The one true constant: our fickle taste

I think that is one of the great parts about being a craft beer lover, on one hand you have very classic styles made by some breweries, especially in Europe. On the other hand it is fun to see what is the next wave of innovation, whether it is in my taste or not. I'm always curious to see a brewer's take on a particular beer, beer style, or an additional ingredient, not traditionally used in beer. It is a fun and tasty road to go down.

 

I pray to the beer gods every day that it is a pumpkin/spice beer trend that dies.

 

Shane (@Sixpoint) IMO you and other craft breweries are addressing the fickle nature of craft beer drinkers in a se,nsible business way: produce a set of core beers that will sell well for the longer term (3-5 years) and then concurrently produce one-off and seasonal products to keep the ‘tickers’ happy.

Permit me to use Sierra Nevada Brewing for discussion purposes. Sierra Nevada has a flagship/core beer of Sierra Nevada Pale Ale that currently sells very well and I think will sell well in the near future (the next 3-5 years). I suspect it will sell well > 5 years as well. Sierra Nevada also is doing yeoman’s work in creating new seasonal beers and one-off specials. Last year they had the collaborative Beer Camp beers, some new beers in a Fall seasonal 4-beer pack, a series of one variety hopped IPAs using new/special hops (Equinox, Neo-Mexicanus), etc. In other words keeping things constant (SNPA) and fresh at the same time.

To your credit you have done the same. A very good stable of core beers (Crisp, Sweet Action, Bengali,…) plus some excellent new beers like Sensi Harvest, Beast Mode, Global Warmer (it was new for me), ….

There is no doubt that today’s craft breweries need to be ‘nimble’ to satisfy today’s ‘fickle’ craft beer drinkers and my Kudo’s to you and others for doing an excellent job in this regards.

Cheers to Sixpoint, Sierra Nevada, and others!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

And I think that's the fun part of craft beer, brewers can put their own spin on beer, and we as consumers benefit from that. At the same time I hope brewers don't go away from brewing classic and simpler styles of beer, I think these are what initially attract new consumers of craft beer.

 

I think today's craft brewers should keep the words of R. Buckminster Fuller in mind when he said:

" When I am working on a problem, I never think about beauty but when I have finished, if the solution is not beautiful, I know it is wrong."

It's not enough to brew a beer that gets a reaction like "hmm...that was interesting". The really beautiful ones will be the ones we keep going back for again and again; the others will probably just be seen as a stepping stone at best.

 

I think more accurately people will look back in complete shock and humor and say "My God. What was I smoking when I stood in line for beer"

People that wait in long lines and chase delivery trucks amuse me.

 

I agree about the pumpkin beer. I lamented the amount of orange on the shelves this past Oct., er Sept, I mean Aug. I, for one didn't buy a single one, and I'm still seeing them at closeout prices. No thank you.

There was a time when I was happy to see the Punkin, but I'm over it. Maybe it's good as a gateway?

 

I can see the Session IPA trend eventually dying out. I might be in the minority here, but in my opinion, each one I have tried has felt thin and unbalanced.

Session IPAs seem to float around the beer spectrum somewhere in between pale ales, milds, English bitters, and IPAs without having the redeeming qualities of any of them. @Sixpoint, I know you are not one for definitive genres or styles, but regardless of whether you're brewing strictly to a style's guidelines or not, the flavors and textures still have to work. I think you guys have achieved this successfully with certain brews such as The Crisp and Sweet Action.

We have seen a slight resurgence recently in pilsners, Helles lagers, gose, etc. and I think eventually those will become the more popular "session beers" as people become more familiar with the characteristics of each.

 

Couldn't agree more. I like stone's go to and I also enjoyed Victory' 19th anny, but I think these session IPAs become boring after one or two which kind of defeats the purpose. Much rather enjoy a Sweet Action, Prima Pils, or some other well rounded low ABV beer that is much more interesting to session imo.

 

pumpkin beers can't die soon enough as far as I'm concerned

 

I take it personally because it really cut back on Octoberfest beers and I loved that style with that time of year. For a couple decades I enjoyed the Octoberfest norm, and now it is shared with pumpkin beers. Fuck pumpkins.

 

Great post, and I agree with much of what you said. You are spot on with recalling the prevalence of Browns, Hefes, and Ambers when I first started drinking craft (then microbrew) in the late 90s. I have a feeling pumpkin beers are here to stay if only because fall still rolls around once a year and they just seem like such a great idea every year...until I buy them and realize they aren't very good!

 

Ebb and Flow. What was popular yesterday is no longer popular today, but will be again in the future.

 

As new people come and join this craft beer family they will all have to have there time to try all the different beers that we have tried as they have been developed by he brewers. I will admit to going through a pumpkin beer cycle at one point in time. I have gotten away from it now and in fact didn't buy a single bottle this fall. But alas I received a bottle of CCB Good Gourd Almighty from a friend in Fl on Friday. Will I drink it? Damn sure I will. May all types of beer live forever so that all the future BA can form there own opinions about in there own time.

 

I'd say the constant of the U.S. "craft" brewing culture may be fickle tastes, but this doesn't seem to apply to the overall U.S. brewing culture -- nor to the world's other great brewing cultures -- at all. Maybe, then, this notion that "variety trumps quality" is the next casualty?