Hop-forward (D)IPAs as "gateway" beers

I've always felt that DIPAs were easier to "get" than many IPAs. The balance is better, to me. Not so much "in your face" bitterness. The blend of malt/hops seems to be quieter, if you will. Especially with the more tropical fruit forward ones. So, I tend to agree, I guess.

 

I agree. I think the american palate was astounded by the actual flavors in beer once they discovered them back from the macro only mentality. I also think that today's generation ( and yesterdays cause I am about three beers into the generations here I think) is much more likely to spend money on themselves and that is a big factor. I will also tell you a secret. I used to smoke cigarettes. I have always thought that the need for that intense and very obvious flavor was due to the fact that smokers favor colas & sugar because sweetness agrees with them and bitterness does not. So the neutral macro lager is fine with them. I started drinking craft with stone's ruination. I was delighted! Anymore,I am not so keen on really bitter or really unbalanced beer.(that is not a criticism of my experience with ruination) When I found craft I did not find a stereotype i found utopia! I found variety, a social network, a group of terribly knowledgeable people who have such impressive credentials, and I even found the brewers themselves and everybody form the office manager to the janitor all sharing something they felt was carefully crafted and therefore wonderful. I envy the brewers who take pride in the styles they brew and in their authenticity. I shout out to the innovators who face criticism and ridicule and go back again and again to brew another and another. A good and faithful brewer cares about his craft and about history. He would want to brew every style! Like a pianist wants to play every piece!

 

I think you're reading into it. I think this is simply a case of, "Craft drinkers want IPAs... I think I have to brew IPAs."

 

Can we just start calling anything past 7.0 a 'High-PA'....I can't tell you how many times I've tried to get non-crafters to try a strong High-PA or imperial stout and they HATE it..I think it might scare some timid drinkers away for good! [more for us]

 

I can see that. It's easier to say "ok so, this beer is going to taste like grapefruit and pine trees" and have a newbie pick out those flavors vs saying "ok this beer is going to taste like straw and yeast and smell kind of like a kennel for sheep on a humid July day in the Scottish highlands" or something similar. It's generally a more straightforward style that takes less effort to pick apart.

 

Another article citing one person's opinion that is once again interpreted like a mantra for the entire industry. Since everyone's taste buds and tolerance for certain flavors are different, who's to say what is the best 'gateway' beer. That's why the microbrew movement started in the first place. If everyone had the same taste and tolerance, we might all be drinking the same beer. Some people prefer hops; some people prefer malt; some people prefer high ABV; some people prefer low ABV. The best thing is: There's enough out there to satisfy everybody. Personally, if I'm trying to introduce someone to better beer, I start slowly and build up the desire for whatever my subject likes.

 

I think Hop was last year. Maybe malt this year? Who knows. I just hate the guy who comes into the bar and orders "any IPA" then gets pissed off when they don't have any. Care for a KBS? Not if it's not an IPA.

 

Yeah that's the way I read it too. Specific mention there of brewing to suit the taste of new craft drinkers already wanting only IPAs. With the idea being "lets get those folks to try things other than IPAs."

 

I'm a believer. I've given IPAs to plenty of intro craft drinkers with success.

 

I guess this could be the case with people who don't drink beer. In my experience what BMC drinkers don't like about craft is the hops. They call it bitter and not in a positive way. It would be interesting to know what the people jumping on DIAPs were drinking before .

 

Yes, I'd say I agree.

 

I was a typical BMC drinker before getting into this scene. Being from Iowa it was Busch/Busch Light almost all the time. My favorite was always Budweiser, though.

DIPAs were definitely the style that got me into craft beer. I couldn't handle the bitterness from a pale ale or IPAs and gave up on craft beer entirely. Luckily a year or so later I got Boulevard Double-Wide IPA and wasn't a huge fan, but I liked it WAY more than any IPA I had tried so far. By the time my four pack was gone I noticed I was craving that flavor and the obsession began.

The next DIPA I gave a shot was Great Lakes Lake Erie Monster and was floored by how much I enjoyed it. I think it definitely had something to do with the malts balancing the bitterness and allowing me to finally taste the flavors of the hops. I was constantly looking for malty DIPAs to get used to the bitterness so I could give pale ales and DIPAs another shot.

Low and behold my tactic worked somewhat, and the bitterness doesn't bother me at all anymore. Now I enjoy gigantic hop bombs with no problem and is my preferred style. Unfortunately my tactic burnt me out on the maltier DIPAs as well.

 

Go with what you know. I know and love IPAs/DIPAs and that's what I go for. Sometimes, I love a porter or imperial stout. Mainly, it's the hops I want. I'm encouraged by the trend in tasty craft lagers as well.

 

sounds like a great idea.

lets start this practice near public housing

 

Wow. You had me at "I agree."