Fans of under-appreciated styles ...

Because they are only released on the solstice between 1 and 2:42 am
I am with you though, at some level I think we are a bit DIPA and BBA crazy these days. Not my favorite styles but I did drive, to be honest I was out of town anyway, but I did stop and pick up a case each of Paulaner Octoberfest weisn' and Hoffbrau Oktoberfest about three hours from home this year because they weren't distributed locally. I would wait in line for that. Hows that for advocacy of under appreciated styles!

 

It is all supply and demand. The constant talk on here helps that demand. Supply is limited for the barrel aged and truly expensive/hard to make beers. Some breweries are lucky enough to have differentiated there product from similar products to make their beers rare also. Kudo's to those that have done this.

 

I love BSDAs, yet when I see a fresh IPA/DIPA on the shelf, I'm going to gravitate for that (hoppy beers don't age well, yet BSDA age great). This reminds me, I'm now going to research more Malt Liquor brands. I used to buy a lot of those back in my day and I should fall back to my roots. Most of them are quite good, yet not the most popular style according to BA scores.

 

I just wish the brewers would make more varieties of those "under-appreciated styles" I like. Catch-22 I suppose.

 

the reason IPAs/DIPAS/BA'd anything are so talked about are 3 fold
(A) Always a new trendy Hops and hop combinations.
(B) Whats old is new again, putting beers in used barrels is just a new way to get flavor.
(C) Other styles are consumed but deemed "unexciting" doesn't mean people do not consume them and enjoy them.

 

Below is something I posted recently in another thread which was discussing the prevalence of IPA/DIPA beer styles:

Some ‘signs’ that I have seen locally and recently:

· Sierra Nevada Nooner Pilsner: a new year round beer

· Yuengling Summer Wheat: a summer seasonal introduced in 2014. The first ‘real’ craft beer from Yuengling which is a large regional brewery

· Straub Helles: part of a recent variety pack

· Straub Groundhog Altbier: a January/February seasonal release (I drank a 6-pack of the 2013 version)

· Straub German Pilsner: part of their Summer variety pack (a favorite of @@TongoRad)

· Sierra Nevada Vienna Lager: part of their Fall variety pack

· Sierra Nevada Oktoberfest: part of their Fall variety pack and a ‘new’ version to be brewed in 2015

· Firestone Walker Pivo Pilsner: ‘new’ and year round as of 2+ years ago

· Rothaus Tannenzäpfle: ‘new’ import to the US (presently in limited markets)

· Etc.

I fully recognize that as measured by volume the above is not a big introduction of beer but in aggregate is shows that there are ‘new’ beers being introduced which are not IPAs/DIPAs.

Cheers!

 

I constantly crave new Munich Helles Lagers.

 

It's become all about special releases. If there was a brewery only Jester King or Three Floyds old ale traditional to the style, people would want it, and 10 other hot-right-now breweries would follow suit. But who really wants a classic old ale with no adjuncts or face-slapping hop bitterness? /sarcasm

 

How much luck are you having killing that craving?

 

Well, I can't really answer the why--you're asking for an explanation of why people like what they like. It's like asking why people like pizza more than latkes . I could of course delve into the characteristics of pizza vs. the characteristics of latkes, but that doesn't really explain why people prefer the characteristics of pizza to the characteristics of latkes.

But I'm with you. I love me a good IPA/IIPA or a big, bold barrel-aged stout or barleywine, but there are definitely styles I drink quite often that are outside of that realm. For starters, I really like a lot of different saisons--I know that style has seemingly gained in popularity over the last few years, but it's still not quite as revered as IPAs and barrel-aged beers, at least not by the largest group amongst craft beer drinkers.

However, I think the style for me that stands out the most as me enjoying that gets virtually no love on the forums (or in ratings) is witbier. There are a couple favorites in that category, but I find myself enjoying them more across the board than most people. Allagash and St. Bernardus are both excellent, but I think there is a lot more the style has to offer: Two Jokers, Whiteout, Blanche de Chambly, Blanche de Bruxelles, ZON, and yes, even Hoegaarden and Sam Adams Little White Rye.

 

I'm doing a rather bad job at it, in fact.

 

Can I get some Kolsch love?!?

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16354/39238/

 

Vienna Lagers are my jam.
As far as why people don't line up for certain styles, I have absolutely no idea. Probably mob mentality and a lot of other psychological factors. I bet if good brewery released a limited number of waxed 750ml bottles of an amber ale, Belgian dubbel, or marzen, people would probably go crazy for it. I guess our brains like scarcity and big, pretty bottles.

 

I was afraid that would be your answer -- same here.

 

I'm sympathetic with the OP's complaint.

However, American brewers are best at brewing American "innovative" styles like American IPAs and Barrel Aged Stouts and such. On that criteria, they excel.

But on the whole, with few exceptions, they don't make anywhere near as good versions of traditional styles that are German or Belgian, for example. So, partly I can't blame the American consumer here. Maybe things would be crazy if the local brewers could one up the Germans or the Belgians.

 

Ill give some love for that brew.

 

I love a rich flavorful brown ale that hasn't been beefed up with hops honestly I hated happy browns stuff like Smutty Nose Old Brown Dog and Avery's Ellie are great just every day beer Beer that tastes like Beer as some pretentious people like to say haha

 

Schwarzbier is my favorite under-the-radar style, probably followed by hefeweizen.