Saint Arnold Elissa IPA

A traditional India Pale Ale, the Elissa IPA is very hoppy with a properly balanced malty body. Elissa has huge hop additions in the kettle that give it a wonderful bitterness and is then dry-hopped in the fermenter to create the pleasant floral, hoppy nose. Our reverse osmosis water makes the bitter very soft with no harsh notes to it. The maltiness is derived from British Maris Otter malt. Its rich flavor stands up to the hops that would otherwise dominate this beer. The Elissa is an authentic version of an India Pale Ale (IPA) style.

Recommended pairings: Any style of seafood, Indian food, & spicy Thai.

Awards:
Silver Medal, Great American Beer Festival, Extra Special Bitter or Strong Bitter, 2010
Silver Medal, World Beer Cup, International IPA, 2008

History and Trivia:

Debuted March 2004.

We had wanted to brew an IPA for several years, but our water was too high in calcium carbonate which tends to impart a harsh bitter to such beers. It was not until we installed our reverse osmosis system that we could do so. Reverse osmosis takes the water coming into the brewery with about 300-500 ppm dissolved solids and strips it down to about 5 ppm. We then can add back only the minerals that we want. This way, we can recreate the brewing water of anyplace in the world. Actually the RO system improved all of our beers. And lets us brew a delicious, hoppy IPA!

This beer is named after ELISSA, a tall ship now moored in Galveston. Ships like ELISSA were used in transporting IPAs to India.

Saint Arnold Brewing Company donates a portion of the proceeds of this beer to the Galveston Historical District for preservation of this ship.

IPAs were first brewed in the late 1700s in England for transport to the British colony of India. The high level of hops combined with higher alcohol levels worked as preservatives to keep the beer good over the long voyage to India where conditions were not conducive to brewing.

A small portion of Elissa IPA is routinely drained from the fermenters, dry-hopped, cask-conditioned, and delivered to select local pubs and served from old-fashioned beer engines.