German IPA

A few months ago Ron posted details of some 19th century German beers including one from an unknown source in Bremen claiming to be IPA.

At the time I speculated that, since Bremen is a port, it might well have been English beer just bottled and/or sold locally.

Turns out I was probably wrong. There was a Bremen brewery making IPA and it seems pretty likely that that could have been the one in Ron's table.

A brewery in Hemelingen, Bremen, founded in 1868 was using the name Erste Norddeutsche Actien Ale-und-Porter-Brauerei by 1878. Were they already brewing IPA in 1870?

It also might not have been the first. Another Bremen enterprise founded in 1815 was trading as “Englische Bierbrauerei Deetjen et Claussen” by 1832.

I must admit I have done no great detective work on this. Both the information and the label scans come from Klaus Ehm's fascinating breweriana collectors' site.