Sometimes it seems as if brewers have forgotten pilsners, wheats, porters, saisons and the like. They haven’t, of course, although other styles can be lost in the swirl of IPAs.

India Pale Ale allows brewers to tip the balance of malt and hops as far as they are willing to go. Double and triple IPAs are commonplace.

“They’re popping up everywhere,” observed The Dugout Bar & Grill’s Jonny Goodman.

But Columbia’s Bur Oak Brewery moves in a different direction with their “Hoppen-Daz,” a mango milkshake IPA.

Yes, milkshake. They introduce a mango puree and lactose to the combination of pale malt, carapils malt and oats.

The recipe makes a lot of sense. The plush fruit carries a hint of pepper that plays well with the bite of traditional IPAs. Hoppen-Daz offers aromas of a tropical fruit bowl, with a dry herb medley and black peppercorns drifting over lean wheat.

A sip reveals a bitter temperament not promised on the nose. It builds behind the splash of juicy mango and soft grain and catches hold mid palate, creating a drumbeat of green pepper, fresh pine and rustic herbs.

It’s like a dance – a conga line of swirling fruit with a bittersweet beat. Yet it’s also smooth and creamy. The touch of lactose, the rich carapils hops and the addition of oats provides depth on the palate.

“You have to have a taste for bitterness,” Goodman said of the IPA style. “You don’t get the elegance until you can appreciate what it is supposed to be.”

We owe the prevalence of IPAs to San Francisco’s Anchor Brewing Company, reviving the style with the introduction of Liberty Ale in 1975. Beer drinkers responded to the bitter, hoppy kick that tamed the sweetness of malt while elevating its complexity.

And it provided a break from the lager style so dominant at the time.

As craft brewing took off in the 1980s and ’90s, heartier IPAs appeared, strong on hops and alcohol.

“You’re looking at 6 to 7 percent,” Goodman pointed out. “That’s pretty stout for a beer.”

New labels pushed the resinous note beyond 11. In terms of international bitterness units – or IBUs – triple and quadruple IPAs measure 12 or more.

Hops defined India Pale Ale from the start. The British empire demanded beer, but heavy porters and stouts shipped to the east couldn’t stand up to the lengthy passage. And the soured beers that arrived soon suffered from heat stroke.

But hops not only provide aromas and flavors, they also act as a preservative. In the late 1700s a London brewery crafted a strongly hopped October ale, based on a style preferred by the manor classes as it could be set aside to age.

The beer easily withstood the journey to India. As other brewers looked to profit from the India trade, they created ales that were lighter and crisper, more amber in color and fit for humid climes. So from the start IPAs have been subject to experimentation.

With the arrival of refrigeration, the need for beers that could survive transit in the holds of sailing ships disappeared. Demand for IPAs withered until the style all but disappeared.

Now IPAs rule the craft brew world.