CulturAle Press

Far From India: India Pale Ales in the 21st Century. Lost Rhino with Tuppers’: Mother Tupper’s Back of the Cupboard Imperial Rye Pale Ale

Date:  March 31, 2019

The Story—  When you have a name like “Tupper” (go ahead, look it up) you had better get used to people smirking at you.   We were hesitant to name a beer “Mother Tupper’s” for all kinds of reasons, but when we mentioned the idea to my mom, she practically fell out of her chair laughing and begged us to do it.

Our friends at Lost Rhino were kind enough to collaborate on a couple of batches of beer in 2014.  One was a precursor to the Mother Tupper’s brewed to commemorate out 25,000th beer tasting write up.  We used it to get an idea of how the spice of the rye would interact with the Mount Hood hops that has become a signature feature of Tupper collaborations.   We called the “Tuppers’ 25K” a rye pale ale, but it really was a rye IPA and it turned out really well.

So to celebrate my mom– the true “Mother Tupper” turning 94 we turned up the dial on everything that made the 25K special and designed a beer with 9.4% ABV and 94 IBUs.   It was exceptional out of the box (and exceptionally expensive to make), and it’s lasted well when cellared properly.

It’s a “Double IPA” or an “Imperial IPA” with rye– put the “rye” wherever you like.   We chose the owrd order because it scanned.   Why the “Back of the Cupboard?”  Because “Mother Tupper” sounds like the cupboard owner in the nursery rhyme.   What did you think “Mother Tupper” referred to?

The Beer— Well balanced array of gentle fruits. clean malt and resiny and oily hops.  Mount Hood spice, Amarillo orange zest.  Very smooth.

Value —  Very good, at least.   No bias at all.

Values:  “fair” is a good beer at an above market price, “good” is worth the money, “very good” is a bargain, and “excellent” is a steal.

In March we’re taking a look at the incredible variety of IPAs.   The style is by far the biggest seller among craft beers in the US and probably in Europe as well.   Even century-old breweries in Reinheitsgebot-narrowed Germany are brewing IPAs (if the brewer calls it “ale” it doesn’t have to conform to the strict purity law).   But you have to ask these days: What is an IPA”?  We’ll take a look at almost a dozen recognized and semi-recognized styles of IPAs in the next couple of weeks.

 We’re often asked to share our tasting notes on over 33,000 beers; this blog is in answer to those requests.   Not all our notes, though.  The great beer writer Michael Jackson admirably followed the Thumper Rule, and we’ll try to do the same.  (“If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nuthin’ at all.”)   All the beers we post are from the top half of our ratings and most are from the top quarter.   Of greater value, we think, are the stories behind the beers,   and we try to give you enough about the brewery, the style and the places to find great beer to help you on your own beer journeys.   At CulturAle Press we try to write books and publish posts that will help you “Drink Well and Travel Safely.”