Supermarket IPA - a new IPA substyle?

I feel like people here are getting caught up on the idea that "supermarket IPA" is supposed to denote a whole new substyle, as opposed to literally just meaning "an IPA a large number of Americans can expect in a place they find generic beer."

 

Swami's and Torpedo around here, although the concept of supermarket IPA has less meaning in most of the major metro areas as supermarkets tend to carry many local craft beers as well. At least on the west coast.

 

Let's get to the thing you are missing here.
Drinking beer out of a can is a different experience than it is out of a glass. You mask aromas. Its impact across the palate is different. Etc.
Drinking IPA too cold. Is making it really hard to identify its faults. And also a good chunk of its appeal with aromatics. It has carbonic bite. etc. Drinking an IPA too warm will make it VERY easy to identify its faults. And age. With flabby carbonation. Some really do taste awful. Others hold up.
It's a combination of Good cold side practices, and obeying the yeast matched with good brewers on the hot side. And probably a lab.

 

Nothing says I don't care quite like posting about it.

My brother in Christ, you are on a beer review website where you have posted thousands of times, reviewed hundreds of beers, and that's awesome. There's a long list of people who'd probably say they don't care, they find it to be look at me behavior or whatever. Internet content creation always has some level of assumption that people will care. It's fine, you can yell at that cloud, my man, I will just point out you're yelling at it.

 

Supermarket beer is as easily available, as it is widely available. It's the Target of IPA's.

 

Nah, I caught it was sarcasm, but any opportunity to express an opinion advocating, even negatively, for a better way to name beer styles can't be passed by.

And if others, maybe, didn't realize it was sarcasm, well, doesn't that help make the point?

Cheers!

 

My local supermarket -- or actually its drug store partner (a local chain), carries the likes of Bell's, Sierra Nevada, Deschutes, Ommegang, Urban Chestnut, and many locals -- along with Guinness (Draught and ES), Paulaner, Hacker Pschorr, Hofbrau, Fullers, and Chimay -- among a few other imports.

So, "supermarket" buys are supposed to be less than optimal to true beer enthusiasts? I guess I need to trade in my membership card.

 

The choices depend on the local rules and practices. I sort of like "the supermarket IPA" idea. Its understandable to most everybody. I prefer to shop for my favorites at the supermarket that regularly carries them. It beats searching the NY beer stores that have large varieties of beer, often past prime, but neglect to carry the one or two that I'm looking for. I admit that the return policies of the beer stores can be better here.

 

I’ve posted this image before—this is about half of the beer department at one of my local supermarkets (it wraps around the corner to the left). They have all the standard nationwide stuff mentioned in this thread plus a lot of locals. So the definition of a “supermarket IPA” probably varies considerably based on location.

 

The phrase "supermarket IPA isn't precise.. But it's pretty understandable. Yes, when I visit relatives in Oregon, I see that the local supermarket has a beer specialist (and probably a wine specialist). Oregon hasn't had a lot of liquor stores that stock beer (as CA) or specialist beer stores (in NY and PA). In RI, package beer is not even sold in supermarkets.

 

I know nothing about Oregon liquor stores but in Portland at least they do have numerous specialty beer stores—Belmont Station comes immediately to mind, several others with an equivalent inventory. Portland and Seattle are pretty similar in terms of the depth and breadth of good beer, not just at grocery stores but everywhere. State-run liquor stores used to be the only place you could buy hard alcohol in Washington state but that ended quite a few years ago now.

 

I agree with you but knew that my post was already too long to dive into this. I’m not sure if you are pointing this out to agree or disagree with my post, but to me it mainly supports my point.

 

Didn't watch the video, however of the 5 highlighted on the page I would say Stone IPA is a great solid all around beer

 

I too have posted images of our local DeCicco's supermarkets, which not only have a great beer selection, they have the best beer selection of any stores in the area that sell beer.

 

I recently passed through southeastern New York (touring college campuses with my daughter)—@zid recommended the DeCicco’s near either Sarah Lawrence or Vassar, I forget which, possibly both. Unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be. I had wanted to grab a few cans and bottles to bring home, we had an enormous duffel bag that turned out to have about 25 lb of extra space available (which we learned only when checking it at JFK). In any case, I’ve heard good things about those stores and if my daughter ends up attending one of those fancy schools we visited, I’m sure I’ll be back.

 

I used to work close by Vassar, and I live across the river from Poughkeepsie on the western ridge of the Hudson. To be fair, Half Time is a good bit nearer to Vassar and is a great, extremely well stocked beer store. I would hit both Half Time and DeCicco's if you have the time.

 

If I could get Swammi's or Head Hunter at the grocery store I'd be dead in 3 months. Tops.

So up here in NH, I usually have to settle for 3 month old Stone or Torpedo (still good btw). I've started randomly seeing Wicked Weed and Fresh Squeezed, but it's never consistent.

 

But, all my reviews were just for my own record keeping, I never expected anyone else to read them, let alone take them seriously. Also, I'm not posting things to draw attention to my business, and therefore line my pockets.

 

Half Time was the other place on my list that I failed to get to. If nothing else, I was curious to see for myself how East Coast beer specialty stores compare to what I’m accustomed to seeing out here.