IPA Overload

I, for one, welcome our new lupulin overlords...

 

FWIW, I quite enjoyed Cohesion on my Denver visit. It's my new "must stop" when in town, having replaced Hogshead. Although, I will still make a point to get to Hogshead on future trips. I was right by Comrade for a beer trade, but it was before Comrade opened for the day.

Plenty of non-IPA options out that way if you're alright with the concept that not every brewery will offer something for you. Personally, even if every brewery offered a variety of styles, there would still be ones I'd avoid... something about a bell curve, and half the options being on the bottom end of that graph.

@SFACRKnight

 

I’ll confess I’ve never really seen a tap list like this.

 

You're lucky.

 

Oh man, you’re lucky. I am seeing more and more shit like this around here.

Good example here: http://www.buttonwoodsbrewery.com/#whatwebrew

Not hating on this brewery, I’m sure they do good stuff, just a good example of what I mean.

 

That’s too bad, really. Here’s the current tap list of my favorite local which I had the pleasure of enjoying this past Saturday night.
https://frankenmuthbrewery.com/

 

I haven't even looked at the link, but I know Frankenmuth has been lager-centric before it was hip. Try checking out another, newer brew-pub.

 

@BigIronH -- here's the BP in my neighborhood:

https://www.lightthelampbrewery.com/general-5

And another that's in the next town over -- with a couple interesting lagers, but still quite a few IPAs and odd-ingredient beers taking up tap space.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/...pLrLGoebuAdV9cF3B3eGz_5pYdZc2RsIC8Ar9XptA/pub

Even my new favorite local, with great lagers, has its share of IPAs, pastry Stouts, and sours for the trend followers.

 

I must admit, however, that it's not all doom gloom around here. An hour drive north gets me this:

https://www.notchbrewing.com/notchbrighton#brightonontap

And an hour drive south gets me this:

https://www.foxfarmbeer.com/#wNCJTW

I guess I should probably stop complaining, ha.

 

Those ones are both great.

 

I’ve heard a lot of great things about those two breweries. Looks like some really great stuff there.

 

@Porter-stoutguy Doesn’t Wren House make awesome lagers and stouts? I know their bread and butter is ipas but their lager game is solid and stouts are really good.

 

Breweries will make the styles that sell, but I've definitely cut down on my IPA purchases the past couple of years. Luckily, my local brewery does a good job at catering to just about everybody. Their current tap list is:

3 Hazy Ipa's
2 American Ipa's
3 Saison
Triple IPA
Belgian Blonde
Fruited Berliner
Pale Ale
Italian Pils
Wee Heavy
Gose
Hefe
Dunkel
Imperial Stout
BA Imperial Stout
Irish Dry Stout

 

Yeah…I hate to say it but craft beer in 2022 is lame as shit. Gimmicky IPA sub styles, subpar artificial sours, pastry stouts, adjuncting everything even when it’s not necessary. That’s pretty much 95% of what we get these days.

Welcome to the Cantankerous Old Man Club. We may be cantankerous, but we aren’t wrong.

I pretty much exclusively drink from well establish German or Belgium breweries, or beers from my cellar collection. Very little in the current US modern craft landscape is of any interest to me.

 

Well said.

 

Nice. But no 'normal' lager at all?

 

and this too shall pass. Stop hand wringing and be happy you live in a golden age. I remember when there was no craft beer.

 

Dunkel's not normal?

 

Ok, that's the closest!

 

Both of those are insane.

I think people are good at looking past the handful of options, and pining for every brewery to offer the options they prefer. Not every company does something for me - why would a brewery be any different? Obviously, this won't hold true everywhere, but even OP admitted they have access to the styles they want, it just significantly reduces the breweries they can visit.

Hell, I'd take one or two quality breweries doing what I enjoy over a myriad of meh options. That's reflected in my purchasing habits too. Out of a couple dozen breweries within 45 minutes of me, I visit three with regularity. There is no reason to visit the others outside of novelty, or if they happen to release a more niche style I enjoy (and by virtue, my visiting their brewery on this rare occasion supports their decision to brew such a style.)