How does a DIPA get wild popularity?

The brewery needs to release it on the third tuesday of every month under a full moon at a third party, unknown to the general public, location. Word of mouth then spreads that it's going to be released and the crowd goes wild. One person on Beer Advocate hears about it from a friend of a friend of a friend and then everyone has to try it. That is the recipe for a 100 BeerAdvocate rating and true Whale status.

 

@BeerKarmaNYC you are creating some of that buzz and hype simply by starting this thread. Anytime a BA shows love to a particular beer or brewery it will automatically be on the radar for at least some.

I also see that canning has a major impact, if for no other reason than keeping IPA's fresh and more portable.

 

It doesn't matter if it's a DIPA, pale ale, Russian Imperial Stout, sour or whatever style, if it gets hype on this site (or that other beer site), it gets elevated to a 'whale' category and everyone goes fishing for it. If it has 'imperial' in the style name, well that just makes the demand all that greater.

 

While I am sure double from upstate is a decent beer...guessing it probably isn't on the level of many northeastern IPA's (Treehouse, Trillium, Lawsons, the list goes on)...just based on reviews alone ...If they want it to be a super hyped crazy good IPA then I suggest they redo the beer altogether and hope for a better result...otherwise I am sure it is what it is, a really good double IPA from new york that locals can drink when they want!

 

By that point the beer is popular already.

 

What reviews, exactly? There's not one review on here, no RB profile/reviews and it has a 4.2 on Untappd which is a great score.

 

I'll see your tropical hops and raise you high mash temps, copious dryhopping, and London ale 3 yeast...

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29376/209076/
uhhhh.....

 

Chris (@Domingo) mentioned a number of reasons but permit me to emphasize “trading $”. I don’t know if there is an accurate way to measure this but I would be interested in knowing how many bottles of Trillium. Tree House, etc. are exchanged via trading. I am uncertain whether the term of “hype train” is 100% applicable here but maybe it is!?!

Cheers!

 

Social media and the internet will be a critical part of it. For example, until sites like this one and a few others begin very few people outside of Belgium had ever heard of Westvleteren 12. Within a couple of years of it hitting to top of the best beers lists the demand has skyrocketed. People who used to be able to drive up the the abby and buy 5-6 cases had to join the crowd and start calling for an appointment and live with a quota of no more than two cases per purchase.

 

I don't give any weight to BA reviews since they changed them
Looking at untappd
And 4.2 is a fine score.... But it's not hyped everyone who tries it loves it must trade or drive to try it... It's a good local IPA level in a probably saturated market...

 

Probably isn't as used but Nelson seems to round out that list of the biggies.

 

I think it's pretty widespread, and I don't think it's necessarily unjustified. I don't know I've been to a tasting in the last 18 months where at least one person didn't bring Trillium, Tree House, Hill Farmstead, Lawson's, Alchemist, etc.
Yet at the same time, none of those linger on the shelf if they ever even see one. Even just some glances at the main review sites, there are a lot of reviews (not the majority, though) coming from outside the region. I think they make the rounds.
I know that's anecdotal, but I'll trust my eyes with this one

 

The more it gets dropped on here, the hype train will do the rest.

 

I strongly suspect that beers from Trillium and Tree House never see a shelf. They are purchased at the brewery outlets and are consumed within the week (or boxed and shipped ASAP).

I have a horrifying story for you. Heady Topper was (is) scheduled to be distributed in my area. I spoke to the owner of a local retail beer distributor and he told me a story that recently the local Wholesale Distributor who represents The Alchemist Brewery had cases of Heady Topper at their warehouse and they just let them 'sit' for a month(s). The folks of The Alchemist Brewery found out about this and directed the wholesale distributor to not sell this lot to retailers. What ever happened to these beers I have no idea. I am keeping my fingers crossed that this act of incompetence on the Wholesale Distributor's part will not stop The Alchemist from providing future shipments.

Cheers!

 

I think contest awards/medals really add up, especially fests like the GABF and the bigger events.

But really I think word of mouth amongst locals first, and then eventually the whole craft beer community in general is really what generates the buzz.. I know it does for me.

For example, there are so many new breweries and beers in CO that I really dont' seek anything new out unless I hear really good things about it. One such beer was Superpower IPA from Commodore brewing company in Aurora. This beer was everything the hype made it out to be, and I suspect it will be a national player one day, capable of generating the type of buzz that some of the really popular ones do.

 

This is important in my opinion. If I hear initial hype about something, I'll try it. If it is great I'll buy more and tell others. If it isn't...oh well. People here constantly complain about the hype. In most cases, in my experience, it's deserved. Meanwhile there are folks cranking out beers and hyping them and they just sit (BoomSauce anyone) because they aren't that good. I don't think it can be faked, not for long anyway. Whether you personally love those beers is a different story. None of these beers should appeal to everyone.

 

Comrade Brewing Co is in Denver, CO.
It's really good, but until they can it or get a crowler machine, it will never have much status on the trade market.

 

One of my favorite beers and it gets better with age.

 

When I first tried this one (a month or two ago) I was expecting it to be decent, but it was amazing...very unique when compared to your standard DIPA on the market.