)

Beer from Wisconsin? Is it PBR? NO! Although the founder of Sprecher, Randal Sprecher, was in fact a brewing supervisor for Pabst Brewing, he is not making Pabst here. Since it's founding in 1985, Sprecher has been on the forefront of reviving the lost arts and old world brewing processes. My personal favorite is the Dopple Bock. A little sweetness is added to this malt monster from the use of roasted dark malts. After brewing, the beer is put into cold storage for 6 months. If properly stored, it can be aged for years, calming the sweetness and adding body. Wonderfully complex either way.