Are We Killing Beer?

The industry has greatly stretched itself and is catering at the moment to a very green and fickle customer base. Sweet IPAs (NEIPAs, fruited IPAs, milkshake IPAs), sweet imperial stouts (pastry and lactose stouts), and sweet fruited kettle sours (fruit-forward) appeal primarily to less developed palates, in intent and in effect, even if pointing out that fact annoys some of the long-time craft beer fans who've jumped on those bandwagons. I've seen a large number of top breweries begin to produce these sorts of beers, despite the reluctance and embarrassment of their brewers, in order to chase the dollars of this wider consumer group.

If these new drinkers can be encouraged to graduate to more sophisticated fare, then these can be great gateway craft beers. With a huge influx of new customers who mindlessly took the bait of the sweet, novelty beers but subsequently developed a deep, wide, and thoughtful appreciation of craft beer, the future of the industry would be bright.

If, on the other hand, these customers fail to climb out of that narrow, sugary trench, the industry is in trouble when craft beer inevitably loses its cool factor, and the many people temporarily brought on board by cloying and gimmick beers leave them not for drier, more traditional, or more challenging and better beers but rather for sweet cocktails, sweet ciders, wine coolers, malternatives, alcopops, or whatever the sugary fad drink of the moment turns out to be.

What BeerAdvocates can do to help (to the extent they care to do so) is to point out to these newer and limited craft beer drinkers that there is far better beer to be enjoyed if they're willing to challenge and thus develop their palates.

 

No. Trends in beer styles come and go. Hazy IPAs and dessert stouts are the current trend. It will pass in favor of the next trends. While they may not get as much initial attention, there are still tons of breweries that make traditional and a variety of styles.

 

I’ll echo the cost and the practical ability to drink all of the new releases, otherwise, I’m good

 

Beer is SERIOUS guys. Gotta study that shit. None of this having a good time with your kids and dogs bullshit. If you're not sitting alone, sweat covering your furrowed brow, as you record detailed tasting notes, you're killing beer.

 

Since you hadn't noticed yet, the world is not an "either/or" place and not all things come in a choice of either black or white. Similarly, doing one thing sometimes and a different thing at another time is OK these days.

 

Unless you bring your dog to a brewery to casually enjoy beers.

 

Well, actually thats sometimes OK as well.... (Assuming your dog doesn't mess around with other folks who don't like dogs. )

 

I'm concerned that the consumer market has become fixated with the idea of something "great" or "extraordinary" or "awesome" at the expense of something that is simply "good." It seems that the prevailing interest emphasizes extremity of flavors and ABV levels.

For example, I was recently part of discussion with relatives in California who believe that SNPA is no longer a good beer because they think it has become old and boring. Instead, they insisted on West Coast and New England IPAs being what's worth drinking. Similarly, I've seen on this site how conventional styles like Pils and Helles, or classic individual beers are criticized for not being amazing flavor bombs.

I'd rather have a few beers I can purchase in bulk that provide a good balance of flavor that I can consume regularly, than feeling the need to feel amazed any time I have a beer.

 

I'd say you can relax a bit then. Over 10 years ago when I first joined this site there were people talking about how Sierra Nevada Pale Ale was no longer a good beer (wasn't heavily hopped enough) and other folks were criticizing Pils and Helles style lagers because they were lagers (rather than ales) and so they're "flavorless."

 

Hah, right! Newbies gonna noob, no matter the decade .

 

Sometimes I'm reminded of a Harry Truman quote I once came across.

"The only thing that's new is the history you haven't read yet."

 

There are many good beers besides hazy IPA's.Craft Pilsner is making a huge comeback, not talking about American adjunct Pilsner "style" ie: Yuengling golden pils,

 

Prices for a 4 pack of high end beer can vary as much as 5-6 dollars, depending on which store you go to in N.J.

 

That's good because there ain't no such beer. They only make an all malt Golden Pils.

 

what is your point?

 

But what happens when the significantly better beers are the cheaper ones? I regularly buy 6-packs of my favorite IPA for $11 and my favorite pilsner for $9, sometimes less. So it does seem a little out of wack when all the weekly releases from everyone is somewhere around $3-$6 a can/bottle. So I'm spending 50-300% more just to try out the new releases, and the best I can hope for is that they're as good as my way-cheaper favorites, which normally they're not.

 

Right, but this happens with almost every hobby/discretionary purchase. By all means, when you find a good, cheap beer, you should keep drinking it. But that doesn't mean the occasional splurge isn't going to be rewarding.