Ips Misc - Miscellaneous References to Ipswich from Around the World - part 3
- Luke Pantelidou
- Jul 4
- 66 min read
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Beers Named ‘Ipswich’
Probably the best known use of “Ipswich” in the name of beer products is in those brewed by the Ipswich Ale Brewery in Ipswich, Massachusetts. “Ipswich” is a brand name owned by the Mercury Brewing and Distribution Company and it is an integral part of the name of the product. The brewing company has other beer brands that do not contain the name “Ipswich”, such as Stone Cat and Celia Saison.
Ipswich Ale Brewery is one of the oldest craft brewers in New England and began life as a microbrewery. A craft brewery typically applies to a relatively small, independently-owned, commercial brewery that employs traditional brewing methods with an emphasis on flavour and quality. A brewery is considered a microbrewery if it produces less than 15,000 barrels per year, with 75% or more of its beer sold off-site. This threshold was surpassed by 2008 and Ipswich Ale Brewery now produces 24,000 barrels per year (2016).
Today ‘beer’ and ‘ale’ are really synonomous terms. Historically, ‘ale’ was a drink brewed without hops, and this still holds true to some extent in Britain. In North America the name ‘ale’ is commonly applied to beers, particularly those with a bitter flavour and a high alcoholic content. Ipswich Ale Brewery produces a vast range of different types of beer. The names given to brews are often self-evident, indicating the major contributing flavour used in its production, its colour or type of beer. There are a number of cases where it is not apparent why a name has been given to a particular brew and we have given an explanation, where known. Ipswich Ale is particularly keen on trying continental European brews and some of these will be unfamiliar to the English-speaking world, so we have given the background to such beverages.
A brief glossary is given below of the main styles (names) of beer used by brewers.
GlossaryPale ale (Bitter) and Dark ale – This not only refers to the colour of the drink, but also to its strength. Pale ale is one of the world’s major beer styles. Today Pale Ale and Bitter (British usage) are more or less synonomous, and they vary in strength from 3% to 5% ABV. Dark ales are malty beers generally above 5% ABV.
Session ale is a North American term applied to pale ales with a low ABV up to 4.1%.
IPA (India Pale Ale) stems from the 19th century when beers from England were exported to India and this type of pale ale proved the must palatable after the duration of a long journey.
Porter was first used in 1722 to describe a dark brown beer that had been made with roasted malts and was extremely popular with street and river porters in London, hence its name.
Stout was first used in England in 1677 to describe a strong beer, not a dark beer. “Stout Porter” was the strongest of this kind of beer, typically 7% or 8% ABV. The term was later shortened to just ‘Stout’.
Old ale and Stock ale are used interchangeably today to describe high-alcohol dark ales. Previously, such beers would have been kept for about a year.
Barley wine is a style of strong ale usually containing more than 6% ABV and traditionally reaches double figures, such as 11%.
Imperial or Double - The term "imperial" was used in the late 17th century for beer that was brewed in England but then shipped to the imperial court of Russia. Brewers later started using the term more generally to indicate their top-of-the-line beer. “Imperial" is an indication that the beer is going to be very strong regardless of the style. The hops and malts used during brewing are doubled (hence the use of this term) and the resulting beer ranges from 8% to 12% ABV.
Bock (Witzelsucht) was originally a dark, malty ale brewed in the town of Einbeck since the 14th century and later became associated with a strong pale lager when that drink was invented in the 17th century. In the Bavarian dialect, “Einbeck” was pronounced as “ein Bock” (“a billy goat”), and thus the beer became known as “bock”. A goat often appears on bock labels as a visual pun, hence the alternative name of Witzelsucht, which in German means ‘an addiction to making wisecracks or puns’.
(ABV stands for Alcohol by Volume. This is a standard formula, containing the difference between the original specific gravity and the final specific gravity, used by brewers to measure how much alcohol is contained in a given volume of an alcoholic beverage. It is a key measure by which comparisons are made between the strengths of different beers. We show this figure in brackets for each of the following brews.)
Ipswich Ale made its first brew in 1991, when the Ipswich Brewing Company, founded by Paul Sylva and Jim Beauvais, began producing Ipswich Original Ale (5.4% ABV) and Ipswich Dark Ale (6.3% ABV); both on draft and in bottles. Over the next few years several new lines were added: in 1995 Ipswich IPA (6.3% ABV) and Ipswich Oatmeal Stout (7.0% ABV) - this is a stout with a high proportion of oats, up to a maximum of 30%, added during the brewing process ; in 1997 Ipswich 1084 Barley Wine (13.0% ABV) - the 1084 refers to the beer’s starting specific gravity; in 1998 Ipswich Nut Brown Ale (5.5% ABV) and Ipswich 1722 Commemorative Porter (5.9% ABV) - although usually referred to as Ipswich Porter, the full name is still retained on the label, 1722 being the traditional date when porter was first produced; in 1999 Ipswich E.S.B. (about 5.6% ABV) - E.S.B. stands for Extra Special Bitter.
Seasonal beers were introduced in 1997 with Ipswich Winter Ale (6.2% ABV), followed by Ipswich Summer Ale (4.9% ABV) in 2003 and, for the autumn/fall, Ipswich Harvest Ale (6.9%) in 2005.
All these early bottles of Ipswich Ale sport variations of the distinctive sailing ship label, indicative of the sea-going traditions of Ipswich; labels that are a far cry from the more colourful and distinctive ones of later years, particularly with the “limited edition” ales, as seen in some of them displayed here. The beer was then produced by the company at its brewery, named the Ipswich Brewery, on an industrial estate in Hayward Street, off Topsfield Road.
In January 1999 the Ipswich Ale brand was purchased by United States Beverage, but the brewery remained separately owned and operated. Later that same year, Rob Martin, then Director of Operations, who had been an employee of the company since 1995, purchased the Ipswich Brewing Company. It was renamed the Mercury Brewing and Distribution Company in allusion to the ‘heavenly effect’ of a brew being likened to the “messenger to the gods” in ancient Roman mythology. However, the new company was unable to purchase the name “Ipswich Ale”, so it had to contract out its services to other companies. It did continue production of cask ales at Ipswich for United States Beverage on a contract basis, but the main bottle production centre of the brand was now at Baltimore. Rob Martin had very little choice but to expand the company with other brands such as Stone Cat Ales and its own line of soda pop (see Ipswich Soda Pop,below). Four years later, in April 2003, Mercury (Rob Martin) purchased the Ipswich Ale brand from United States Beverage, and production of this brand name moved back to Ipswich and has remained with the brewery ever since. Ipswich Ale is without doubt the flagship brand and, having purchased the name, the brewery now rightfully called itself the Ipswich Ale Brewery.
Two lines were discontinued: Ipswich 1084 Barley Wine in 2000 and Ipswich E.S.B. in 2003. Otherwise the all-year-round and seasonal ales continued to keep the brewery in business. In 2007 Mercury brought out its first limited edition ales with its three “Whiskey Barrel-aged” strong ales: Ipswich Whiskey Barrel-aged Dark Ale (6.3% ABV), Ipswich Whiskey Barrel-aged Oatmeal Stout (7.0% ABV), and Ipswich Whiskey Barrel-aged Scotch Ale (7.5% ABV). For the most part, a barrel-aged beer is going to be a fuller flavoured version of the base beer, thanks to the flavours imparted by the barrel itself and, of course, whatever residue of the beverage that lived in that barrel beforehand. Each individual barrel has its own distinct character and is thus difficult to replicate in future brews, and when the barrel is empty that is the end of that particular brew.
In 2009 Mercury brou ght out another limited edition series of ales starting with Ipswich Choate Bridge Imperial Stout (8.0% ABV) to celebrate the 375th anniversary of the founding of the town of Ipswich. The aim was to release a series of four strong ales in limited quantity. In each series, only 800 bottles of beer were brewed. This was followed throughout 2009 by Ipswich Castle Hill Summer Barley Wine (10.0% ABV), Ipswich Hosiery Mill Double IPA (9.2% ABV), and Ipswich Whipple House Old Ale (9.3% ABV), this last-named also being whiskey barrel-aged. All ales commemorated a distinctive, long established feature of the town.
Other limited edition ales produced include Ipswich 20th Anniversary Imperial Pale Ale (8.0% ABV) in 2011 and Ipswich 21st Anniversary Imperial Dark Ale (8.2% ABV) in 2012 to celebrate the 20th and 21st anniversaries of the Ipswich Ale Brewery. In 2013 an Ipswich Red Ale (5.2% ABV) was brewed exclusively for all sporting and concert events at the TD Garden arena in Boston.
In 2011 Mercury returned to the series concept when they established the ‘Local Harvest Five Mile’ limited edition with the sole purpose of creating beers using local ingredients. The aim was to use at least 50% ingredients from Massachusetts while always having at least one ingredient from within five Miles of the brewery. The first of the series that year was Ipswich Local Harvest Five Mile Stock Ale (6.4% ABV). This was followed in 2012 by Ipswich Local Harvest Five Mile Pumpernickel Rye Porter (8.0% ABV), Ipswich Local Harvest Five Mile Corn Bock (6.8% ABV), Ipswich Local Harvest Five Mile Rye Saison (6.4% ABV) and Ipswich Local Harvest Five Mile Hop Harvest India Pale Ale (6.4% ABV). In 2013 the last of the six was produced - Ipswich Local Harvest Five Mile Equinox Ale (4.8% ABV) – the name ‘Equinox’ was chosen to indicate an equal 50-50% split between the use of local State and non-State ingredients. These six were brewed only once, and they used a common label design (see above). This was the first time that the Ipswich name was not displayed prominently, although it appears in smaller print at the bottom. Nevertheless, all are listed by the brewery with “Ipswich” as the brand name first.
With 40% of its business now in contract brewing and its own brands selling well, Mercury Brewing needed to find larger premises. In 2008 it bought the downtown location of the former Soffron Brothers clam-processing plant at Brown Square (see Ipswitch - Trademark, below). Unfortunately, the recession delayed plans to transfer the brewery, and it was not until 2012 that construction work began. In September 2013, the Ipswich Ale Brewery opened at its new location. The building lies off Brown Square on what used to be called Soffron Lane, but has been renamed Brewery Place. The new brewing facility is about 3½ times the size of the original brewery, and the company has been able to double its production. It also includes the Ipswich Ale Brewer’s Table restaurant and bar on the first floor (see Ipswich in the Names of Public Houses, Bars & Inns etc., above).
With the move to a new brewery having been settled, Mercury focused on releasing new additions to the regular brews with Ipswich Rye Porter (6.3% ABV) in 2012 and, two years later, two more appeared: Ipswich Route 101 IPA (6.0% ABV) - this was named for the 1,550 mile U.S. Route 101 that spans the Pacific coastline to acknowledge that this was a west coast style IPA; and Ipswich S.I.P.A. (3.9% ABV) - the initials stand for ‘Session India Pale Ale’.
The seasonal beers were also added to in January 2015 with a new departure into European continental beers and lagers with the introduction of Ipswich Revival (6.5% ABV). It is advertised as: “Our interpretation of a golden hued Belgian-style saison imbued with fruity yeast esters and hop aroma”. It is generally considered to be a standard Belgian blond rather than a traditional saison: originating from the farmhouses in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium, traditionally brewed during the winter months then later released in the spring for the seasonal workers. Hence the name: ‘saison’ is French for ‘season’. This was followed by Ipswich Blueberry Shandy (5.4% ABV) appearing as a summer drink – ‘shandy’ is beer mixed with a soft drink, sometimes called a ‘fruit beer’. Ipswich Pumpkin Porter (5.4% ABV), although released earlier in 2015, is considered a seasonal beer for autumn (fall), along with Ipswich Hop Harvest Ale (7.0% ABv), and finally in November 2015 Ipswich Ruby Red IPA (5.5% ABV) was released as the seasonal beer for winter.
To celebrate the opening of its restaurant the Brewer’s Table series was created. As with earlier series, these were all brewed in small batches with limited release. These beers were available for consumption at the on site restaurant and were only provided to selected speciality retailers. The first was Ipswich Route 1A Double IPA (8% ABV) released in December 2015 exclusively for the opening of the Ipswich Ale Brewer’s Table. Route 1A is the local north-south highway in Massachusetts. This was followed over the next three months by Ipswich Dry Irish Stout (4.4% ABV) and Ipswich Barley Wine (10.5% ABV).
In June 2016 Ipswich Cranberry Beret (5.0% ABV) was produced to celebrate the opening of the outdoor patio, and it was included with the other summer seasonal beers of Ipswich Ale. It is technically a ‘kettle soured ale’. Sour ale has an intentionally acidic, tart or sour taste. Making sour beer is a risky and specialised form of beer brewing that the Belgians are traditionally best at, but the time (can take over a year to brew properly), costliness, and potential for error put off a lot of breweries from emulating the Belgians. ‘Kettle souring’ is a relatively new method of brewing that cuts down the cost and time by boiling the brew in a temperature controlled kettle to bring the beer down to a low acidity level in a matter of days and wit hout the risk of cross contamination. In this brew the kettle soured ale is fermented on top of pureed cranberries.
The name ‘Beret’ has been borrowed from a cocktail (the Raspberry Beret), only invented in 2008, at the Waldorf Astoria, New York, and named after the 1985 hit single by Prince and the Revolution. This name is now given to drinks with a sharp contrast between a white head in a red or pinkish body, like the red beret headwear that has a large white pompom in its centre. A photo of the Ipswich Cranberry Beret is shown above, whilst the label (see right) shows a cartoon image of Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson, 1958-2016).
In March 2016, in celebration of Ipswich Ale’s 25th Anniversary, Ipswich Riverbend Pils (4.4% ABV), was released. This Pilsner uses proper German malt, traditional Czech Saaz hops and a touch of Lemondrop hops for a bright aroma. The world’s first-ever blond lager was the Pilsner Urquell, first produced in 1842 in the town of Plzeň, Czech Republic. This is the inspiration for more than two-thirds of the beer produced in the world today (which are still called pils, pilsner and pilsener). This brew also had limited availability and was given its name because a portion of the sales of the beer was donated to the Ipswich River Watershed Association, who work to protect the river system that is the source of the area’s drinking water.
The European beers theme continued throughout 2016 with continued limited releases of Ipswich iBelge (4.8% ABV), a Belgian farmhouse pale ale, the name combining a small ‘i’ for ‘inspiration’ with the French for ‘Belgian’. It should be noted that Rob Martin is a well-known enthusiast of Belgian beers. Then came Ipswich Smoked Helles (Witzelsucht) (4.3% ABV). This is a lightly smoked pale lager traditionally based on Bamberg in Germany. Helles is German for ‘light’ or ‘pale’ referring to the colour of the lager. Smoked beer is a type of beer with a distinctive smoke flavour imparted by using malted barley dried over an open flame. Witzelsucht is an alternative name for Bock, as mentioned in the Glossary to this article.
Then there is Ipswich Hefeweizen (4.9% ABV), a German yeast (hefe) beer with 50% malted wheat to the same amount of malted barley, the high yeast content giving it a cloudy appearance. It has a low hop bitterness and a high carbonation causing a fizzy head to the beer. Finally, Ipswich Chucktoberfest (6.1% ABV) was the seasonal offering. A German style amber lager known as a Märzenbier (March beer), traditionally drunk in the fall (O ktoberfest) apparently “with your best friend Chuck”. This lager originated in Bavaria before the 16th century. At that era beer was only allowed to be brewed between September and April, so the Märzen was brewed in March to a special recipe that would allow the beer to last during the months when brewing was forbidden. The beer was kept in the cellar until late summer, and came out to be served at the Oktoberfest.
In 2017 Ipswich Farm House (4.8% ABV) was made available (see image, right). This is described as a “dry hopped Belgian style saison” and would appear to be the same brew as the earlier Ipswich iBelge. It can only be sampled in the brewery tap-room and Ipswich Ale Brewer’s Table restaurant.
The popularity of pilsner led to the brewery producing Ipswich Pilsner (4.6% ABV) in early 2016. This is an “American pilsner”. This type of beer, derived from the traditional European pilsner, was developed in the late 19th century to provide a lighter lager better suited to the hotter summers in America. Different combinations of corn and rice were added to the malt and a recognisable American ‘standard’ emerged. In September 2016 Ipswich Radler (2.7% ABV) appeared. The name is German for ‘cyclist’ and this type of brew originated in Bavaria. It is a shandy made from a blend of Ipswich (American) Pilsner and in-house lemonade.
As mentioned above, by the early 20th century, US brewers had adopted corn and rice as suitable adjuncts to traditional barley malt. Corn and rice could smooth out the flavour and reduce the haze without adding body; it also enabled beers to be produced more cheaply. This resulted in a distinctive American type of lager that was not full of additives as found in many of today’s mainstream factory-made lagers. Prohibition (1920 to 1933) resulted in the loss of these distinctive lagers. In the late 20th century, a move began among home-brewers to attempt to reproduce lagers that they considered to have greater character and a more distinct flavour as in “Pre-Prohibition” days. It was not long before the craft breweries followed suit and named their products accordingly. Hence, in October 2005 there appeared the Mercury Pre-Prohibition Lager (6.3% ABV) described as an “Imperial Pils” or “Strong Pale Lager”. In 2015 this type of brew was recognised as an “Historic Beer and a Pre-Prohibition Lager”. Ipswich Ale thus revived the earlier brew as Ipswich Ale Pre-Prohibition Commemorative Lager (see image, right).
In July 2016 a new regular brew named Ipswich Cream Ale was released. It is described as being “slightly maltier than a pilsner”.
Ipswich Zumatra Stout (22 oz bottle), the brewery’s first “coffee beer” was released in November 2016. A hint of coffee is common for stouts and porters, particularly those produced by dark malts. However, “coffee stouts” or “coffee beers” are brewed with actual coffee. The first commercial brew was produced in 1994, but it was not until after 2010 that this type of beer gained in popularity. It is now essential for American breweries to have at least one “coffee beer” in its product range. Ipswich Ale teamed up with a notable Ipswich coffeehouse, Zumi’s Expresso, to create this blend of the classic Oatmeal Stout with a rich, earthy cold brew made from Sumatran coffee beans. The name indicates its origins and “hints of dark chocolate, coffee and roasty goodness”. The label (left) reflects Nepal, the homeland of Zumi, with its prayer flags stretching from rock pinnacles against a background of the Himalayas.
In December 2016 a limited edition Double IPA (DIPA) was released named Melon Collie (7.5% ABV). It is dry-hopped with melon, lemon drop, and Mandarina Bavarian hops which result in a fruity aroma and melon-like taste.
In February 2017, Ipswich Jax Stout (9.1% ABV), an English-style Imperial Stout Aged on Oak Chips, had a very limited release. Oak was commonly used to barrel beer and this gave the brew a distinct flavour. Oak chips, held like wood shavings in a bag, try to emulate this flavour. The small chips have a large surface area which delivers the oak flavour to the beer quickly. This seems to have been a promotional brew done in liaison with Jax Games, the board game manufacturer, since the advertisement for the day of release states that “Jax games will be available to play; nothing brings a family together like a great board game”.
In April 2017 a new all year round brew came out, Ipswich Trailblazer (4.5% ABV), an amber hued American pale ale, well balanced with a touch of Mandarina and Lemon Drop dry hops.
In July 2017 Ipswich Bramble-On Kettle Sour Ale (5% ABV) was released in limited quantities in kegs as well as four packs of 16 ounce cans. It is made with blackberry puree and is kettle soured with a special lactobacillus yeast blend; it is described as a fusion of fruity, sweet, and tart. The name is a pun on the source of the blackberries (brambles) and “ramble-on” in the sense of to talk or walk in a leisurely, but aimless manner.
It seems that Ipswich Ale has begun a themed line of beers centred on the historic events a round the town of Ipswich and New England. Ipswich 1620 (6.3% ABV) came out in August 2017 as an all-year round brew. It is described as “Hazy with a rainbow of hop aromas and flavours, this New England IPA features Mosaic, Citra, Amarillo, and Idaho 7 hops, with a full body that is sure to please”. We can only speculate that the skeleton of the Pilgrim Father can endorse this beer on the basis that he needs “a new body”. The name of the beer, of course, refers to the year when the Pilgrim Fathers arrived in America.
‘New England IPA’ was originally considered a variety of an American IPA, but since 2015 has become a recognised style in its own right. The New England IPA can be traced back to the release of a Vermont beer called “Heady Hopper” in 2011 that soon had a cult following. The original IPA was a brew developed in Britain that was heavily-hopped and had a higher ABV to survive the six month voyage to India. Over time there was less need to continue this process as journey times improved, and the English IPA became a weaker version of its original. The Americans then introduced complex flavours using American hops to develop their own IPA with higher ABVs. The New England IPA is basically an American IPA that is characterised by juicy, tropical, citrus, and floral flavours, and has a less piney hop taste than typical IPAs. They are heavily dry hopped using high-protein grains that gives this New England IPA a hazy appearance that ranges from slightly cloudy to opaque or muddy. They have less perceived bitterness than other popular American IPAs.
In January 20 18 a new barley wine was released, Ipswich Hellbound (11.8% ABV), with another historic theme . The promotional blurb and graphical depiction on the can says it all: “In the midst of the uneasy peace in 1740, a religious revival swept across New England, it was known as the Great Awakening. Legend says that preacher George Whitfield’s powerful sermon filled the congregation of Ipswich’s First Church with a horrible sense of their sin. The devil, lurking among the pews, was so pained by the preacher’s words he charged up the steeple stairs and leapt to the Town Green below. A footprint left by the prince of darkness can still be found burned into the rocky ledge to this day… Our take on an American barley wine goes down smooth, but packs a devilishly bold punch. It’s slightly sweet with lingering hints of raisins and caramel.”
Launched in January 2018 as their seasonal winter beer, Ipswich Knit Wit (4.8% ABV) was a wheat beer described as “dry-hopped blood orange wit”, a deplorable pun for “wheat” beer on a knitted orange background.Also released in January 2018 was Ipswich Sauvin Blanc (5.0%) described as “Our dreamy new kettle sour ale, drinks like a tart New Zealand white wine with notes of peach and pear from the Nelson Sauvin and Hallertau Blanc dry hops”.
In April 2018 a new year-round German Pilsner was released called Ipswich Pesky Pils (4.6% ABV). German malt with traditional Czech Saaz hops have a touch of lemondrop hops added to give a clean, golden yellow lager. It is described as having a light to medium body, with a sweet toasted biscuit and corn bread taste that has a mild, bitter end.
There is a Pink Boots Society for female brewers, founded in 2007 by Teri Fahrendorf and inspired by the footwear she was wearing at that time. Since its inception, the organisation has flourished with chapters all over the country and overseas. Arguably its largest campaign is its annual “Pink Boots Collaboration Brew Day®” which celebrates International Women’s Day which is on 8 March each year. Chapters and members of the Pink Boots Society get together along with supporting breweries, put on their pink boots and brew their chosen beer style. Proceeds from sales of this collaboration brew are applied to educational scholarships and the raising of women’s roles in the beer industry.
In 2018 the Ipswich Pink Boots Brew (6.3% ABV) was released. This New England style IPA featured the Pink Boots Society hop blend chosen for 2018: Palisade, Simcoe, Mosaic, Citra and Loral.
In 2019 the Ipswich Route 101 West Coast Style IPA with Hibiscus (6% ABV) had this honour. Naturally, pink is the prominent colour in these two labels.
Ipswich Norm’s IPA (6.3% ABV) - a full-bodied New England IPA and Ipswich Norm’s Pilsner (no ABV) are two beers brewed by Ipswich Ale especially for the Cheers Bar, Beacon Hill neighbourhood, in Boston, and can only be drunk at that location. They have been available from June and August 2018 respectively. Originally founded in 1969 as the Bull and Finch pub, it is best remembered internationally as the exterior of the bar seen in the hit NBC show Cheers, which ran from 1982 to 1993 and remains one of America’s best loved situation comedies of all time. In 2002, the Bull and Finch pub was officially renamed “Cheers Beacon Hill”.
“Norm” Peterson was a fictional character in Cheers. The character was portrayed by George Wendt. Norm was one of only three characters to appear in every episode of Cheers. Norm is the most loyal customer Cheers has had since anyone can remember and always sits on the same stool at the bar every day. Norm’s entrance into the bar and the enormous size of his tab at Cheers are running gags. His mannerisms and sayings have entered folklore, hence the use of his name as a promotional aid.
In August 2018 there were two more releases. An Ipswich Rustic Farmhouse (4.8% ABV) had the same image as the 2017 Ipswich Farm House (see above) but in a brown colouring instead of blue, presumably because brown is more readily associated with farming and the soil.
The second release was Ipswich Passion Pils (4.4% ABV). A pilsner described as loaded with passion fruit puree, this hazy unfiltered pilsner starts with a malty, tart wallop followed by a clean, crisp finish.
Ipswich Doubletake IPA (7.5% ABV), released in September 2018 is a Double India Pale Ale “with a rich palate of pineapple & mango”. That’s what the label says (see below right).
Also released in September 2018 was the latest kettle sour ale: Ipswich Bohemian Raspberry (5% ABV). This is described as “a delightfully tart kettle soured ale fermented atop puréed raspberries. Ipswich Bohemian Raspberry is a killer beer, a new brew elevated to rock star status. Be a champion of the world and drink a crazy little beer called Bohemian Raspberry.” The iconic image of the back of Freddie Mercury working the audience should be enough to make this a collector’s item!
Two seasonal ales followed in November 2018.
Ipswich Spruce (6.1% ABV) is an IPA brew of hops and spruce tips, the latter providing “a hint of fruity sweetness and mint”.
Ipswich Sled Dog (5.2% ABV) is a Winter Ale with a “balance of bready malt and English-style hop bitterness”. The latter is a limited release that can only be sampled in the brewery tap-room.
In January 2019 another winter special became available. Ipswich Defrost (7.7% ABV) is a Weizenbock style ale. Weizenbocks are essentially winter wheat beers, originally brewed in Bavaria. The colour can be pale gold to brown. They are of a higher alcoholic strength which provides a warming personality, though they should still have a significant head when poured. “Defrost” is described as “iconic German yeast flavours of clove and banana against a rich, complex malt base with notes of chocolate and dark fruit”.
In February 2019 a special edition of a Vienna-style lager was swiftly on sale called Ipswich Brady’s Revenge! (4.7% ABV). Below the image of Tom Brady holding up the Lombardi Trophy were the words “The sweet taste of victory”. The lager was just described as “Light, golden, and crisp with just a hint of malty sweetness. Victory never tasted so good.”
Americans need no e xplanation for this image and these words, but the rest of the world will want to know what it is all about.
Tom Brady is an American football quarterback who spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots, the professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. Brady is widely considered to be the greatest quarterback of all time. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is the trophy awarded each year to the winning team of the National Football League’s championship game, the Super Bowl. The trophy is named in honour of NFL coach Vince Lombardi (1913-1970) who coached the Green Bay Packers to victories in the first two Super Bowl games and five NFL Championships in seven years.
In the 2018 season the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams in the Super Bowl championship on 3 February 2019. With this victory, the Patriots became the second NFL team to win six Super Bowls, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most in NFL history. In addition, Brady became the oldest quarterback at 41 years of age to win a Super Bowl, as well as the first player ever to win six Super Bowls (he subsequently won a seventh). His “revenge” was that in the previous 2017 season he had been on the losing side in the Super Bowl.
Ipswich Ch-Ch-Ch Cherry Bomb (5.0% ABV) was launched in March 2019. It is a tart kettle sour ale fermented on top of 250 lbs of sweet dark cherry puree. Some reports say it is a “fruit punch in beer form” and it “smells greatly of cherry but more of straight sour than cherry flavor”.
The second 1620 Pilgrimage Series (see Ipswich 1620, above) released in June 2019 is named Ipswich Southern Cross (6.3% ABV) and introduces New Zealand hop variants, including Crosby Hop Farm’s New Zealand Kiwi Blend, to the 1620 New England Style IPA as the base beer. The New Zealand hops are said “to bring a piney, citrusy brightness to this brew”. The Southern Cross constellation in the southern hemisphere was used for navigation by the early explorers of the South Pacific. We are not sure whether the explorers should be considered “pilgrims”, but nonetheless accept that they are in need of some body from this brew.
Ipswich Night Watch Black IPA (6.3% ABV) released in November 2019 is the third release in the 1620 Pilgrimage Series that celebrates longer nights and cooler days (see Ipswich 1620 and Ipswich Southern Cross above). It is described as a “Cascadian Dark Ale (CDA)”. With the revival and world-wide popularity of the India Pale Ale style, it only seemed a matter of time before a dark version of the same style would emerge. This happened in the late 2000s with a brew that had roasted malt with coffee or chocolate overtones and citrusy hop flavours, often from Cascade hops. In January 2010, a group of Pacific North West brewers coined this CDA term where the brew uses the hops that come from the area known as Cascadia, i.e. Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Idaho.
It is said to have a fresh, piney hop aroma with a bitter, roasty coffee flavour that pours a smooth, inky black hue that is as “dark as the northwoods night sky”. The image (right) continues the skeletal theme of the 1620 series and is supposed to be “a dreamer who can only find his way by moonlight”.
Ipswich Ale 1920 Dry Hopped Lager (4.6% ABV) was released in August 2020 to coincide with the 1ooth anniversary of women getting the right to vote after the 19th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified on 18 August 1920.
Ipswich Celia Saison (ABV 6.5%) has a somewhat different derivation. It is a gluten-free saison ale that was first introduced in July 2009 by The Alchemist, a microbrewery in Waterbury, Vermont. It was specifically aimed at those drinkers who suffer from Celiac disease, hence its chosen brand name. (In British English it is spelt as Coeliac disease.) Celiac disease (or ‘gluten-sensitive enteropathy’) is an immune reaction to eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. If somebody has celiac disease, eating gluten triggers an immune response that can damage the small intestine and leads to anaemia and skin problems.
In August 2011 Hurricane Irene hit Vermont and The Alchemist brewery was devastated by floods and had to close down. The brewery sold its recipe and all rights to Ipswich Ale Brewery. Ipswich Ale continued the brand in its familiar bottle, using the same image of “Celia”, a reclining nude holding a bunch of grapes on top of oranges and grapes, all beside a large wine vase. This label was retained without the normal “Ipswich” prefix to preserve brand loyalty. However, as sufficient time elapsed, it began to be advertised as Ipswich Celia Saison from 2014. From 2017 a canned version of the brew has been introduced and this has the normal “Ipswich” format. Nevertheless, the bottled version still continues as it was when The Alchemist produced the beer (See images left and right).
This gluten-free saison-style ale is made with sorghum and brewed with orange peel. It has a thick, cloudy light orange colour and the consistency of a thick juice.
***Since 2020 Ipswich Ale has changed its distinctive style of labelling for its beers. Before 2020 the name ‘Ipswich’ was usually shown as part of the title for a particular brew and was therefore considered part of the name of the beer. Hence, it was always shown under the letter ‘I’ in beer lists. From 2020 Ipswich Ale has followed the practice of other breweries and now places its full name “Ipswich Ale Brewery” as a separate feature from the brand name on its labels. The difference can be seen in the image next to “Ipswich Ale 1920 Dry Hopped Lager” released in August 2020. Furthermore, recent beer lists have placed the products in their normal alphabetical order with the brewery name shown in a separate column. We are recognising this change by not including further beer releases of Ipswich Ale Brewery on this page, unless ‘Ipswich’ is obviously an integral part of the brand name.***
Also available since 1998 is Ipswich Ale Stone Ground Mustard, made with Ipswich Oatmeal Stout.We must not forget what is on offer in the Ipswich Ale Brewer’s Table restaurant: the Ipswich Ale Oatmeal Stout Ice Cream Float, described by one food critic as a “unique dessert that looks yummy”. A scoop of vanilla or chocolate ice cream in a big mug with the oatmeal stout beer poured over it.
(See also Ipswich Soda Pop, below)
Wine Spectator Magazine has named Ipswich Original Ale as one of the ‘World’s Ten Best Beers’
Unfortunately, Ipswich Ale is only available in the New England/North Eastern USA region. However, if anyone would like to send over some free samples........?!!
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On the other side of the Atlantic, in Ipswich, England, Dove Street Brewery produce a wide variety of ales, two of which have “Ipswich” in the name:
Old Ipswich Liquor is a 5.5% ABV ale with chocolate and liquorice notes & a well rounded finish.
Ipswich Pale Ale is described as a traditional strong IPA with an ABV of 6.6%
Also worthy of mention is their 4% ABV Incredible Taste Fantastic Clarity beer, the initials spelling out ITFC as a tribute to Ipswich Town Football Club. This ale is described as a golden hoppy beer which is clean, clear & crisp.
Established in 2011, as the name suggests, the Dove Street Brewery is situated on Dove Street (off St Helens Street close to the centre of Ipswich). Opposite is the Dove Street Inn, which is currently the only outlet for the brewery’s ales.
Also in Ipswi ch, England is the Briarbank Brewing Company, situated in a former bank premises in Fore Street, adjacent to the Isaacs-on-the-Quay complex on the Waterfront.
Amongst a wide variety of ales brewed here is their IPA, which in this case stands for Ipswich Pale Ale (3.6% ABV). It is described as a hoppy chestnut ale with a citrus aroma. This same brew also goes under the name of Briarbank SPA. SPA stands for Suffolk Pale Ale. (See Beers & Cyders Named ‘Suffolk’ section on www.planetsuffolk.com)
Other beers produced include Briar Bitter, Briar Lager, Cardin‘ale’ Wolsey, Old Spiteful & Suffolk Pride.They also produce Gippeswyk Cider at 6.0 ABV, which is a sweet cider produced from a blend of seven types of apples.
Another play on the IPA name and Ipswich was a brew produced by Bartrams Brewery. This was a micro-brewery started by Marc Bartram in 1999, located at Rougham Airfield, Bury St Edmunds. (For more information, see www.planetsuffolk.com, Misc. page - Beers & Cyders Named ‘Suffolk’.) The postcode (ZIP code) of the brewery was IP30, the initials standing for ‘Ipswich’. Kevin McHenry, a brewing colleague of Marc Bartram, came up with the idea that, since the postcode is IP30, why not brew an IPA with ingredients sourced from within a 30 mile radius? Thus, IP(30)A (6.8% ABV) was born. It was originally brewed as a ‘one-off’ for the inaugural Yaxley Beer Festival, Cambridgeshire, in 2014 with a sack of hops from the Glemham Hall estate, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. However, next year when some surpus barley from another estate nearby to the brewery became available, Marc went back to the Glemhall Hall estate for hops, and the rest as they say “is history”. Unfortunately, so is Bartrams Brewery as Marc Bartram decided that “the market for real ales is ‘saturated’” and closed his business in March 2018.
Ipswich Bright (3.8% ABV) and Ipswich Pride (3.7% ABV) were two real ale brews produced by St Jude’s Brewery in Ipswich, England. A third brew used the old name for Ipswich and was called Gypeswic Bitter (4.4% ABV) (see label, left). St Jude’s was a micro-brewery started in 2006 by Frank and Colleen Walsh from their home in Cardigan Street, Ipswich. It opened its first pub in Ipswich in February 2011 (St Jude’s Brewery Tavern on St Matthew’s Street), and another outlet was opened in Felixstowe in December 2011. Unfortunately the economic downturn hit micro-breweries hard and this venture was closed in May 2012 and these beers were retired. However, popular demand was such that the brewery and the St Jude’s Brewery Tavern re-opened in September 2012 and they are still going in 2018. Unfortunately, the beers named above were not revived.
Another Ipswich Pride (4.2% ABV) and Ipswich Special Bitter (original gravity 1042) were two brews produced by the celebrated Ipswich brewery Tolly Cobbold. The Tolly Cobbold brewery on Cliff Quay in Ipswich was taken over by Brent Walker, a property, gambling and brewing conglomerate in 1988. This organisation closed down the brewery in 1989, after 256 years of brewing at the site. However, a management buyout in 1990 saved the brewery and to celebrate its first anniversary and return to brewing as an independent regional brewer, it launched a cask beer, Ipswich Pride, for the Ipswich Beer Festival 1991, followed later by Ipswich Special Bitter. Unfortunately, this ‘second coming’ was not to last and the brewery finally closed in 2002.
On the other side of the world, in Ipswich, Queensland, the Four Hearts Brewing Company launched Ipswich Challenger in 2012, a light strength at 2.9% ABV, but full-bodied pale ale using the English hop variety Challenger and an English yeast.Founded by Wade Curtis in December 2008, the Four Hearts Brewing Company produce their ales in small batches with no preservatives or chemicals. The brewery was based at Peak Crossing, a rural community 12 miles south of Central Ipswich, which was part of Ipswich until 2008 (for details see City of Ipswich, Queensland - Land Lost to Other Jurisdictions section on The Ones That Got Away page).
In March 2015 Wade Curtis moved to Ipswich and opened a brewery and restaurant (the Pumpyard Bar & Brewery) at 88 Limestone Street. This is the first working brewery in Ipswich since 1903 when the Booval Brewery closed (1898-1903). The Pumpyard takes its name from the natural spring that was located on the site back in 1862, when residents of Ipswich were allowed to fill four buckets of water per day for free.
Townsville Ipswich Challenger has just appeared on the scene in early 2017. It is described as a pale lager (2.9% ABV) whereas the Four Hearts Ipswich Challenger above is definitely a pale ale. It is brewed by the Townsville Brewing Company in the city of that name in north-eastern Queensland. This release is too early to have much information about it, so we do not know if there is a direct link between the two brewing companies or whether this name is being used under a special licensing agreement. The Townsville Brewing Company has been brewing six regular beers plus various seasonal releases since opening in 2001. It occupies the old Townsville Post Office built in 1886 (on the Queensland Heritage Register from 2003). In 2001 it was redeveloped by the Townsville Brewing Company as a brewery, restaurant and function centre.
Bremer Brewing is a Brisbane company mainly into the production of home brewing kits. Unlike most ot her beer kits which only use hop extract, Bremer Brewing boils in fresh hops, resulting in a real hop bitterness, flavour and aroma that is found in the finest beers around the world. It also has on tap a selection of their brews that they have numbered in order. Since 2019 there has been number 2 Ipswich Australian Pale Ale (5.2% ABV), seen in photo, left.
An Ipswich Rail Trip (7.9%) by the Evil Dad’s Brewery is a Belgian strong golden ale recorded in January 2016. This home brewery is in Wellington, New Zealand, and is still producing beers in 2021. Other than this, we can tell you nothing more.
The Smiling Toad Brewery is a micro-brewery founded in 2015 at Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. In June 2017 it released a brew named Ipswich (6.4% ABV), an American pale ale.
Ipswitch Ale (6.9% ABV) is an English IPA brewed by Smooth Sail Ales, a home brewery in the USA. It seems that only one brew was ever made in 2016 as the brewer states “Last of these, a few changes next time I make it”. The location is probably in New Hampshire since the venues where the beers of this brewery are drunk are all in that state. If so, it is presumed that New Ipswich was in mind. We have not seen a label so cannot say whether the name was really spelt with a ‘t’; it seems that not much else was right about this one, so best forgotten.
The next three are recorded on lists of beer names, but we have been unable to corroborate the brew or the breweries concerned.
Duke of Ipswich Porter (5% ABV) by Fowler’s Fine Ales. An English porter released in June 2015. This is said to be by an American home brewery, but we have been unable to identify it or its whereabouts. Since most of the beers produced by this home brewery are consumed at Duke’s Pub & Grill which is at Tyngsborough, Massachusetts, we assume that this brewery must be in that state. Ipswich and Tyngsborough are only 30 miles apart, and it could be that the name of the beer is related to the name of the pub and the nearby town of Ipswich.
Ipswitch ESB (4.6% ABV), an Extra Strong Bitter released in July 2017 by Old Colonel’s Brewery. Another American home brewery for which we have no clues. The name is spelt with a ‘t’ in all the beer lists.
Ipswitch IPA (6.1% ABC) brewed by Marcs Home Brew Hop Factory of Happiness. Four beers are credited to this American home brewery in January 2014. The place name has a ‘t’ in it. This may be deliberate to distinguish this IPA from the other American IPA brewed by Ipswich Ales. Despite the evocative name of this home brewery, we have been unable to pinpoint its location.
Another Ipswich IPA (5.25% ABV) is recorded by drinkers at the Whale’s Tail Brewery from 2013 to 2018. We cannot envisage why this name has been given to a home brew by this small craft brewery considering it is in Uvita, Costa Rica, and was established by an Italian and his business partner who was of Hungarian-German parentage. Gian Michele Pace came from the mountains of Abruzzo in Italy. His passions are craft beer and Blues music. He had been running his own brewery in Italy for years, then he discovered Uvita’s beautiful environment on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. He decided to stay and put his experience and passion for handcrafted beer into action. He met up with Peter Marschall (who unfortunately died in 2020). Peter was a movie producer from Budapest who considered that the jungle and the quality of its water would make excellent constituents in the brewing process. Together both men founded the Whale Tail Brewery in 2017, bringing European beer styles to this part of the world.
We should mention that this brewery has nothing to do with the Whale’s Tale beers (note the different spelling of the second word) of Cisco Brewers on Nantucket Island whose Whale’s Tale Pale Ale is their flagship English style pale ale.
IP1 (Ipswich Pilsner One) (4.2% ABV) is an imported Belgian pilsner and the house beer for the Arcade Street Tavern in Ipswich, England since August 2015. It is a brew of the Brewery Huyghe in the town of Melle in Belgium. The site of the brewery has been in operation since 1654. In 1906 Léon Huyghe purchased the existing brewery. In 1925 he was joined by his son Albert and son-in-law Louis Droesbeque and the brewery was officially re-named. While the company initially brewed a regular pilsner, it soon began brewing the kinds of beers now typically known as “Belgian”, including a series of beers under the ‘Delirium’ tag, with pink elephants on the label. Its flagship beer is Delirium Tremens, a golden Belgian ale, 8.5% ABV, named as “Best Beer in the World” in 2008 at the World Beer Championships in Chicago.
Ипсвическая сила (Ipswich Power or Ipswich Strength) (5.7% ABV) was brewed between 2016 and 2018 by 4Brewers, a Russian micro-brewery in Vladimir. For those of you who like to see the name transliterated in the Latin alphabet it is “Ipsvicheskaya sila”. It is classified as an ESB (Extra Strong Bitter) and is described as “formally British, in fact half-Belgian, half-Russian”. Those who know better state that it is “not an ESB, rather an English style IPA”. Those who tasted it likened it to cold tea. This beer is no longer produced by the brewery.
For those who want to go there, Vladimir is one of Russia’s oldest cities on the main trans Siberian railway, so you had better get off whilst the going is good. The 4Brewers is also a pocket-sized pub offering 20 beers on tap and over a dozen more in bottles either from its own vats or from other Russian micro-breweries. It goes without saying that nobody knows why they decided that Ipswich was a good name for something that tasted like ‘cold tea’.
It all started in 2010 when four young men stumbled on a homebrewing forum and decided to brew their own beer. They followed a recipe and found that what they had produced was strikingly different from everything else that anybody had tasted before. So they generously added malt, hops and whatever was around, and a hobby became a business. Since they had nowhere to hang out, they opened a pub as a joke in 2014. Two years later they had made enough money to launch a fully-fledged micro-brewery. Now, they not only develop their own products but also brew on contract for other keen enthusiasts.
Homebrew Recipes
In addition to the beers and ciders that are produced for sale to the public or sold as home brewing kits, there is a web-based community known as the “Brewers Friend” where brewers can share, critique and discuss recipes. The senders of the recipe can remain anonymous or use a pseudonym. The team behind this website is a group of highly dedicated and experienced brewers and technologists who disseminate the detailed information of how to make their own individual brews, each of which is given a specific name. Those with “Ipswich” in the name are given below.
Ipswich Oatmeal Stout (6.4% ABV). The recipe was posted by an anonymous brewer in May 2017. Other than that it is a typical strong stout made from American hops, nothing more is known about this beer.
New Ipswich Old Ale (5.8% ABV). An American Brown Ale, the recipe for which was posted in July 2020 by Kellycomma Chris who hails from Ipswich, Queensland.
West of Ipswich II (6.5% ABV). An American IPA, the recipe for which was posted in July 2022 by Jonathan Pettit from North Looe, Surrey, England.
Ipswich Soda Pop
Mercury Brewing Company, the parent company of Ipswich Ale Brewing (See Beers Named ‘Ipswich’, above), first introduced soda in 2000 under the name “Mercury Soda Pop”. In 2015 the soda was renamed “Ipswich Soda Pop” because the Ipswich name has better brand recognition. As for the soda, Ipswich has, at present, ten flavours with plans for more. All Ipswich Soda is caffeine-free, gluten-free, and made with pure cane sugar. Root beer and orange cream are the top-sellers. It ought to be pointed out that these are all strictly non-alcoholic drinks. The name “root beer” only came into use in 1876 as a marketing tool to sell the product to Pennsylvania coal miners. Before that year this medicinal and nutritional drink made from various roots was known as “root tea”. Most root beer has a thick foamy head when poured, so it gave the appearance of a good brew.
As with Ipswich Ale above, there is an Ipswich Soda Pop Ice Cream Float comprising vanilla ice cream in a big mug with your choice of one of the sodas.
Old Ipswich Rum
“In Colonial days, New Englanders discovered the joys of barrel-aged rums almost by mistake, since those rums that spent time in American oak barrels took on a whole new character.” says Mathew Perry, President of Turkey Shore Distilleries LLC. This company was formed in 2010 in Ipswich, Massachusetts, by two childhood friends, Mat Perry and Evan Parker. The idea of starting a distillery first came to Mat in 2007. As a history teacher and avid rum drinker, further research revealed a distillery had operated in Ipswich during the colonial days. Moreover, that distillery owned by John Heard, which operated from 1770-1836, was located on the street that both Mat and Evan grew up on (Turkey Shore Road). Furthermore, the manager of the distillery, Nathaniel Heard (John’s brother) lived in Mat’s house. Upon this discovery of a personal connection, the lost tradition of New England rum production made the friends think of a possible revival. Turkey Shore Distilleries was thus reborn in 2010, located once again on the banks of the Ipswich River.
Using table-grade sweet molasses from the sugarcane fields of Louisiana and a custom-built 250-gallon copper pot still, built in Kentucky, the Turkey Shore Distilleries obtains an authentic flavour for its liquor through handcrafting in small batches and ageing in oak barrels.
Currently, the Old Ipswich Rum line consists of five rums: one white, two aged and two spiced. The flagship brand is Old Ipswich Tavern Style Rum, followed by Old Ipswich White Cap Rum, Old Ipswich Greenhead Spiced Rum, Old Ipswich Golden Marsh Spiced Rum and Old Ipswich Lab & Cask Reserve.
Their names have been chosen in relation to the distillery’s location. The “Tavern Style” deliberately set out to replicate the old New England-style dark rum found in their taverns. These local rums were drier than the Caribbean imports and closer to whiskey in style, especially after barrel aging. The “White Cap” is a white rum that is said to evoke the white tops of the turbulent sea adjoining the town of Ipswich. “Greenhead” is named after the greenhead horse fly, commonly found in the Ipswich coastal marshes at the beginning of summer, and the rum has a ‘bite’ reminiscent of this biting fly. Turkey Shore’s other seasonal spiced rum is named for the local tidal marshes in Fall once they have turned from green to gold. The last of the five is named after the distillery’s logo: a rum cask and the owners’ Black Labrador Retrievers (see left). This special release is not available on shelves but only by the barrel. Individuals, bars and restaurants can select a single barrel that yields the equivalent of about 30 bottles that can be supplied with the barrel.
In February 2012 Turkey Shore Distilleries introduced the Old Ipswich Rum Patriot Cocktail for cheering on the New England Patriots at the Super Bowl game. Super Bowl XLVI (46) was the American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New York Giants and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions New England Patriots to decide the National Football League (NFL) championship for the 2011 season. The game was played on 5 February 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Giants defeated the Patriots by the score of 21–17. Nevertheless, the cocktail may have eased the pain. The cocktail comprised:
1/2 oz. grenadine drizzled down the inside of the glass to the bottom
1-1/2 oz. Old Ipswich White Cap Rum
Fill the glass almost to the top with ginger ale
1/4 oz. of blue curacao floated over the top
Finish with 1/2 oz. of Peachtree schnapps
Garnish with a lime.
It has red, white and blue layers. The team colours of the Patriots are navy blue, red and silver/white. Stir cocktail prior to drinking to mix flavours.
Turkey Shore Distilleries, located at 23 Hayward St, Ipswich, is open from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. for tours and tastings.
Monopoly - Ipswich Edition
In 2006, an Ipswich (England) edition of the famous property trading board game Monopoly hit the shops. Instead of the traditional (in Britain) Mayfair, Trafalgar Square, Old Kent Road & Liverpool Street Station etc, the Ipswich edition boasts such locations as Christchurch Mansion, Wolsey Theatre, Sir Bobby Robson Statue, The Waterfront & University Campus Suffolk.
Named after the economic concept of the domination of a market by a single entity, Monopoly first came out in 1934, after inventor Charles Darrow (1889 – 1967) started selling his board game at stores in his hometown of Philadelphia, USA . Soon the game was being made & distributed by Parker Brothers. The game was brought over to Britain in the following year, where a London version was produced & marketed by John Waddington Ltd. The game is now produced by Hasbro.
Nowadays there are numerous editions of the game available throughout the world, representing cities, towns, counties, states, sports teams & various other things such as Bible Monopoly, Beatles Monopoly, Lord of the Rings Monopoly etc. In Britain, almost every town & city of any size has its own version of the game, as do many football clubs.
Scrabble Ipswich
Scrabble Ipswich is a board game first published by Selchow & Righter in 1983. Not to be confused with the more famous game of Scrabble, Scrabble Ipswich is a word game for two to four players. Each set consists of 153 lettered tiles, 4 boards & score sheets. Each player has their own board, on which is marked a crossword grid (see photo, left). After drawing fourteen letters, the players have ten minutes to make up interconnecting words on their boards, taking advantage of letter usage bonus points. For the first minute there is the option of discarding tiles for new ones, although this incurs a penalty for each tile changed. After the ten minutes have elapsed, scores are recorded & players retain any four letters of their choice, whilst passing their board & the remaining tiles on to the player to their left. Each player then draws two more tiles & the process resumes; thus in each round the number of letters per player increases by two. This is repeated for a total of five rounds.
It is unclear exactly why the name Scrabble Ipswich was chosen for this game, although as the box states “The Crossword Game with a Real Switch”, part of the reason may be a play on the word “switch”. If anyone can shed any further light on this, please email info@planetipswich.com with details.
Ipswich Fives Darts Board (aka Wide Fives Dart Board)
There are two Fives Darts Boards, the Ipswich and the East London. The Ipswich is the classic Fives dart board. This version has the standard width doubles and trebles, as found on a normal regular (clock) darts board. It is also called the Wide Fives Darts Board. This distinguishes it from its cousin from the East of London which has narrower double and treble scoring segments. The boards are also called ‘Narrow Fives’ and ‘Wide Fives’. The boards differ from the regular board by having twelve segments made up in sequences of 5,10, 15 and 20, plus an inner (50) and outer bullseye (25). The game is usually played down from 505 instead of 501, although games starting at 705 or 305 are also sometimes played.
It seems obvious that this was named the Ipswich Fives Board because this particular darts board and game was peculiar to Ipswich and the surrounding area in Suffolk. This could possibly be the same as the otherwise unknown Suffolk Darts Board (see www.planetsuffolk.com)
If anyone has any information, please send to info@planetipswich.com
Ipswich & Double Ipswich - Sailcloth
During the late sixteenth century, a sail making industry flourished in Ipswich; dying out during the late seventeenth century. At this time two types of sailcloth are known to have been exported bearing the names “Ipswich” & “Double Ipswich” (there was also a type called “Suffolk”). Whether any of these is synonymous with the “Mildernex” sailcloth known to have been made in Ipswich from Suffolk hemp around this period is unknown, as today no records survive to tell us what features or qualities made these different from the many other types of sail being produced at the time.
One of the first sailcloth makers in Ipswich was John Collins who, in 1574, was granted a licence by the Crown to supply the Navy. Until this time, much of the sailcloth used in England had been imported from France.
The Ipswich Window
Based on the seventeenth century windows of the Ancient House in Ipswich, England, the Ipswich Window became fashionable with Victorian architects & was used in other buildings around the town; eventually spreading to other towns & cities around Britain. The Ipswich Window is an upper-storey, bow-fronted oriel or bay window which sits on supporting blocks known as corbels.
“Ipswich” Range of Agricultural Machinery
From the 1870s onwards, the agricultural engineering firm of Ransomes, Sims & Jefferies in Ipswich, England, began to manufacture a range of agricultural machinery bearing the name “Ipswich” at their Orwell Works on the docks. (See also Ransomes section on the Ipswich, England page). One such machine, made from 1890, was known as the Ipswich Potato Planter, which was capable of planting on previously ridged soil (see left).
There was also the Ipswich Potato Digger whose task is self-evident in the name (see below).
An illustration dating from 1892 shows the horse drawn, double-action Ipswich Haymaker, also made by Ransome Sims and Jefferies. At the same time in 1892 a similar model was exhibited at agricultural shows and reported in ‘The Engineer’ magazine on 24 June 1892 as the improved Ipswich Hay Kicker (see pictures, right). Ransome, Sims and Jefferies manufactured these farming implements from 1883 to 1916.
Haymaking used to be very labour-intensive. After the grass had been cut it had to be dried; when it was partly dried it had to be turned over to dry the other side. This used to be done with a hand rake by labourers advancing across the field, turning the hay by regular strokes. This part of the work was the “haymaking”. The first mechanised ‘haymaker’ was designed in 1814 and this was gradually developed and improved by manufacturers throughout the century. The machines were known va riously by that name, or ‘tedders’ or ‘kickers’, the latter referring to the hay being ‘kicked over’.
Each manufacturer patented their own machine which would have slight differences from other models in their mode of operation, in each case claimed to be “an improvement”. The Ipswich Hay Kicker was advertised as being very suitable for uneven ground because its fork tines were mounted so as to be capable of springing either way.
An Ipswich Solid Axle Rake made by Ransome Sims and Jefferies with the number BBL9 is preserved in perfect working order by Don Hobbs, who runs a Working Historic Farm in the Mudgee District of central New South Wales (photograph by courtesy of Don, left). This is a stubble rake, a horse-drawn agricultural implement with long teeth (or tines) for gathering (raking) stubble together in order to smooth the surface of the ground. Stubble is the short stalks of hay or corn left sticking up from the ground after the harvest.
The Ipswich Steel Cultivator is recorded from 1897 (see right). This is the farm implement for stirring and pulverising the soil before planting or to remove weeds and to aerate and loosen the soil after the crop has begun to grow. The cultivator is sometimes called a mini tiller or a tiller/cultivator, although its primary purpose is to prepare the soil for the plants that will grow there.
Ipswich - Glass Pattern by A.H. Heisey & Company
Between 1931 & 1946, A. H. Heisey & Company of Newark, Ohio produced a pattern of glassware known as ‘Ipswich’.
Founded in 1895 by Augustus H. Heisey, the firm began trading in the following year. In the early days the company produced colourless pressed glass tableware, although by the 1920s they were experimenting with many different exotic colours such as Moongleam (green), Sahara (yellow), Alexandrite (cobalt), Flamingo (pink) & Dawn (purple). From the 1930s onwards, Heisey’s produced dozens of different designs including Charter Oak, Chintz, Orchid, Plantation, Kalonyal, Ridgeleigh & Yeoman, as well as Ipswich.
Heisey’s pieces can normally be recognized by their distinctive logo, an H inside a diamond, although some genuine pieces are known to exist without this mark. From the 1940s, the company also began producing glass art & were especially noted for their glass animal figurines in a variety of colours.
In 1922 the company acquired some patterns from Boston & Sandwich Glass Company of Massachusetts. One of these patterns, which had been known as the ‘Comet’, was the inspiration for Heisey’s design that was at first produced as ‘Early American Sandwich’ but soon underwent a change of name to ‘Ipswich’. The design is a swirling wave effect around a circle (see photos, above & right). Pieces produced include various styles of vases, bowls, goblets, jugs, tumblers, plates, candy jars & urns, both in clear glass & a range of colours. The pieces can have either a round or a square base. Apart from the fact that the design had its origins in Massachusetts, no other information is available at present as to why the name ‘Ipswich’ was chosen for this pattern.
A. H. Heisey & Co. closed down in 1957, but The Imperial Glass Corporation of Bellaire, Ohio bought the existing molds from Heisey in the following year & continued to use a small number of these for several years. Imperial Glass went out of business in 1984. Since 1974, the Heisey Collectors of America, Inc. have operated the National Heisey Glass Museum in Newark. Heisey glassware is now highly collectible, especially in the USA.
Ipswich - China Pattern by J & G Meakin Ltd
Around the year 1912, J & G Meakin Ltd began producing china tableware with a pattern called ‘Ipswich’. This had blue & white arches & medallions around the rim, with the rest of the item being plain white (see photos).
J & G Meakin was founded in 1851 when James and George Meakin succeeded their father in his pottery business based in Hanley, Staffordshire; one of the six major towns that joined together to form the city of Stoke-on-Trent in 1910. Based at Eagle Pottery, close to the Caldon canal, they became the largest pottery manufacturers in Britain during the late nineteenth century. During that period they became renowned for their white granite (undecorated ironstone) products, which were in imitation of contemporary French porcelain. Up until 1945 they were predominantly involved in producing inexpensive tableware, particularly for the American market.
It seems that the two brothers were quick to realise the potential of the American market, and George Meakin went to Boston in the 1850s and established their marketing centre in that city. Living in Boston he would have been aware of the “cultural and artistic” significance of Ipswich, Massachusetts in late 19th century America. Since the company’s main pitch was towards the American market rather than the domestic British market, it made commercial sense to go with an American theme, and this is probably why the name Ipswich was chosen for this particular design.
During the twentieth century the firm became known for the “Sol” wares, which were produced between 1912 and 1963. The company was taken over by the Wedgwood Group in 1970, although production under the Meakin name continued until 2000, at which time the Eagle Pottery was used for the production of Johnson Bros pottery; a firm with which J & G Meakin had long standing affiliations. The Eagle Pottery finally shut in 2004 & was demolished the following year.
Ipswich Pine – Wood Stain
Two companies in the USA advertise a wood stain colour named ‘Ipswich Pine’:
Rust-Oleum Corp. of Vernon Hills, Illinois have a product in their Varathane range described as a Premium Gel Stain (see photo, left).
Minwax of New York also have a wood finish called ‘Ipswich Pine’ (catalogue no. 221), which is described as “an oil-based wood stain that provides long-lasting wood tone color”, & is recommended for use on furniture, woodwork, doors, floors, cabinets & accessories.
No definite details are currently available as to why the name Ipswich has been chosen, although Gordon Harris, on his ipswich.wordpress.com blog has the following theory concerning the origins of the name:
“Most of the pine trees in colonial America (Northeast U.S.) are Eastern white pine (Pinus Strobus), a quick-growing and easily workable lumber that was used in much early construction, along with American Chestnut. Freshly cut white pine is creamy white but aged lumber can acquire a golden or reddish tone and is sometimes called “pumpkin pine.”Other genus of pine are rare in the Northeast, but Pitch pine (Pinus Rigida) dominates the pine barrens found in southeastern Massachusetts and New Jersey. Castle Neck in Ipswich MA has one of the largest stands of pitch pine on the Massachusetts North Shore. The coarse knotty wood of these trees contains a large amount of resin (pine tar) that was used for pitch. The wood was used primarily for ship building and railroad ties because the high resin content preserves it from decay.”
Ipswich Fog - Evangeline Ghastly Doll
Now this is a strange one. E vangeline Ghastly is a collectable gothic doll inspired by Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride, The Addams Family, & even, apparently, Barbra Streisand. The dolls, together with a large selection of outfits & accessories are marketed by Wilde Imagination Inc., who are based in Mullica Hill, New Jersey, USA. Her creator is Joe Petrollese & the dolls are sculpted by renowned fashion doll artist and designer Robert Tonner. But the really strange thing about Evangeline Ghastly is that the tale woven by her American creators around her has it that she was born & lives in Ipswich, England. The story is that she was born on 24th April 1924 in the attic of the ancestral home of the Ghastly family; the fictional Barkley Manor, located near the cemetery, where she still lives, alone, to this day. Evangeline is a mortician’s assistant at Mort’s Mortuary. She collects rocks & has a pet skunk named Mouette, a bat named Bella & a cat called Valentine.
The original Evangeline Ghastly doll is 19 inches tall, ball jointed & made from luminescent pale resin, individually hand-poured, strung, and hand painted. Later versions are also now manufactured from high quality vinyl.
There are many different outfits available for Evangeline Ghastly, with names such as Cemetery Stroll Skirt, Shrouded in Darkness Blouse & the Graveside Picnic Outfit. Accessories include Raining Bats & Skunks (umbrella), Rest in Peace Carry-all, & a host of wigs, shoes & boots. Also available her models of her pets Mouette, Bella & Valentine. Many of the pieces, & the outfits, are limited editions only. The dolls & all the accessories can be purchased from Wilde Imagination’s website, where visitors can also read about Evangeline’s ‘life’, see her family tree & view her diary entries.
One of the vinyl versions of Evangeline on the market is a 17 inch tall doll named Ipswich Fog (see picture, above). A limited edition of only 350, Ipswich Fog’s outfit consists of layers of deep grey chiffon, matching lamé underlay, and a delicate lace overlay, together with a matching high-collared cape, stockings, matching shoes, and designer jewellery. She also comes with a changeable red wig.
One of the accessories also available for the resin dolls, are a pair of boots called the Ipswich Lace-ups (see picture, right).
So why was Ipswich chosen as the location for Evangeline's hometown? Creator Joe Petrollese explained to the Ipswich Evening Star newspaper on 14th August 2007:
“I thought that the small towns depicted in English murder mystery shows seemed to have a lot of history as well as mystery and might be an interesting place to set her story.“I then went online and did a little research and came up with Ipswich. I read that it was one of the oldest places in England and that made it seem even more interesting. I pictured it with large manor houses and that the town could possibly be haunted.“Being from Ipswich made it very easy to give her a very old family history. “Since the town is extremely old she could have a family tree in Ipswich that went back to the 1500s”
He also added:
“Myself and Evangeline feel honoured to be part of Ipswich.”
Ipswich Shoewear Brand Names
Two shoe manufacturers in the USA have adopted Ipswich as a name for one of their range of shoewear styles. These are the Bostonian Ipswich Oxford Shoe and the Florsheim Ipswich Kiltie Loafer.
In the 19th century there was a shift in industrial development to textiles, lace production and shoe making in Ipswich, Massachusetts. However, the latter two were very much cottage industries and Ipswich was not particularly renowned for its shoe industry. Nevertheless, the name of Ipswich had become known for its cultural, artistic and generally “up-market” image. This is reflected in the use of “Ipswich” as a brand name for other quality products sold in North America (see Ipswich – Glass Pattern and Ipswich- China Pattern, above). The name “Ipswich” would not have the same resonance of quality in either Britain or Australia!
The Bostonian Ipswich Oxford Shoe (see photo, right) is recognised as a quality men’s dress shoe. It has a smooth, full grain leather upper with a gently squared toe, and is appropriate for office use and as a dress shoe for special occasions. The same shoe is sometimes advertised as the Bostonian Ipswich Blücher Shoe. The meanings of the terms Oxford and Blücher vary geographically; in North America the “Oxford” is used to refer to any “dressy” style of lace-up shoe, including the “Blücher”. Elsewhere outside North America, especially in Britain, the “Oxford” and “Blücher” (sometimes called the “Derby”) describe different types of shoe.
In Britain, the Oxford style was popularised at Oxford University in 1800. An Oxford is a style of laced shoe characterised by the bottom part of the shoelace eyelet side pieces being stitched down to the upper part of the shoe so that the bottom parts cannot flap up, a construction method that is also sometimes referred to as “closed lacing”. This is considered to be the most formal class of dress shoe. A Blücher (or Derby) is a style of shoe characterised by the bottom part of the shoelace eyelet side pieces being able to flap up from the shoe. This construction method is known as “open lacing”. It was named after the 18th century Prussian general who introduced this improved style of footwear for his soldiers and it became popular in Europe. It also became popular in Britain in the 1850s where it became known as the Derby, and was considered more appropriate for casual wear or working day use.
The Bostonian Shoe Manufacturing & Retail Co was founded as the Commonwealth Shoe & Leather Co. in 1884 by Charles H Jones in Weston, Mass., a suburb in the west of Boston. Its Bostonian range of shoes soon gained recognition for their quality, comfort and durability that this name was adopted for the company. Bostonian Shoes were made in the 1930s to the mid 1960s at Whitman, Massachusetts, and then moved to Newton Upper Falls in Boston. In 1979 the company was taken over by C&J Clark, a British shoe manufacturing company. As part of Clarks Companies North America, which is based in Massachusetts, the Bostonian brand name continues today. We have not been able to find out when the “Ipswich” style was first introduced by the company.
In 2020 Clarks entered a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), a form of insolvency, in which the Clark family lost overall control of the company. A 51% share is now held by Viva China Holdings, an investment holding company principally engaged in the operation of multi-brand clothing and footwear businesses. This company was founded in 1989 by Li Ning, a former Chinese Olympic gymnastic gold medal winner.
The Ipswich Kiltie Loafer (see photo, left) is manufactured by The Florsheim Shoe Company. This company has been going since 1892 when Milton Florsheim began producing shoes in a small factory located in Chicago, Illinois. As far as we can tell, this company has no connection with any Ipswich, so we assume that the name has been selected by association with the reputation of the Bostonian Ipswich as a dress shoe. The terminology for this type of footwear will generally be unfamiliar to those on the European side of the Atlantic, so a brief explanation follows.
The Norwegians were producing leisure slippers of the moccasin style in the 1930s and began exporting them to the rest of Europe, where they were taken up by visiting Americans. A shoe manufacturer in New Hampshire started making shoes based on this design in the 1930s and gave them the trade name of loafers. This soon became the general term used in North America for a step-in leather shoe with a broad flat heel and an upper resembling a moccasin. In Britain and Europe these are referred to as slip-on shoes.
The Kiltie is a casual Oxford shoe with a fringed tongue that flaps over the laces and eyelets on the upper part of the shoe. It originated in Scotland as an adaptation of the ghillie shoe which is a shoe without a tongue and the laces are wrapped round the ankle or around the bottom of the leg. Both shoes were designed to be worn in the wet and muddy environment of the Scottish countryside. The advantage of both styles was to prevent water and mud getting trapped between the tongue and lacing, thereby weighing down the shoe. The shoes were often worn with kilts (hence the name), or plus fours, and the kiltie became very popular as a golf shoe. It is said to have been introduced to the USA by the Duke of Windsor when he was the Prince of Wales. The name has since been transferred to slip-on shoes in North America that have a tongue or tassel on the upper part of the shoe.
The reputation of the brand name Ipswich has led to it being used in other footwear. The Ipswich Kiltie Wedge Heel was introduced by the fashion designer Rachel Comey in her Spring collection of 2010 (see photo, right). This is a peep-toe, with a lace-up tie and sling-back strap above a raised, wooden wedge heel; the upper has cut-outs, tassels and fringe at the tongue. Rachel Comey was born in Manchester, Connecticut, and moved to New York in 1998 to pursue life as an artist. She soon gained a reputation for her designs and launched her namesake brand in 2001 with a limited run of menswear, and expanded into womenswear in 2003 when she found women buying her menswear in smaller sizes. Today, Rachel Comey clothing has gained high status in the contemporary scene, and her main focus is now on women’s collection of clothing, shoes and accessories.
It appears that the brand name has reached world-wide proportions since a New Zealand company launched the Ziera Ipswich Tan Leather Women’s Sandal in 2013 followed by a Ziera Ipswich Black version in 2015. Ziera is the company brand name. The Ziera Ipswich is a casual women’s lace-up sandal (see photo, left). It has generous widths, roomy toe area, and padded toplines. The Ipswich name may conjure up style and beauty, but comfort is at the heart of the company’s reputation in Australasia, since it is the most recommended footwear brand by podiatrists and other medical professionals. Ziera orthotic shoes have extra depth and a removable insert to accommodate individual orthotics.
A few words of explanation are now needed. “Podiatrists” is the modern terminology for “chiropodists”. “Orthotics” is a specialty within the medical field concerned with the design, manufacture and application of “orthoses”. An orthosis (plural: orthoses) is “an externally applied device used to modify the structural and functional characteristics of the neuromuscular and skeletal system”. Foot orthoses comprise a custom made insert fitted into a shoe. These are commonly referred to as “orthotics” and provide support for the foot by redistributing reaction forces as well as realigning foot joints while standing, walking or running.
Ziera is a family-owned New Zealand company, now headed by its third generation. Formerly known as Kumfs, they are inspired by fashion but driven by comfort; which guarantees that their shoes always incorporate the latest in orthopedic comfort technology. In 1933 New Zealand born brothers-in-law Mervyn Adams (1899-1982) and David Robertson (1910-2004) went into partnership as podiatrists. Frustrated by treating foot problems caused by ill-fitting shoes led them to create unique ‘lasts’ (shoe moulds) based on anatomical need. In 1946 a local manufacturer was found to develop their range and in 1950 they opened a store in Hamilton, New Zealand, and began supplying shoes to other podiatrists. In 1961 they established their own factory and in the 1970s they broke into the Australian and American markets. In 1996 they began marketing their shoes under the name Kumfs. In 2009 all manufacturing was shifted to a factory in Guangdong, China. In 2010 they wanted to make a change that reflected a new direction for the company, hence the Ziera brand name. Pronounced ‘zee-air-rah’, the name is supposed to conjure up “a wonderful walk-on-air-and-sea” feeling.
Rising rents and staff costs, combined with falling in-store sales because Ziera was slow to consider an on-line facility (only launched in December 2016), and a weaker New Zealand dollar affecting their overseas profits, led to the closure of the Ziera stores in 2019. The administrator sold the brand to the Munro Footwear Group. This is an Australian family business started as a small footwear store in Melbourne in 1962 by Kerrie and Graham Munro, and it has grown to be one of Australia’s leading retailers and wholesalers of footwear.
The Ipswitch Chambray Boat Shoe (see photo, right) has the name spelt with a ‘t’. It is a children’s shoe designed by Ralph Lauren. Fashion designer Ralph Lauren is one of the most famous figures in the fashion world. Born in 1939 in the Bronx, New York, as Ralph Lifshitz to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants, he later changed his name to Ralph Lauren. In 1967, with the financial backing of Manhattan clothing manufacturer Norman Hilton, Lauren founded the Ralph Lauren Corporation and opened a necktie store where he sold ties of his own design under the label “Polo”. From 1971 he expanded his clothing and fashion interests worldwide, and has diversified into other areas of luxury goods and accessories.
Boat shoes (better known as deck shoes) are typically canvas or leather with non-marking rubber soles originally designed for use on a boat. Thin slits are cut across the rubber soles to provide grip on a wet deck. Modern boat shoes were invented in 1935 by American Paul A. Sperry of New Haven, Connecticut. Since the 1970s they have become casual footwear, and are found world-wide. Chambray is a lightweight clothing fabric with coloured warp and white filling yarns.
Ralph Lauren also sell Ipswich vacchetta leather sandals (Ipswich without the ‘t’) made in Italy (see photo, right). Vacchetta is untreated Italian leather generally used on luggage, luxury handbags and footwear. The word is Italian for “cowhide”.
The Ipswich S3 SRC Safety Ankle Boot (see photo, below left) is yet another product using the locality name but has no apparent links with Ipswich. This footwear is sold by an Italian company, COFRA S.r.L., based in Barletta, a city in Apulia in south eastern Italy. Most of its products are now manufactured in Albania. The company was established in 1938 by Ruggiero Cortellino as Cortelgomma, a small workshop where shoes were manufactured using the tyres of military trucks for the soles and milita ry uniforms for the uppers. The shoes were distributed all over Italy. In 1983 the company became COFRA which is now managed by Giuseppe Cortellino, the founder’s son, under whom it soon expanded into the international markets. In 2004 the safety workwear division was established, and COFRA is now a world leader in this particular segment.
The COFRA ‘Ipswich’ S3 SRC Safety Boot has a water repellent full grain leather upper and slip resistant sole. The breathable internal anti-bacterial lining absorbs and releases moisture. It has a metal free composite toe cap with 200 joules protection and puncture resistant fabric midsole. This Protective Footwear conforms to European safety standards. This footwear has been produced to European standards since 2007, but it is not clear when the product name ‘Ipswich’ was adopted. It may have been soon after June 2013 when manufacture began to the new European standard (introduced in 2011). We do not know why ‘Ipswich’ was chosen as a brand name by an Italian company, but it may have been because Ipswich had already become a highly regarded, quality product name in footwear, and as a locality the name cannot be given trade protection.
The A.S.98 Ipswich Women’s Motorcycle Boot (see photo, right) is yet another product from Italy that has jumped on the “Ipswich footwear” bandwagon. This brand was released in late 2017 and is described as “a mid calf boot with roguish flair, A.S.98 Ipswich features a full grain Italian leather upper with wrap style gaiter with two buckled straps accented with spiked studs, with a burnished toe, side zipper for easy off/on, leather lining, cushioned footbed and durable rubber outsole”. It comes in colours brown, green and smoke.
The manufacturer is Olip Italia SpA, based near Verona in Italy. Most of its products are made in Bosnia. The company was founded in 1972 by Piero Oliosi. He and his sons continue the business which produces shoes, bags and accessories made of high quality handmade Italian leather. The A.S.98 is one of their brand names. This was originally the Airstep brand created in 1998 for footwear. In January 2o14 the brand name was changed to A.S.98 from the initials of ‘Air Step’ and the founding year of that label. We have no idea why an Italian company should name a product after a foreign locality such as Ipswich.
Ipswich Screw Removal System (formerly Ipswich Nail Extractor Kit)
The Coremus ® IM Nail Extractor System (also known as the Ipswich Nail Extractor) includes a screwdriver set for all types of screws. However, it is not your normal mechanic’s tool kit, nor is it an instrument of torture. It is a far more serious piece of equipment used by orthopaedic surgeons.
We need to explain some technical terms first. “IM” stands for “intramedullary”. This is the medical term meaning the inside of a bone. An “intramedullary rod”, also known as an “intramedullary nail” (IM Nail) or a “Küntscher nail” (after its inventor), is a metal rod forced into the medullary cavity of a bone to treat bone fractures in orthopedic surgery. IM nails have been used since 1939 to treat fractures of long bones of the body. Prior to that, treatment of such fractures was limited to traction or plaster, both of which required long periods of inactivity. IM nails allowed earlier return to activity, often within weeks, especially useful for soldiers and athletes, since the nails share the load with the bone, rather than entirely supporting the bone.
The problem and reason for the name Ipswich Nail Extractor are best explained by Jeffrey Hallett, who was then consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Ipswich Hospital in Suffolk, England, in an interview given in December 2001: “The Ipswich Extractor Kit is used to remove the metal ‘nails’ that are inserted inside fractured bones temporarily, the size of which can change depending on which hospital a patient is treated at.” Mr Hallett said: “It is not too difficult to put the nails in - you just hammer them - but when you try to get them out it is not so easy. Quite often we would hear about patients having an operation to remove a nail that has been put in by surgeons in a different part of the country or overseas, and the operation has had to stop because they had not got the right equipment. There may be 20 different sizes of thread used in different hospitals around the world and in Britain, and what we have done is to make a set of sockets that can screw any of the nails out.”
Jeffrey Hallett, who has since retired, had been at Ipswich Hospital since 1983, and said that he had the idea for the kit in 1989 when he began working as a technical committee chairman for the British Standards Institute (BSI) and realised the effect using different sizes of nails sometimes had on patients. He designed what has been described as “a revolutionary toolkit” to help orthopaedic surgeons, and convinced the orthopaedic implant manufacturer, Newsplint plc, to market it as the Ipswich Nail Extractor, named after his place of work. Jeffrey Hallett has been recognised as a “pioneer in patient care” by the British Medical Association for his invention.
In 2012 Newsplint plc renamed this instrument kit as the Coremus ® IM Nail Extractor System, although it is usually referred to by its old name. It consists of 34 re-usable dedicated extractor bolts. These extractor bolts will remove in excess of 80 nails of various manufacturers’ designs, both old and new. In addition there is a comprehensive range of other instruments associated with the safe removal of IM nails whose origins are not known.
Newsplint changed its name to Aquilant Orthopaedics in 2013 and, soon after, it seems the rights to the manufacture of the instrument kit were acquired by a new company called Echo Orthopaedics (established in November 2014). In February 2022 Echo advised its customers that, because most of them still referred to the kit as “the Ipswich System”, Echo was reinstating the brand as the “Ipswich Screw Removal System”. The new ‘Ipswich’ not only contains all the same instruments as the Coremus® IM Nail Extractor System, but has been upgraded and it now incorporates smaller driver sizes for foot, ankle and hand surgeries and additional damaged screw removal options.
Ipswich Eye Shadow
The brand name “Ipswich” for this cosmetic product, marketed by the company Youngevity, seems to be another case where North Americans associate “quality” and “artistic” with Ipswich, Massachusetts, as there does not seem to be any other link with the communities so named. The company specialises in products made from mineral pigments and other natural ingredients, free from chemicals, dyes, preservatives and irritants.
Dr Joel Wallach established his practice in 1991 with the intention to help people “Live Younger Longer!” In May 1997 he founded ‘American Longevity’, a network marketing company providing “unique products to health conscious customers”. In 2006 this company changed its name to ‘Youngevity’. The company “is known for its comprehensive ‘Anti-Ageing’ product line and emphasis on quality products and company integrity” (according to the ‘credits’ it gets).
At this point we have to warn our readers that the founder of this company is controversial and has been challenged in the claims that he has made. In 1982, he obtained a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine (now the National University of Natural Medicine) in Portland, Oregon. “Alternative medicine” websites like to claim that Dr Wallach was a Nobel Prize nominee. What they do not mention is that he was nominated by the “Association of Eclectic Physicians”, a non-scientific naturopathic group not recognised as an accredited organisation by the Nobel Prize committee.
“Naturopathy is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudo-scientific practices branded as ‘natural’, ‘non-invasive’, or promoting ‘self-healing’ are employed by its practitioners. Naturopathy is considered by the mainstream medical profession to be ineffective and harmful, raising ethical issues about its practice. Naturopaths have repeatedly been denounced and accused of being charlatans and practising quackery. Their practices are illegal in two US states and tightly regulated in many others. Some states allow naturopaths to perform minor surgery or even prescribe drugs, and some jurisdictions allow such practitioners to call themselves doctors. The lack of accreditation and scientific medical training means they lack the competency of true medical doctors. Wallach believes that people can live more than one hundred years if they take colloidal mineral supplements, including colloidal silver. His ideas have been described by medical experts as false, misleading and dangerous to the public” (extract from article on “Naturopathy” in Wikipedia).
The Gippeswyk Engine
In 1876 E. R. and F. Turner, an engineering company in Ipswich, Suffolk, introduced a vertical steam engine called the Gippeswyk (after the early name for Ipswich) at the Royal Agricultural Show, Birmingham, available in sizes from 2 to 8 NHP, the smallest having a cylinder of 4½” bore x 7½” stroke. By setting it on its side in 1878 it became a horizontal engine available in sizes from 2 to 16 NHP, the largest hav ing a 13” bore x 15” stroke (NHP = nominal horse power). By the turn of the century the Gippeswyk engine was superseded by the John Bull series. Illustrations taken from promotional brochures are shown right and left.
The business was founded in 1837 by Mr Walton Turner and two partners under the name of Bond, Turner & Hurwood. Walton Turner died in 1847 and his son, Edward Rush Turner, took over his father’s interest, renaming the firm Edward Turner, Rush & Co. He was joined later by his brother, Frederick Turner, and when the other partners dropped out, the firm’s name was changed again to E. R. & F. Turner. It became a limited company in 1897. The site of the original works was in Foundry Lane off College Street in Ipswich. The company had built its first steam engine by 1842 which was used to power machinery in its factory. At the turn of the 20th century, E. R. & F. Turner began producing flour mills before diversifying into flaking mills, particularly for the breakfast cereal industry from the early 1920s. After 1912 no further engines were made and the Company concentrated on machinery for the flour milling industry. Still active in Ipswich to this day, after various acquisitions the business is now known as Christy Turner Ltd, and is located at Miracle Mill along Knightsdale Road in Ipswich.
The Gyppeswyk Fountain Pen
Writing instruments designed to carry their own supply of ink had existed in principle since the 17th century. The oldest surviving fountain pen was designed by a Frenchmen named M. Bion and dated 1702. However, progress in developing a reliable pen was slow until the mid-19th century. The modern metal pen nib was invented in 1828, but it was not until 1884 that the American Lewis Waterman patented the first practical fountain pen that could be mass-produced.
Frank Jarvis and Thomas Garner worked for the De La Rue Company, the leading British fountain pen manufacturer at the turn of the 19th century. Drawing on the experience they had gained at De La Rue, the two started their own business in 1905 at 13 Paternoster Row, London EC1, next to St Paul’s Cathedral. They called the company “Conway Stewart”. It is believed that the name derives from a popular vaudeville act of the day. “Conway and Stewart” were a comedy double act who appeared at Collins Music Hall in Islington.
Jarvis and Garner had identified a market niche for attractive and reliable writing instruments at an affordable price. They had a single aim to produce elegant, beautiful, yet functional writing instruments. Each Conway Stewart fountain pen was made in England by hand, using traditional techniques, combining British craftsmanship and using only the highest quality materials, including hallmarked solid 18ct gold and sterling silver.
The 1920s saw a rapid development of the Conway Stewart product line. Pens of several different types of filling mechanisms, materials and sizes were offered for sale. In addition, the company sought out a market where a product line was made especially for a specific company. The Gyppeswyk Fountain Pen was made for W.S. Cowell Ltd of Ipswich, England, between 1932 and 1942. The length of this pen was 12.8 cm; the clip and thin lollipop lever were nickel and both had the intertwined CS logo. The nib was guaranteed 14ct. The barrel was marked “GYPPESWYK” with the name of the company below.
The business model proved successful for Conway Stewart and its market share increased at the expense of other established manufacturers. The years after World War II proved difficult because of shortages of materials, but the company managed to survive by continuing to offer good reliable pens at reasonable prices. However, by the 1960s, refinements in ballpoint pen production gradually ensured its dominance over the fountain pen for casual use. Nibs, which had been 14ct gold until this time, were generally replaced by stainless steel. The company tried to compete by introducing ball point pens to its range, but its financial health continued to deteriorate and the original company was wound-up in 1975. The name was revived in 1998 and it caters for the high-end of the writing instrument market, with a range characterised by the use of precious metals, and the production of limited edition fountain pens.
Today the fountain pen is seen as a collectible item or a status symbol, rather than an everyday writing tool. A Gyppeswyk fountain pen in good condition can fetch a high price at auctions because of its rarity value.
Ipswich (Motorcycle)
This is a Belgian historical brand of motorcycle. These machines were produced around 1904 by Eric Béranger on Rue Botanique in Brussels. A group of enthusiasts found this brand in the “Livre d'Or de l'Automobile et de la Motocyclette” which was published in 1951 by the Royal Motor Union. The brand name was then given as “Swipsch” with a date of manufacture 1900. It was later discovered that this was a typographical error. The Australian connoisseur of classic motorcycles, Howard Burrows, provided an image of an advertisement from E. Béranger, where the brand “Ipswich” was mentioned. This was an advertisement in a British magazine in 1906, written in English and aimed at finding dealers. It had the then conventional motorcycle 2½ and 3½ stroke single-cylinder engines of unknown origin. The engine was mounted in a bicycle frame that was open at the bottom where the motor was placed. Advertising in the UK was not uncommon for Belgian and French brands since the British motorcycle industry had yet to develop.
We acknowledge Dutch Wikipedia as the source of this information. If anyone can provide further details please email info@planetipswich.com.
Ipswitch – Trademark
Ipswich spelt with a ‘t’ is the registered trademark owned by Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Inc. of Cape May, New Jersey. This company is a leading harvester and supplier of scallops and other seafoods from the North and Mid-Atlantic. In addition to the harvesting, processing and marketing of scallops, the company also harvests clams, squid, mackerel and other Mid-Atlantic species.
As can be seen by the trademark (left), it is a play on the pronunciation of Ipswich in that a witch is seen escaping from a clam. It was first used by the Soffron Brothers Clam Co of Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1969. Thomas Soffron (1907–2004) was an immigrant from Greece who, with his three younger brothers, originally worked in the mills of the town. In 1932 they started digging clams along the shoreline for the local market. They later ventured further offshore where they were able to dredge the hard-shelled clams from the ocean bottom since these could be harvested in larger quantities, and they travelled better when frozen than did the soft- shelled coastal variety (See Ipswich Clams above).
The family also operated a farm and a restaurant. Thomas Soffron disliked the taste of the clam’s belly and, as a consequence, he created the “fried clam strip” or “tendersweet clam” which was a battered and fried sliced clam strip made from the ‘foot’ of hard-shelled sea clams, and excludes the clam’s belly. This soon caught on and in 1938 the brothers established the Soffron Brothers Clam Company, acquiring their Brown Square property in 1940 where they built a seafood processing factory. They arranged an exclusive deal to provide their clam strips to the Howard Johnson’s restaurant chain which were sold under the trade name ‘Tender-sweet Fried Clams’. Eventually, Soffron Brothers operated seven processing plants from Maryland to Nova Scotia. In 1971 the Atlantic Capes Fisheries, Inc. bought the firm and continues to use the Ipswitch trademark.
Soffron Brothers continued in business as a separate company to 1998 when it closed down and its plant in Brown Square became vacant. In 2008 the building and land were sold to Mercury Brewing, and that company’s new Ipswich Ale Brewery was constructed on the site (see Beers Named ‘Ipswich’, above).
Ipswich Cottage – A Model Train Building
This is the name given to what is described as a “miner worker’s house” in Australia (see photograph, left). It is one of the artifacts that enthusiasts can place by a model railway to make it look realistic. The model is made from wood weatherboard and is pre-painted. The building is 72mm long and 80mm wide. It comes in a building kit and has to be assembled. The kits come with step by step building instructions. The manufacturer states that these are scale model replicas for real Australian buildings affiliated with the train industry or buildings found in the nearby township. Given its name, we presume that there is (or was) such a building in close proximity to the railway at Ipswich, Queensland. The manufacturer is Walker Models (previously known as “Model Train Buildings” or “MTB”, but this used to be confused with the accepted acronym for “mountain bike”). This seems to be an individual who describes himself as a graphic designer based in Rosemount, Queensland, on the Sunshine Coast just north of Brisbane and Ipswich.
Ipswich Weekender & Ipswich Day Pack
The name was inspired by fishing trips on leaving Ipswich Bay in Massachusetts with a bag packed for a long weekend on the water, and enough supplies to last from Nantucket Sound up to Maine and back. The Ipswich Weekender (see right) is built with heavy-duty waxed canvas and sturdy bridle leather. With an abrasion resistant body and rustproof antique brass hardware, this travelling bag is durable and long-lasting. It has an adjustable leather shoulder strap and comes in two colours, navy and grey. Its signature feature is the “Sailor Block stripe” at one end.
In 2016 the Ipswich Day Pack was launched. A versatile backpack (with the “Sailor Block stripe”) which complements the Weekender by being able to fit in a laptop, camera, water bottle, snacks and other necessities for the ramble in the woods or a shopping expedition in the town after you have arrived with the Weekender (see left).
These products come from Long Wharf Supply Co. located in Back Bay, Boston. The company was founded in 2015 by Mike Lamagna of Andover, Ma. specialising in maritime-related accessories.
adidas Ipswich Watch
Adidas AG is a German multinational corporation, based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures sports shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the world. Adidas and sports go hand in hand, even though the brand has a st ronger lifestyle presence today, and produces goods that are now only loosely connected with sports. In 2015 it launched its “Ipswich Watch” which comes in five major colours. The ‘adidas Men’s Black Ipswich Watch’ (left) is the brand leader but the multi-coloured dials of the others are also very popular, such as the ‘adidas Men’s Grey Ipswich Watch’ (also called the ‘adidas Unisex Ipswich Watch’) - see right. All the watches have in the centre the famous adidas logo of a trefoil and three parallel bars. The brand name is always uncapitalised and is stylised with a lower case ‘a’.
So why does a German company name its product Ipswich? Quite simply because of its long association with Ipswich Town Football Club. From 1978 to 1989 the football club had a deal with Adidas AG to supply its football kit. This coincided with the most successful period of the club’s history when it won the 1978 FA Cup and 1981 UEFA Cup. In April 2014 Ipswich Town entered a four-year kit deal again with the sportswear giant. Their famous three white stripes always adorn the Ipswich Town kit in one place or another: on the shoulders or at the top of the socks.
Adolf “Adi” Dassler began producing his own sports shoes for track and field in his mother’s kitchen in Herzogenaurach after his return from World War I, and with his older brother, Rudolph, in 1924 founded the Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik which became one of the leading athletic shoe manufacturers. The firm successfully marketed its sports shoes to athletes at the Berlin 1936 Summer Olympics, which helped cement their good reputation.
Following a family feud the brothers became estranged in 1948, and Rudolf set up his own company in the same town. Rudolf Dassler originally registered the newly established company as Ruda from “Ru” in Rudolf and “Da” in Dassler. A few months later that year, he changed its name to Puma. After this happened, ‘Adi’ Dassler formed Adidas, the name being derived the same way from the first three letters of his first name and surname, registered in August 1949. The two firms became rivals, both based in Herzogenaurach. When Adidas started to expand its business in the 1960s, it needed a logo and the trefoil, representing ‘diversity’ was adopted. The three stripes were originally put on their sneakers to add stability, not for style (American English “sneakers” are known as “trainers” in British English or by the older name of “plimsolls”). The stripes or bars were soon added to the logo, and this was first displayed at the 1972 Munich Olympics (left).
In June 2022 Ipswich Town ended their association with Adidas and it is presumed that this will eventually mean the end of the ‘Ipswich Watch’.
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