What will be the next style to explode, and why?

Sixers of sours.
IPLs
Session barrel aged stouts.

 

So you mean hefeweizens and witbiers?

 

Ugh. A stout with Citra? Gross. Reminds me of Goose Island Nightstalker with Simcoe.

 

I don't think this will ever happen, or at least not to the extent of what IPAs have become. It just seems like breweries are not able to make the prices of 4% or less ABV beers cheaper than their standard beers. So if you walk into your favorite beer store and see a 6 pack of Session IPA for $9 and a 6 pack of IPA from the same brewery for the same price, I think most consumers are going to go with option B.

 

Bier de Garde comes to mind

 

I don't think so, it's a highly acquired taste and they tend to be expensive. I think Barreled anything (including stuff I think shouldn't be) seems to be exploding right now. Wish breweries were required to say how long something was barrel aged, I went to a place a while back that "barreled" something and the bartender said it was like a week.

 

yes ... we're seeing this happen. it's a decent shot at trying to get adjunct lager drinkers to try a craft beer -- lower ABV, IBU ratings closer to 50 than 100.

when the pale ale/IPA/DIPA hop craze finally peters out, I'd imagine barrel-aged beers will be the next biggest thing.

 

Try Kuhnhenn DRIPA if you can get your hands on it. It's so good. Probably in my top 5 for hoppy beers (amongst Nugget Nectar, Hopslam, PtE, PtY...)

 

I'm thinking wheatwines. A couple Are made but not that many yet. They have a different taste than barleywines but are still very complex.

I'm also hoping to try more...

 

This is a tough one. Berliner Weiss is an old school style that some are bringing back, as it is kind of midway to a full on sour. You get the mild sweetness and the tart without so much of the funk that comes with sours. Still, Im not seeing a mass appeal. Much like Oyster Stouts, which is another old school style of brewing that you see popping up here and there of late. People should give them a chance, there are some very good ones out there...but I dont see them taking the craft world by storm. Someone mentioned Session IPA's...and Id say that wave has been rushing for months now. Plenty of brewers pushing them out over the summer tauting them as beers you can drink on the beach, etc...For me, its like dumbing a beer down just so folks can get as much as possible into themselves in a sitting. Ive always been one to bounce around...so that doesnt really appeal to me. Rice IPA's are an interesting thought. Truth be told, Ive always been more of an East Coast guy...I like my sturdy malt base, and Ive only tried one Rice IPA...a double from Kuhnhenn...and despite my malty leanings...its was a solid beer that Id recommend. The malt load is certainly lightened by the use of rice, and you do get the grapefruit and pine notes, but the bitter isnt as over the top like many West Coast offerings.

 

There is a good one. More and more we find beers being blended with the skills of a Vintner...And youre right...seeing more and more Wine Barrel Aged brews. It aint all about the Whiskey anymore. A nice reasonably priced example out now is Victory Red Thunder. A nice Baltic Porter aged in Red Wine Bbls. A little tougher to come by is Allagash's Interlude. A Red Wine Bbl Aged Saison with Brett. Outstanding. Goose Islands Sophie proper...and the Paradisi varietal...Terrific.

 

A new style with MORE hops than ipa's/dipa's/iipa's...the MEGA IPA (mipa)!

 

Is not Stone's AB enough?

 

Not enough people have died from the hop onslaught of AB

 

It nearly killed my taste buds....

 

You're very likely right. I did point out though that this is something regularly talked about, but never seems to take off. Was just saying I would like it to.

Regarding the price part - agreed - however people are happy to pay through the nose for sours (that often have a fairly low ABV). It's just a case of getting people turned on to these beers. However two reasons (IMO) that they won't for now:

1. If every lower ABV example of a style has the word "session" before it, as seems to be the case for "session IPAs", then the beer is hamstrung from the get-go. A lot of BAs (and beer fans in general) do put a lot of stock in ABV. If a brewery/bar/store refers to a lower ABV as a "session" variant, many people are going to read "light", and be disinterested. Sours have a fairly wide range of ABV, but you never hear anyone refer to one at the lower end of the scale as a "session sour". An IPA is an IPA. And it may or may not be sessionable (not looking to get into an argument over that definition)- but that's a separate conversation.

2. The US is very focused on bottled/canned beer. And when on tap, it tends to come in the form of a keg. In the UK (although there has been an uptick in American 'style' breweries and kegged beer), there is much more of a focus on pub culture, and within that, casks. Beers on cask (when the style is suited to cask) are a completely different animal when compared to kegged/bottled versions. Using Thornbridge Jaipur for example (as it is available in the US at times). I've had it from a bottle, from a keg, from a cask in the US, and from a cask in the UK. The last was a completely different animal compared to the prior three (as the US cask was old and badly handled). If casks became more popular in the US, then I could see session strength beers taking off, as the more subtle flavours will be allowed to come through, and there won't be the need for the one-dimensionality of the current "session" beers in the US (i.e. a lot of these lower ABV IPAs that are the current trend, seem to be compensated for, by over-hopping). But I doubt that will happen as things currently stand.

 

Lol, next time drink it harder.

 

no I am not worthy, its too much for me. I do not think my taste buds started working until the next day...

 

I don't think sours are going to explode the way IPAs have exploded.. it isn't commercially feasible for a lot of breweries to make sour beers. Yes, there are some (incredible) producers out there, but the beers are often expensive (rightfully so), and are low in production. Until beer buyers stop complaining about spending $20+ on single beers, and barrels become a lot easier to get your hands on (and cheaper), I don't expect to see this style 'explode'.

 

If you are talking about explode in being the next flavor of the month I can think of a few. If you are talking explode like have long term popularity staying power, I can't think of one.