IPA: Mainstay or Fad?

All IPAs are a fad? Seriously? Are you just trolling?

 

A 300 year old fad? Errrr no.

 

Based my anecdotal observations: IPA's have been very popular, if not dominant, in craft beer for a longtime (decades?). That is no fad.

Weather the recent expansion of market share has staying power is another issue altogether. Psychological analysis may suggest that the recent expansion is a forecast for rapid decline in the popularity of specialty IPA styles, and that may in turn have a reciprocal impact on "traditional" IPAs.

 

Gee, how interesting - A thread about the India Pale Ale style.

According to the IRI data, IPA didn't start outselling Pale Ale until around 2011. 2010 IRI had Pale Ale at ~14% of craft market and IPA at ~12%, by volume. In 2012, IRI had IPA's reaching #1 at a little under 16% of all craft beer.

Latest figures I've seen (2018) have the now very broad IPA segment at around 35% of all craft beer sales, by dollars. The largest style by far, big but "dominant"?

 

Thanks Jesskidden.

I only spent a couple minutes looking for (and not finding) data. My new handle is now...
- jessmebeinglazy ;-)

 

My long answer is as follows. No, they are not a fad.
But, you like stouts. So.... Your short answer is as follows. Leave it alone.

 

Hey @oldbean, lookie here: another IPA thread!

Cheers!

 

Not sure I'd put the stuff coming out of America today in the same category as the "original"

 

I've always been curious what portion of those Pale Ale numbers consisted of things like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Dale's Pale Ale which were either pale ales only in name (Dales) or at the hoppier end of the pale ale spectrum (SN).

Is there any way to easily see the breakdown of sales in the Pale Ale category?

 

"Easy"? Yeah - spend the big bucks for an industry newsletter or website subscription.

Otherwise, my technique is Google + Time/effort + Save File (<otherwise, stuff will disappear).

The Brewers Association routinely puts out pdf's of their industry presentations using IRI figures - even tho' they and the market research firm don't agree on the definition of "craft brewer" - the IRI craft brands, for instance, include MC's Blue Moon and Heineken's Lagunitas brands, etc. And Lagunitas IPA was the best-selling IPA according to the IRI recently, with another non-craft IPA, Founders All Day IPA close behind - and growing fast.

Looking through some older info, during the early years of IPA in the top position, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale alone made up 3-4% of ALL craft sales. (Not that I'd agree that SNPA should be considered an IPA).

 

A fad? It’s a long fad then, the sales are thru the roof. Fads last a few months not a decade or more.

 

I would think that some subcategories of IPA are faddish with regard to popularity in forums. Since I’ve been a member of BA I have seen a day in the sun for the DIPA, Cascadian, NEIPA and now Brut. The whole genus though? Not so much a fad, more like an integral part of the industry that does drive massive conversation and rightfully so.

 

We are seeing dark beers, sours, blonde ales, and to a lesser extent, lagers, taking up more of a market share in the craft segment of the industry, but IPA will never relinquish its place as the dominant style/category, let alone die completely. Some derivatives might fade, such as Brut and maybe even NE and West Coast, but the hop will remain king in North America.

 

To that end, one could argue that IPA was a fad largely of the '00s and early '10s that has been surpassed or supplanted by a different fad of NEIPAs. The "true IPA" fad arguably already has passed. Or, alternatively, IPA is a mainstay precisely because it is defined so broadly that it encompasses very different beers that appeal to people with very different palate preferences (dry, earthy, and bitter for more traditional examples of the broad style, sweet, juicy, and decidedly not bitter for the examples that currently are in ascendance). IPAs won't fade away; they'll just morph to suit the public's tastes du jour.

Are NEIPAs in particular a fad? I strongly suspect so and sure hope so, albeit at minimum a megafad, and I do worry that they're such a big, influential, and unique chunk of the market that the industry will suffer substantially when the fad does finally pass. I don't see NEIPA fans, unlike fans of most other styles, being capable of graduating en masse toward much different-tasting, more sophisticated fare within the craft beer space. Most of them haven't demonstrated that they have the palates or broad interest in beer to do so.

 

So, the 'NEIPA' beer style is 'over'?

Cheers!

 

Dear God I hope so..... find myself trading to fill my non-NEIPA Jonesing. I’m one of the unfortunate few that can’t drink too many NEIPAs without stomach issues! Good to live in an area with Aslin and The Veil nearby so i always have trade bait.

But to specifically address your response, maybe the conversations will become a bit fewer in the overall picture. Seems like the mania is no longer there, even the lines at the Veil have become less ridiculous, unless they are releasing sours or stouts - which in and of itself may be s sign that popularity has shifted.