Why does everybody think everything is an IPA?

Here it is. That was easy.
Not exactly a national statistic, but a Portland bottle shop. At least I didn't completely pull it out of my ass.

 

5 of the top 10 fastest growing beer brands are craft beers. 4 of those 5 are IPA's.

 

Worth checking out.

http://www.demetergroup.net/docs/perspective/Craft_Beer.pdf

 

Well, they are now. Because they're calling all their bestselling beers IPAs, obviously.

 

Because American IPA is by far the most popular style of beer of the last 10 years.

10 years ago there was no such thing as a IIPA, now there are hundreds of them.

Its the northwestern hop revolution spreading throughout the beer world. Nothing you can do about it

 

Actually I was wrong....3 of the top 5 are IPA's.

 

Belgian Pale malt exists. So I agree.

 

it's just because ipa's a superior, simple as that

 

It is all markiting. That is why I say you should describe beer by its characteristics instead of its style. If everything is an IPA than nothing is.

 

So what term do you suggest brewers use to signify a hop forward brew? I get what your saying, but IPA has just stuck.

 

Why does everything have to be barell aged?
Why? Because some of them are damn good.

Not all of the IPAs that come out are good. Some are great.
To each their own.

 

This sounds similar to my resentment years ago of every hipster getting growler fills on their fixed gear bikes. I've grown to accept that the craft community is growing.

 

to pair with our binders full of women, duh

 

This is pretty much my point of view on the matter except I don't love them, I just have to be in the right mood for one and nothing too extreme. Annnyways, I also agree with the OP. Breweries are getting a bit ridiculous with the term "IPA." Then again, that's easier to put on the bottle than "Hoppy Belgian Beer." I would like to see less of the term IPA and something that fits better with whatever style the brewery is hopping out. For me personally, I think that the flavor of hoppy beers and barrel aged beers run together after a while and that's why I love a BIG variety in my beer selection.

 

Personally I cannot stand it when everything is an IPA. It's annoying. I love variety. More bars need sours!

 

I don't like it either, but I've come to accept IPA to just mean hoppy and you can put any base beer name in front of it. I really don't like breweries calling their new hoppy pale ales Session IPA's, I'm definitely not complaining about the beers as I dig a super hoppy pale ale. There is a large portion of craft drinkers, especially here in CA that only drink IPA's, so I understand why they do it.

 

Once aclimated to the flavor of beer, we want MOAR flavor and we have been conditioned that IPA means flavorful. To the beginner beer drinker hops is the first thing they start to understand as a qualifier that seperates a quality brew from "crap." I think we all associate IPA with value because we're getting more flavor. I'm sure we will get away from the IPA craze and just like other beverages in the world, you see an increase in more subtle flavors that won't kill your pallet in 1-2 drinks. Wine drinkers do it, start loving Cab Sauv. then move to Pinot Noir. Coffee lovers go for big bold dark roast then to a lighter/medium roast that you can get more than char out of. When the mass market begins to start picking out flavors in hops rather than just "hops" we'll see a shift. But as of now the brewers put IPA next to anything because its such a recognizable, well understood style.

I'm glad we at least we have the opportunity to "wow there are so many 'IPAs substyles' out there" instead of "What light lager do I have to put up with now?"

 

That's not even true of the USA. Pale Lager is the most popular style by a very long way.

 

OK kids, time for a lil learnin!

Hops, those crazy things you obviously all fear or have yet to accustome your pallet to (don't worry, all good things in all good my friends; I dont mean to sound pretentious) not only are used for bittering, flavoring, and aroma; they are also a natural preservative. So, when the ships set sail to India, or what they thought to be India, they loaded their brews w hops in order to last the long days at sea. Hence the name (drumroll please).....................................INDIA pale ale! Where pale came from I dont know. Anyway, large amounts of hops where used to keep the beer preserved for long voyages at sea, primarialy to"India" and thats why a beer with an abundance amount of hops is concindered an "I"PA.

America is not only the melting pot of diverse cultures, but also of craft brew styles these days. (Many germans and other foriegners actually are not very found of our "trying to hard" brews.) I get that, german brews you can drink for days, hands down best wheat beers! Experimentation has become abundanet within the American craft brew secret society. Ssshhh.... Inbev might be listening. So we have a lot of crazy styles and a lot of those styles have a large hop profile, inevitably aquiring some form of IPA attached to their name.

So, Long story short: IPA does mean a lot of hops, and for good reason. Henceforth, any brew with an abundance of hops rightlyfully deserves a form of IPA attached to it, dispite what other catagory of brew it also delves in.