Evolution of Beer: What's Next?

@zotzot, I saw no mention of lagers (e.g., Pilsners) in your narrative.

Have you tried lagers/Pilsners in your journey? If so, why no mention above? If you haven't tried these sorts of beers maybe they should be next for you?

Cheers!

 

Where is beer going? If anyone knew that with certainty, they'd be getting a brewery up and running! Okay....even if you know what's coming, maybe it's not a good idea to start a brewery in the current beer climate?

Like all things trendy, I assume there'll be a cyclical nature to beer trends. Maybe Belgians will come back into favor? Brown ales? Maybe traditional European ales?

Brewing is very creative - it could be something totally new. i.e. session IPAs, Barrel (specifically spirit) Aged beer, NEIPA, etc. that didn't exist prior to their relatively recent invention.

 

Better than what?

 

Not sure if it can get better than what’s already out there... I just like to mix it up and have a good variety, some hoppy IPAs, some lagers, dark beer, malty beers, etc because I get bored too of the same thing all the time.

 

I'd like to see less IPAs and more traditional and fading beer styles become en vogue again. But what do I know.....

 

You really just mention repeatedly that lower abv beers don't work for you.
What's next for you? Bourbon. Probably.
What's next for beer is probably something else as a generation ages towards moderation, and the new one has a lot more options to getting sauced, and otherwise available.

 

Or he go straight to Everclear!

 

Continue your beer education by moving to imports, specifically German, Belgian and English being the most popular.

 

Permit me to expand this to US brewed versions of those styles from a freshness perspective. Stronger Belgian Ales tend to be forgiving from an age aspect but German/English imports may suffer from transport/age effects.

Cheers!

 

why drink stainless steel when you can pay more to drink notes of old leather

 

What are you actually asking? What you should seek out next? What will be the next big trends in beer styles? There's always hope, but I think what I hope for may be different from what you hope for. I hope for more lower or moderate ABV beers that are full of flavor.

 

The answer lies in poking your beer with a red-hot iron.



You're welcome.

 

I'm seeing more English milds these days. I hope to see that trend continue.

 

Why hasn’t this caught on?

 

I'd say the pain-in-the-ass factor might have something to do with it. It's worth it, though.

 

What's next is a continuation of sub-par breweries closing and the good to great one's remaining.

I don't think it will be another new popular style like a barrel-aged stout or New England IPA. If anything less of those and more of the lower-ABV subtle styles that are harder to brew. And as that demand goes up, the skill level of the remaining breweries will need to go up as well.

We're already seeing this with the increase in lagers of all kinds...