Is the American Pale Wheat Ale dying?

isn't new england ipa just hopped up pale wheat ale?

edit: to avoid arguments as per whether or not hops can be associated with the style, from BA:

Higher carbonation is proper as is a long-lasting head and a light to medium body. German Weizen flavors and aromas of banana esters and clove-like phenols won't be found. Most use a substantial percentage of wheat malt. Hop character could be low or fairly high, but most examples are moderate in bitterness. There may be some fruitiness from ale fermentation though most examples use a fairly neutral ale yeast, resulting in a clean fermentation with little to no diacetyl.

 

While I agree, and certainly there can be some decent ones out there, I think most are simply half assed attempts at making (marketing?) something that’s like a Hefeweizen without actually brewing one.

 

Easy street wheat seems to be alive and strong.

 

Sam Adams Summer Ale and Bell's Oberon sell pretty well at least

 

Lagunitas Lil' Sumpin' Sumpin'?

 

Modern Times Fortunate Islands is very hop forward and they’ve rebranded it as a Pale Ale. I don’t think they’ve changed the recipe at all and wheat is still included in the malt bill, but they don’t bring any attention to it in the description.

 

My nominee for Flagship February is Boulevard Wheat.

 

Sam Summer was one of my “gateway” beers when I was discovering craft, and I will drink it fondly, always.

 

A good dryish wheat ale is nice to find. Oberon was always good for another. Hey, these are drinking beers, not thinking beers.....Time and place for everything.

 

I love Oberon. Had my first over 20 years ago and It's been a summer staple practically the entire time (spent a couple years outside their distro). Boulevard Wheat is decent, but I just don't get the same enjoyment from it. I've had some locals on draft that are decent, but would be nice to mix things up a bit this summer, though it seems like this style is being pushed off the shelves by an endless expansion of IPAs.

Gumballhead has something that I must be overly sensitive to in it. I've tried it here and there, and each time I'm just hit in the face with some pungent "stinky feet" aroma. It's just completely overwhelming and covers absolutely everything in unpleasantness.

 

You’re right...I didn’t notice the rebrand. Modern Times doesn’t even mention wheat in the description on their website:

“Fortunate Islands combines the bangin' hop aroma of an über-tropical IPA with the crisp, deeply quenching drinkability of a killer pale ale. We achieve this magical result by starting with a mild, nutty malt backbone, then dry-hopping the bejesus out of it with Citra and Amarillo hops. Restrained bitterness and vibrant notes of mango, tangerine, and passionfruit combine to form a sessionable crusher of mind-bending proportions. It tastes like wizards.”

 

Can't say I've ever been inclined to "taste a wizard".

 

It would appear that the Bud Light King thinks differently?

"But if something did happen we'd eat the wizard first, right?"

Cheers!

 

The new SA New England Pale Ale seems, to me, to be a sort of hoppy wheat ale really unlike most other pale ales.