How did IPAs become so popular?

Coz "Rarara 'murica fuck yeah we're the biggest, baddest, and best at everything"

 

But I wonder when those were grown in abundance and became more widely available? I didn't see the dates on that link though, because I was curious when Galaxy hops came about.

Finally, how long before someone brews an IPA with ALL of those hops.

I'm kidding...sort of.

Yup, same here, Sculpin was the first beer I remember people obsessing over freshness, and one of the first in which people would say it "dropped off a cliff" after a certain period of time.

 

Check the Hop Growers of America's STATISTICS page, where you can download pdf's of their annual reports "HGA Statistical Package" . They usually cover 3-5 years (both pounds harvest or as illustrated below, acreage) so you'll have to check a few different years.

 

Ship it to me in an oak barrel or GTFO.

Seriously, what "original" style are we talking about here?

 

IPAs are just synonymous with craft beer

 

I knew I could count on jesskidden to come up with a much better set of data than the website I found (zero sarcasm intended). This is a great table.

 

You're right, I should have mentioned that the webpage provided "origination" dates for when some of the varieties were first bred, but not for all of the varieties listed.

 

@jesskidden among others serve as BA historians.

 

As more people started drinking beer with more flavor, for years, the plateau or top point was how many IBUs could you handle? Soon we talked about malt and hop balance. Some went dry. Some went sweet. The keyword 'tropical' or juicy popped up some 5-6 years back on WC style beers that had a IBU pop.

Big IBU ipas transitioned towards big pastry stouts. But that wasn't enough for many people's palates. They needed more. Sours popped up. Beers started getting a touch less harsh. It's all a cycle of sorts.

Now that I'm drinking less, a solid lager captures my sweet tooth just fine. Back when I had a beer a day, I needed that big IPA to differentiate itself from the others.

@mrmattosgood funny you mention 'Stone --> Sculpin --> Pliny --> Heady --> Hill --> TH' that's pretty much my exact evolutionary chart right there.

I spent the first 3-4 years of my craft life ignoring all things ipas. Now that's some of the new craft drinkers first and only option.

It popularized through sheer drinking and getting used to IBUs. Now it's much friendlier

 

Here's a fairly comprehensive list of hop varieties that includes the years most of them first came to market.

 

Wow, great link, thanks!

I love how Fuggle, discovered in 1861, comes right before Galaxy, commercially available in 2009.

I wonder if Richard Fuggle became as famous as Fritz Maytag for using Cascade hops in Liberty Ale.

I bet Dick Fuggle brewed a great English Bitter.

 

But Richard Fuggle wasn't a brewer - no one is really sure who he was, according to Martyn Cornell's BA mag article:
Finding Mr. Fuggle: The Largely Mysterious History of England’s Two Greatest Hop Varieties

 

Perhaps during the peak of IPAs people saw them as the antithesis to light macro-lagers in that they were packed with flavor (and perhaps a similar color?). At one point I said I was sick of seeing so many IPAs and the fact people are obsessed with them, but then I realized they are the style I've rated the most on this site. I have come to love a dank, piney west coast hop bomb that kills your palate and have come to prefer different hop combinations over others. That being said, I am sick of the 'haze craze' and think it is getting ridiculous with the introduction of over the top milkshake IPAs. As for just strait NEIPAs, I don't dislike them but they are far from my favorite style, and like I said I am sick of the hype.

 

"a very bitter, alcoholic, and sparkling pale ale that could withstand the rigors of travel and shelf life in India"

That's the "original style"; high hops, high alcohol, high carbonation.

 

Great summary but I have to quibble with this point. I definitely have friends who did not like IPAs but changed their minds when they tasted some of the newer examples (I think I had the *exact* conversation you typed above with a good friend of mine ). But the people I know who don't like beer at all did not find newer IPAs to be a significantly different drinking experience and didn't care for those either (or in one case simply didn't like it any more or less than anything else she'd tried).

Now, I'm talking about beers like Julius or Fort Point Pale Ale which still have some bitterness and no additives. I can't say that I've had the opportunity to give somebody a zero IBU lactose rasberry thingy, so perhaps things would be different out at that extreme. But I'm really not sure that the average low to moderate bitterness citra/mosaic NE IPA is something that non beer drinkers find to be a categorically different beverage.