What's the next beer style trend?

It still is IPA. It's going to be IPA for a long time.

 

The barrel-aged beer trend has been around for a few years, though it's mostly around the winter months. That said, it has definitely picked up some steam year-by-year.

I agree that we'll probably see an increased interest in sour beers some time soon, but I'd bet it's focused around authentically wild-fermented beers, and I expect it will be more of a niche than IPAs have been--"sour geeks," or something like that.

I'm still betting that in the next couple years, the American lager will see a renaissance--today's brewers making right what the big boys bastardized for decades.

 

Lagers are going to make a comeback.

 

gose, especially as summer is coming.

 

You can add Berliners and Lichtenhainers to that.

 

If we're lucky. Seems like breweries find a popular style and they follow suit.

 

Same here with gose who knows maybe a black gose even Brewers/people are always going to clash "boundaries"

 

Gluten Free ... eventually the craze will hit the beer industry.

 

Hell I'd find it hilarious for some reason if I saw lambics in a can.

 

I think this is true. People (or at least I) get burned out on hops/sours/barrel aged stuff.

 

Root beer, apparently. Really?

 

A lot of Gose beers have been showing up, Sixpoint, Anderson Valley, a couple local breweries like Progress out of So cal, Would love more brett beers personally.

 

I really don't see IPAs being knocked down anytime soon. I think there are many revived/forgotten styles that are going to spread our lovely market in new directions though.

 

Same. Less is more.

 

As someone who constantly visits/loves Jacks Abby, Lagers are def on the rise. Albeit, IPL is a great style for me, something I enjoy year round. Crisp, clean, and hoppy??? Sign me up. Still, I'll always be a seasonal drinker, give me a Bourbon booze bomb in December, and a Hoppy clear beer in the summer. Shovel, need to get warm; rake, need to cool off.

 

Dortmunder, comebacks have happened before.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dortmunder_Export

"Dortmunder Export or Dortmunder is a pale lager that originated in the then industrial city of Dortmund in Germany. Originally brewed by Dortmunder Union in 1873, this soft textured beer,[1] influenced by Pilsner lager being brewed in Pilsen, became very popular with industrial workers, and was responsible for Dortmunder Union becoming Germany's largest brewery and Dortmund having the highest concentration of breweries in Germany. With the decline of heavy industry in the area, the sales of Dortmunder also declined until, by 1994, the Dortmund Union brewery had shut down, and merged with several other Dortmund breweries to form Brinkhoff's Brewery."

 

Increased interest in sours ... sometime soon? Have we not been following the ISO's for Grrrz, Side Project, De Garde, Cantillon, Drie, Veritas, CCK / CC, Westbrook Gose, Fantasia, SARA, HF Ann / Flora's, etc?

The thing is, the "trend" if IPA / BA Stouts / BA Barleywines hasn't stopped just because sour stuff has taken off. Nothing will supplant; it will just be additive. However I do see a "trend" somewhat of people bowing out of the IPA trading game because there is simply a lot of parity and regional styles and taste preferences have developed. Pretty much anywhere you go - well, maybe not Alabama or Louisiana (apologies to the people that will chime in and tell me I'm wrong) - there are probably incredible IPAs available. We haven't quite gotten there with BA stouts though we're moving that way. Sours seem more dispersed at this point.

 

Legit hoppy and balanced sub 5% ABV beers.

 

Saison.