How does a DIPA get wild popularity?

Helps if they look like this. Embrace the opaqueness!!

 

Ah, you can't bait me here!

@Sponan, you have been served!

Cheers!

 

Now, I know for sure this picture has been photo-shopped because otherwise the beer would be pouring out!!

Cheers!

 

Agree with everything except the last paragraph. Although not in the same atmosphere as Sierra Nevada, hype works for Goose Island BCBS because of your first paragraph. There may be others as well but that's the first one that came to mind.

 

Re: Scarcity Marketing

I've wondered how Treehouse would do if they had the production levels of something like Jack's Abby (regional brewery here in MA), whose beer is both excellent and can be picked up in near every store any day of the week.

Assuming Julius, Green, etc remained the exact same beer, but could be gotten just by walking into a store, I'm inclined to think we'd hear a lot less about them. I don't think cans would languish on the shelves at all, but the fact that its not easy to get keeps the hype train chugging along.

 

The problem with this theory is that there are beers like Be Hoppy (which sells out in a day or two) Ghandi Bot, Sip of Sunshine, yes, even Heady Topper...that are shelf beers. Not once a year releases like BCBS or Parbola either, but genuine shelf beers. Maine Lunch would be a shelf beer but sells so fast they put it behind the shelf...despite a ridiculous price tag.

What I have suggested several times (and think is true only for IPAs) is that uber fresh, super hopped, locally made beers simply cannot be duplicated by anyone who is attempting to make large volumes and distribute widely. It's not hype, its science. I think Sierra Nevada absolutely possesses the skill and materials to match say, Treehouse Julius. I don't think a beer like Julius can be made in those volumes or would be "stable" enough for national distribution and consumption long after canning or bottling. It would be a shadow of itself.

With a few exceptions, the "hyped" beers are the equivalent of getting fresh produce at the local farmers market vs. whatever was shipped from CA or Chile to your supermarket. Nobody bitches about why the lettuce from Mexico doesn't get the hype of the local organic lettuce, or why the beef from Argentina doesn't get the hype of the local grass fed beef.

By the way, I don't think this dynamic applies to Belgian Quads or Imperial Stouts & Porters. The best examples of those are seemingly made in a way that improves with age, and which are therefore much more suited to distribution. And no surprise...many of the hyped beers there do come from larger brewers like Goose Island, Founders, Firestone Walker and from the Belgians of course.

 

Around here?

1.)Be hazy
2.)Be juicy
3.)Be in 16 oz cans
4.)Require a long drive so people can opine about the beautiful scenic ride out there
5.)Require waiting in a line so people can opine about how well the staff handles the crowds

 

I thought the first rule of a good IPA was you don't talk about the IPA.

 

Have you tried the NE IPA's you are referencing? While yes some are fantastic, a bunch of them aren't groundbreaking, insanely good either, they are just the result of hype and scarcity. There are plenty of small breweries that are brewing better or at least equal beer to the hyped NE breweries, they just haven't created the market to get them on the hype train.

If quality/taste of beer were the only factor, the top 250 would look VERY different here.

 

Yep...this right here

 

There are a lot of them that taste good. The question is why some of them get hyped up and others don't

 

I was at The Answer yesterday and this subject sort of came up. I was asking about an upcoming release that they had listed on the menu, "She Gone" which is an Amarillo / Mosaic DIPA that will be released next week and one of the people working said that they've already been getting phone calls about it fairly routinely. This beer has never been brewed before, but people are anticipating that it will be great based on the rest of their body of work. So I guess that once a place gets a rep for putting out quality DIPAs, they attract a following. Is it really any different from places that has a great barrel program or at least the ability to roll out renowned sours or stouts though? A place like Hardywood can barrel age Bud Light and attract a crowd for at least the first time it's released.

 

Good to know. I guess I'll have to look for their beers around town then. I've only tried superpower, so I've wanted to see how they are all around as a brewery.

 

Funny people are going nuts for Other Half IPAs when Singlecut is readily available and much better, IMO.

 

Of all of the breweries in greater Denver, Comrade is definitely one of the ones worth visiting. They do send their kegs around town a bit, though. Their short/red tap handle is tough to miss, so keep an eye out for them.

 

Yeah I'm kinda picking up on that- I feel like a lot of "crap" has opened up around Denver the last couple of years. I won't name them specifically..... Probably bordering on a local state forum here, but what are some of your other favorites that have opened the last few years?

River North for me is a big one- love almost everything they brew especially the barrel aged stuff. Really also like Elevation out in Poncha Springs. (BFE). I also live down the road from Gravity brewing in Lafayette now, they brew some really nice stuff too.

 

Here in Maryland (the whole DMV, really), there's a real sense of desperation for a brewery that will be "noticed" by the hype train. Too long we've been left behind in the craft beer revolution, so anytime we see something even tangentially similar to the stuff Tree House or Other Half is putting out - regardless if its any good or not - we all snatch it up and hope someone else notices how good it is. See: the minor craze and hype for Manor Hill cans in MD right now. See also: the hype Hardywood generates ever since the Alstrom Bros. gave GBS a 100.

tl;dr version:

"PLEASE TRADE FOR OUR BEERS PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE" - MD BA

"lol, move" MA/VT/NY/FL BA

 

I disagree with this utterly and completely.

 

Yeah, those 16oz cans are working great for Lord Hobo. Just flying off the shelves.
And Trillium really takes advantage of those cans too, just like Lawson's and Hill Farmstead.