Is this a trademark in any countries - and in general, how would I find this out?
Cheers,
Cryptoderk.
AFAIK, IPA is a descriptive term used by lots of breweries, in the public domain, and therefore untrademarkable and uncopyrightable.
(Which is also the longest word I have found that has every vowels in it, used only once.)
I used to drink this crap years ago, when it was illegal (too young to be in the pub) and therefore exciting.
It was always known as “Serve Cool” as this appeared on the label.
I believe Bass’ trademark refers to the early example of a corporate logo, not the name - otherwise all the other IPA producers would be a bit stuck!
Yes, Bass’ trademark is for their “red triangle” logo. The term “India Pale Ale” is a descriptive of a type of beer, and as such is as uncopyrightable as “Devil’s Food” would be for cakes or “Philly style” would be for steak sandwiches.
I was going to reply that, besides, the Bass Ale we’re familiar with is not an India Pale Ale but, as I noticed looking at a label, it does say “I.P.A.” in small letters (on at least some bottles and cans) beneath the red triangle. That said, it’s better classified as a bitter (which, despite their name, aren’t really very bitter at all) or an amber ale. Nothing IPA-ish about the flavor profile at all. Samuel Smith’s IPA would probably the standard for a British IPA. And Sierra Nevada for American IPA’s (I’m not saying these are necessarily the best, just very representative of their style).
Please note! Despite the myth that has grown up about it over the years, UK Trade Mark number 1 is definitely NOT Bass’s red triangle; it is in fact a label incorporating the triangle. And it was filed on 1st January 1876, the first day for accepting trade mark applications in the UK. The man from Bass just happened to be first in the queue.
The red triangle on its own is registered but it dates from slightly later - 17th January 1876 - and bears the much more mundane number 914.
And Bass do not own these trademarks any more. The owner is currently Brandbrew S.A., Parc d’Activité Syrdall 5, L-5365, Munsbach, Luxembourg.
At last! My 6 years at the UK Trade Mark Registry have finally paid off!
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is considered to be the best representative of the American-Style Pale Ale. It does not have the alcoholic strength or hop bitterness required to be a true IPA. SN actually does make an IPA also, but it is more in the style of an English IPA. Their Celebration Ale is most like an American IPA.
I’m not trying to be a butt, but by whom? I don’t find it very delicious at all. My favorite Pale Ale that I can buy at the supermarket is Sweetwater’s 420 Extra Pale Ale. Is this, by virtue of being Extra Pale, not an American-Style?
Daniel
Beer judges. Please note, by the way, that “best representative” doesn’t mean it is the best-tasting beer, it means that it basically defines the American Pale Ale category.
Several posters in this thread seem to be confusing Pale Ale (e.g., Bass, Sierra Nevada) with India Pale Ale. IPA is a specific style first brewed when India was a British colony. The trademark high hops content and high alcohol content were to help preserve the beer during shipment by sea.
The “IPA” descriptor has definitely passed into general usage and couldn’t be trademarked at this point.
The other key component of India pale ale, was that it was shipped to India in oaken casks, thus imparting an oak flavor along with the high hops content. Homebrew kits of IPA all come with oak chips to boil in with the wort
I understand this distinction (I brew my own and IPAs are my favorite style), but I consider Sierra Nevada to be pretty damn close to what most American IPAs taste like. To me, at least, it tastes hoppier and more IPA-ish than something like a Goose Island IPA. I understand SN is classified as an American Pale Ale, but the flavor profile is right on the cusp of what an American IPA tastes like. It’s certainly hoppier than their modern-day British counterparts.
As for the oak chips, while they were traditionally used in IPAs, there is some debate on their desireability, and, so far as I know, very few breweries use them in their IPAs anymore. In fact, pretty much none of the recipes for IPAs I have suggest adding oak chips. The first homebrew kit I’ve ever bought was for an IPA, and it didn’t contain oak chips. It is important to use hard water, though. IPAs are traditionally brewed with water high in calcium salts.
As for Bass, well, they call themselves an IPA. It’s on the label. I disagree with the assessment, but if you’ve ever been to Britain, you’ll realize that the traditional IPA style is all but dead there. Americans make far better and far more authentic IPAs than the Brits do. It’s slowly changing, as British breweries are starting to try some more highly hopped brews, but American tastes in beer tend to be more aggressive, hence the popularity of “extreme” beer styles like the Double IPA.
As per Gorillaman’s Wikipedia link, I always understood that the high alcohol, high hops nature of IPA was to ensure its safe arrival after a long, rough, non-refrigerated voyage in wooden barrels. One thing that Wikipedia doesn’t mention though, yet I have heard several times, is that the beer was designed to be watered down to normal pub strength on arrival, especially for the British troops stationed in India. Of course, the officers had access to the non-diluted stuff. Therefore, IPA has two “true” alcohol levels: one is at about 4 or 5% alcohol by volume (for the troops), and the other is at about 7 or 8% (for the voyage [and the officers]).
Agreed on the British IPA’s (and even many US East Coast IPA’s)–they are not as hoppy as SN Pale Ale.
I think part of the confusion between SN Pale Ale and other IPA’s has to do with the fragile nature of hop character. Beer hoppiness diminishes fairly quickly with age. I would agree that a fresh SN Pale Ale will taste hoppier than 3-4 month old bottles of most IPA’s. And SN’s high turnover helps assure that they will be fresher than many of the IPA’s you find on the shelf. But fresh West Coast-style IPA’s (Stone IPA and Victory’s HopDevil come to mind) are clearly stronger and hoppier than SNPA.
I haven’t seen much evidence that oak flavor is essential to a traditional IPA. All beer used to be stored and served out of wooden casks at one time, and the casks were treated to prevent imparting wood flavor to the beers.
American IPAs are very different from British ones. I had a couple when I was in San Francisco earlier this year: a 21st Amendment IPA, at their brewery on 2nd Street, which is a whopping 8% and a Magnolia Spud Boy’s IPA (on hand pump!) in the Toronado on Haight Street. British ones - in Britain - are generally not much stronger than 5%.
Interesting, there’s a beer called (as a name and not description if I read the label correctly) Indian Pale Ale advertised a lot in the Times here in the UK of late. I was tempted to buy a bottle in Tescos, but I wondered if all that history in the advert was actually true regarding the alcohol content for the voyage to India.