Has IPA become a marketing word?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by ssimpson89, Jul 1, 2017.

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  1. ssimpson89

    ssimpson89 Pooh-Bah (1,637) Jul 24, 2009 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I've been into beer for 7 or 8 years and travel extensively for work. I'm always exited to go to new towns to try the local beer. I've always been partial to IPA/DIPA/APA. It used to be that each brewery had one IPA, with maybe some experimental at the brewpubs.

    I enjoy the variations with different hops, etc., but I've really grown tired of ordering an IPA at a bar or buying one at my local store that are not IPA's at all. The fruit craze is part of that. There are some very good ones, like Sculpin Grapefruit, but there are so many others that drink like flavored pales at best, flavored blondes or even Shandy's.

    Rye beers are another style that are marketed as IPA's when they often are not. There are some very fine examples that do fit the style. My personal favorite is Founders Red's Rye, but for every solid example there are many more that are marketed as Rye IPA's that don't come close.

    I know the letters IPA get tap handles and shelf space, but I'm becoming very cautious of what I buy now. If a brewer burns me with fake marketing, it makes me reluctant to return. I actually don't mind some of the beers, but please call them what they are. I try many styles and if they are good, I'll likely find them anyway.

    I know I can vote with my $ and I do. I'm just curious if any others have thoughts on this issue?

    Cheers.
     
    #1 ssimpson89, Jul 1, 2017
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2017
  2. BBThunderbolt

    BBThunderbolt Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,846) Sep 24, 2007 Kiribati
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    "IPA" probably became a marketing term 10-12 years ago. Black IPA, Red IPA, White IPA, Rye IPA, etc. A hoppy Blonde ale is just an IPA with a slightly different malt bill. I a brewery wants to move a beer, they'll label it IPA, and curiosity will the best of folks.
     
  3. Sweatshirt

    Sweatshirt Initiate (0) Jan 27, 2014 New Hampshire

    It's been one for a very long time. It gives the drinker an expectation and piggy backs on the sales bump of calling something an IPA.
     
  4. Urk1127

    Urk1127 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,790) Jul 2, 2014 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Yes. Example. Dogfish Head changing Indian brown, on the label it says dark ipa after the new packaging.
     
  5. ssimpson89

    ssimpson89 Pooh-Bah (1,637) Jul 24, 2009 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I know I'm late to the party in thinking this, it just seems to get worse with each release cycle.
     
  6. LuskusDelph

    LuskusDelph Initiate (0) May 1, 2008 New Jersey

    It HAS become a marketing term (much like "craft beer" has).
    In fact, there hasn't been a true IPA on the market since late 1972, when the final bottles of year long aged Ballantine India Pale began disappearing from the store shelves (Historically, even in the old days ...I'm talking the 1800's... IPA was a "stock ale" aged in bulk for at least a year before it's long boat ride to India). IPA has traditionally ALWAYS been a long aged product, (at least until lazy brewers began pushing it out the door immediately after fermentation was complete).
    After Ballantine closed up shop in Newark, NJ, most examples have been uninspired imposters using the name "IPA". Some of them have been decent enough, but without the long bulk aging most are very 'green' tasting.
    I've gone on and ranted about this in the past ... and of course it falls mostly on deaf ears (except to those who remember what IPA tasted like in the '60 s and even early '70s and were able to enjoy the hoppy, intensely aromatic and decidedly bitter goodness of the Bally IPA...Those folks will know what I'm talking about).

    Again...I'm not saying that all modern IPA's are bad, but the craft industry has successfully managed to reset the hop crazy American palate to actually expect "green" tasting beer, touting "freshness" (mainly because they can't afford the required storage space for aging and need to push the beer out the door more quickly).
    You can disagree with me (and I'm sure many younger beer drinkers will do just that)....but really... you had to be there. :wink: I'm sure glad I was.
     
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  7. RandyCongdon

    RandyCongdon Initiate (0) Nov 23, 2016 Nevada

    I've been dealing with that with several of my new customers. I've had them tell me that if it's not an IPA, they are not interested.

    I enjoy good IPA, but I have never seen so much emphasis on it in shelf sets as I have recently. We just a beer reset at my store, and the vendor who did it also made sure his competition got fair shelf space. A few new beers were cut into the set, and almost all were IPAs.

    Many of the breweries whose products we sell feature all sorts of this type. New Belgium comes to mind with their Voodoo line and such variations as Citradellic. Sierra Nevada has also been encouraging the hype with Hop Hunter, Torpedo and others.

    I can't blame breweries from jumping all over this trend, and some really cool IPAs have come out of this. Still, the market feels totally saturated right now.
     
    johnnybgood1999 and LuskusDelph like this.
  8. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,385) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Sure it has, I have casual beer drinking friends who don't know what an IPA is but think they like IPAs.
     
    TonyLema1, LuskusDelph and VABA like this.
  9. alucard6679

    alucard6679 Savant (1,009) Jul 29, 2012 Arizona

    I forget who it was on here but someone said it best a couple years ago

    "It's getting to the point where we might as well just pronounce it 'ipuh'"

    Hardly seems to retain it's original meaning sometimes
     
  10. marquis

    marquis Pooh-Bah (2,313) Nov 20, 2005 England
    Pooh-Bah

    But the original meaning as @LuskusDelph has pointed out is of a long aged beer. Also it was low ABV and Brett affected. And it is the case that for a very long time IPA was just another name for Bitter. Greene King IPA is a present day example at 3.6% ABV and 30 IBU.
    Beer styles are not set in stone. Look what happened to the founders of Kolsch who tried to protect their product yet now most Kolsches are not Kolsches at all.
     
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  11. alucard6679

    alucard6679 Savant (1,009) Jul 29, 2012 Arizona


    This is very true and a good point to bring up. Maybe "original" was the wrong word to use but I was mainly referring to the meaning the name took on during the emergence of the American craft scene. Cheers
     
  12. ebin6

    ebin6 Initiate (0) Jun 11, 2009 California

    Considering waiters at some places (e.g. Applebees, Red Robin, etc) will list off "IPA" as if it were a specific beer and not a style, I'd say yes. Even average beer drinkers know it's a thing without having any clue what it is. That incentivizes brewers to put those three letters on a beer. The shifting styles within the style don't help.

    Unfortunately, it has also become shorthand for craft beer. I was perusing a Facebook comment thread tonight (not advisable) and the average commenter was saying how they hate that their kids were trying to get them to "drink IPA." It was a blanket term for craft beer to them.

    Still, I think that's a good thing overall. The average person knows there's more than just Bud and Guinness. If Fat Tire could convert thousands of drinkers, the only way is up.
     
    seakayak and alucard6679 like this.
  13. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,385) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Overall I think the term IPA does increase public awareness of craft beers generally. Easy to remember, easy to say and gives off an air of informed opinion.
     
  14. PrimustheOne

    PrimustheOne Devotee (377) Nov 23, 2016 New Hampshire

    Anything that is labeled as an IPA, should at the very least be hoppy. New England IPA and the juicy trend is anything but hoppy.
     
    Porphyry, manofria619, Leebo and 2 others like this.
  15. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    It hasn't turned into a marketing term. India Pale Ale was a marketing term in the 1800s. When wasn't it ever a marketing term? Brewers were even renaming existing beers with that term back then too.
     
  16. cavedave

    cavedave Grand Pooh-Bah (4,157) Mar 12, 2009 New York
    In Memoriam Pooh-Bah Trader

    Excellent points and I totally agree. Since you have had some decades to think about it, what name(s) do you suggest to replace IPA and do away with this confusion?
     
  17. 5thOhio

    5thOhio Pooh-Bah (1,571) May 13, 2007 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    And while you're at it---get off my lawn!
     
  18. marquis

    marquis Pooh-Bah (2,313) Nov 20, 2005 England
    Pooh-Bah

    It was just a name. Some brewers never used the term at all. And the Bass brewer once called it IPA,Pale Ale and Bitter in the same conversation.There were also domestic beers sold as IPA which were quite different from those sent to India
     
  19. Squire

    Squire Grand Pooh-Bah (4,385) Jul 16, 2015 Mississippi
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    That gives me the impression IPA either was or was beginning to be used as a marketing term even back then.
     
  20. drtth

    drtth Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2007 Pennsylvania
    In Memoriam

    Agree completely. At a most general level a "marketing term" can be viewed as a word used to differentiate one product from another in communication with actual or potential customers.
     
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