"Hype beast"-ing in craft beer

Significant swaths of California certainly are decades ahead of Minnesota and most of the rest of the country from the standpoints of craft beer normalization and longterm integration into the broader culture (as opposed to being a mere passing fad). I don't know if you hail from such an area. I've traveled a fair amount in recent years, invariably checking into the local craft beer scene each time, and I can assure you that the phenomenon I describe is widespread though not necessarily universal.

What I'm getting at is that a lot of people these days who frequent taprooms and otherwise involve themselves in the craft beer scene are largely motivated by the atmosphere, the socializing, and the fun of that involvement, all of which depend on an adequate level of hipness to be sustained. If their friends stop going, and the vibe at the breweries descends from fun to dull, will they continue to visit for the beer alone? Will they continue to seek the newest releases if the buzz has died down and nobody wants to talk about those beers anymore or will "like" their social media posts of their latest #bosspour?

The queuers and truck-chasers mostly are an extreme manifestation of this phenomenon of people involved in craft beer mainly for the cultural trappings. They're usually trying to be the coolest guys at the bottle share. Will they continue standing in those lines when nobody gives a crap about whalez any longer or the bottle shares stop happening at all? I doubt it.

Why do we see waves of hype for individual beers, and then eventually demand plummets? Is it because collective tastes have shifted or because the hype in its own right was a large part of the original appeal? Admittedly, sometimes the answer is that production has increased to satisfy the demand, eliminating the shortage, or that newer, "better" beers have eclipsed the formerly obsessed-over originals.

When the cultural tides turn and craft beer returns to its -- I contend -- natural status as an unhip counterculture or an afterthought (as opposed to a highly buzzed about arm of mainstream culture), I expect a lot of those folks* significantly to curtail their spending on craft beer. That may not be pretty, especially for the breweries that have developed or pivoted to a dependency on such customers.

* The "scenesters," as I call them, and, for the record, I'm using that as a descriptive term, not a pejorative.

 

Geez god forbid people go to a public drinking establishment to socialize and have fun in a nice environment.

And since when is trying to go out and have fun "hip"? I guess we should all stay inside and be dour because otherwise you're a hipster?

 

Hmm interesting perspective. It seems that you have a much more apocalyptic outlook than I do with regards the future of beer in the US. Where I live in CA there is a total absence of hype beers and generally the local beers are between bad and solid, nothing that I would really consider fantastic. However, quality beer is very well integrated into the local culture. There are not many places where you can get food but aren't able to get a good beer. There are multiple bars, including divey ones, that carry a solid spread of local/regional beer options.
I imagine that as the hypey aspects of craft beer die down we will be largely unaffected. There are currently no beer lines and no trade bait. Nothing that people travel for or rave about. And yet all of the breweries are regularly busy. The people I see there are usually locals, some have a deep appreciation for beer, some just like 1 of the beers the brewery makes, some are drinking kombucha. Then there are the travelers, often stopping as much for a meal as a beer. I don't really see any reason why that would all suddenly disappear.
In any case, it should be an interesting few years for the beer scene

 

Again, descriptive, not pejorative. As I wrote earlier, alcoholic beverages as a social lubricant are the norm; alcoholic beverages as a hobby for connoisseurs is what's unusual. I'll flip the question on you: Given that there's nothing inherently* wrong with enjoying beer primarily because of the social scene around it, what's the problem with pointing out that many people do exactly that? Why must we pretend that everyone we encounter at a brewery or bottle shop is there for the love of the liquid alone?

* I do think the scenesters' influence can at times be deleterious, but it produces positive externalities that benefit the connoisseurs as well. It's a classic mixed bag.

 

Do you personally have experience with the lines (or have read about them)? How long is a line typically at Russian River for example? Is this a regular (e.g., weekly) event?

Cheers!

 

There is a brewery which is the functional equivalent of Monkish about 15 minutes from me: Tired Hands in Ardmore, PA. They conduct weekly can releases (every Wednesday) of Juicy/Hazy hoppy beers. If we were having this discussion a couple of years ago I would be reporting about lines that took about 3 hours for folks to purchase their beers. A couple of years ago those prices would be around 16 bucks for a 'NEIPA' 4-pack and today they are $18+ and for some 'special' beers even over 25 bucks for a 4-pack. But the line situation in 2019 is drastically different. I have read were folks have purchased their beers with only a 5-10 minute wait. If you want to see how Monkish will be in the future perhaps follow how Tired Hands is today?

Cheers!

 

Good thread. It's always worth bringing this up every couple of years. Where I live (Northern VA), the hype train has definitely slowed down. I gave up on Aslin for a few years, but these days I can just swing by at 3:30 on a weekday and buy as much as I want from them (which is not much, given their prices).

I also travel a lot, a rarely see the insane lines that were once common a few years ago. I credit this to increased competition--more breweries are producing good beer. Personally, I'm done with lines beyond a reasonable (15 minute) threshold. It's just beer.

 

I've always been a huge fan of Aslin beers, and still find them best in the NOVA/DC/MD area, but yeah the $16-$20 4 packs for me are a 1-2 times a year treat and not a regular drinking staple. But have the lines died down because of production increases, people getting tired of the NEIPAs on the regular, or are there other brewers in the NOVA/DC area making beers on par with them? If so let me know, I haven't found them yet.

 

I wouldn't say the entire industry has shifted. But there's a lot of breweries popping up specializing in NEIPAs, pastry stouts, etc. Some older breweries have tried canning their (old) stuff in 16 oz. cans and sticking 12 oz. bottle labels on them. Some people are trying to do the craziest shit they can with beer, which is innovation, sure, but innovation to be controversial and generate hype. I haven't seen any trade specific beers being made but Magnify's "Trade Proof" did make me chuckle a bit.

Honestly, that depends on the integrity of the people doing the brewing. Are they going to keep making their great beers even if they don't generate as much hype? Are they moving their production towards, not so good, but more hyped up styles? It all depends.

As someone who's lived (and arguably is currently living) through the sneaker/streetwear hypebeast tsunami, the Funko Pop! hypebeast tsunami, the "stance"/"fast and furious" car culture era, etc.; I hope this thing blows by on the beer scene too. Thankfully there's so much beer available these days, it's getting easier and easier to avoid the hypebeasts and hyped releases without feeling like you're missing out on something huge.

 

Its still alive in the Detroit area, but our beer scene has always been several steps behind those in other places in the country. Ascension can drop a thin, overly sweet pastry stout but because the bottle count was extremely limited the local neckbeards were practically offering up their first born children to get one. When Founders released BA Imp Stout at the brewery a lot of people got shut out and the online butthurt was through the roof with the resulting attempts at manipulating secondary pricing being painfully obvious.

 

Never thought I'd see this phrase on BeerAdvocate but I digress. I just think there is always going to be a relatively liquid, neck bearded hipster class that will buy basically anything that's "limited edition" or a "one-off". It applies to the dumbass Supreme shirts people spend thousands on and it applies to beer.

 

For NEIPA's, Aslin still produces the most consistently good beers in the area. But FWIW, I liked the last two Ocelot triple IPA's (Talking Backwards and Bigger Cat) as much, if not more, than Aslin's beers, and they were $4 cheaper than what Aslin would charge. I also like Solace's beers, but they aren't at the same level as Aslin. They are cheaper, though, and still pretty good.

 

Do these hyped beers ever got drunk? Or is this just a circle jerk of beer traders?

 

The beer traders get together for "bottle shares" where the hype beers get consumed in the ulitimate in-person show off session to one-up the other with who brought the most hyped beer to the party. Translation, yes its pretty much a circle jerk.

 

Nice I'll have to revisit Ocelot then. Been at least 3-4 years ago since I last visited there (at that time I didn't think too much of their beers).