IPA craze: When will it be over?!

I would suggest you give Sierra Nevada Hoppy Wheat a try. I think this is an excellent choice and has a very blended taste to me, give it a shot and see. I think you may be hating very bitter beer and maybe swing for ones with less a bite so to say, just a thought.

 

IPA's are good. This makes people want to buy them, so breweries make them. This dynamic is not likely to change. Feel free to drink one of the hundred styles that aren't IPA's. It's not like there's a shortage of options. This topic doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me.

 

Reading the trading forum, the IPA craze is indeed over. Some new style called "Hops" seems to have taken over.

 

When the last taste bud is pounded flat by the Hop Hammer.

 

IPAs and all hoppy beers are very tasty and are here to stay.

Cheers!

 

Someone please notify me when it is over, damn

 

Good one, pet peeve of mine, not sure why hops has become a way to refer to NE IPAs.

 

Oh the joys of revisiting a resurrected thread. Everyone looked thinner then too.

 

Never in a million years. The different blend of hops being used make for endless flavor variations. I see a new one and i grab it. You never know if it will be close to Pliney,Tropicalia, Hop Slam, Duet,Double Trouble, Sip of sunshine, pallatee wrecker, sculpin, ruination, stone, transmigration, jai alai, centennial,dirt wolf, pernacious, hop stooppid,westbrook, etc......cheers

 

Went to the Portland Brewers Festival this year and the craze seemed to be Goes and Berliner Weissbier. Personally, I've gone for Pilsener, Helles, and Kolsch. I don't have any trouble finding what I want

 

I suppose it is only a matter of days (or hours?) before we will be reading a thread entitled “Best Hops beer Producers”?

Cheers!

@Jaycase

 

Folks thought rap was a fad but it has proven that it is here to stay. Linking the comparison between rap and IPAs, the latter is in it's Crunk phase.

 

I'm over it. I am now seeking out porters, stouts as dark as it gets.

 

So do I

 

Let's just say Hop Stoopid caps it all off.

 

102 IBUS oh yeah

 

Although hops don't have a wealth of uses outside of the brewing community (although there are), they are poised to become the new agricultural juggernaut and quickly join the ranks of other commodities like coffee, soybeans and wheat...

The increased demand for both crop yield and development of humulus lupulus are at an all-time high and the curve appears to look exponential for the foreseeable future.

Cross-pollination of hop strains that lead to completely new varietals of hops and new <hip> names that can be plastered on bottles, cans as well as other promotional media to entice intrepid hop seekers to the next beer on the market to feature such bleeding edge botanicals is enough to keep the 'IPA Craze' going for quite some time. Coupling that thought with the endless combinations and differing amounts of existing bines that fuse to deliver unique aroma/flavor profiles all their own make for the proverbial wet dream of a current and soon-to-be hop head.

I love hops and will always scan the shelves for a newcomer to the stage. However, my desire to chase hops for the sake of freshness or slave to acquire the next whale and/or subject my palate to unreasonable bitterness/fatigue has reached an apex. However, as I have come to terms with my own hop tolerance, others will have a hearty laugh and continue to make hops THE focal point of the craft beer industry in lieu of the variety out there.

As a tired soul of the 'hop wars' and especially with the murky <sent before ready> 'New England IPAs' craze, I encourage all those to go out and seek your next fortune and keep the American Craft Beer Industry alive and well.

Cheers!

 

I won't claim to understand you, but I believe I can truly empathize with your post.

When I first got into beer, I didn't really like IPA's. Like you I found many of them too bitter and medicinal. Over time I acquired a taste and even a genuine love for the style, although I still prefer the juicy, fruity, floral and tropical examples over those that focus on IBUs and astringency, or those that veer towards the sappy pine side of the spectrum. I now love IPA's but I still think they are over hyped and over emphasized in comparison to the vast array of beer styles out there.

I do think this is changing. Right now, I think sour ales, wild fermented stuff, saissons, and aged beers are the major, fastest growing trends. But there are plenty of hop heads still out there. Rightly so, as there is still so much room for creativity and nuance in this space in the post-IBU-craze era. Hops are more than just bitterness!

To get a grip on current trends, I think you can break it down like this:
- IPA's
- Stouts/Porters (especially imperial and/or aged)
- Belgians
- Sours and wild ferments
- Exotica (style hybrids, heirloom styles, fruit beers, spice beers, and unconventional additions like chiles or bacon)

You could also reasonably group those major current trends by focal point:
- Hop Centric (IPA, DIPA, EPA, APA)
- Yeast/Microbe Centric (Belgians, wild, sour, Brett, saisson, etc)
- Malt Centric (Stouts, Porters, brown ales, bitters, etc)
- Process Centric (aged, style variants)
- Additions Centric (fruits, spices, herbs, nontraditional grains, flavorants, etc)

Certainly gose has been one of the dark horse styles of the past few years. Go back 5 years and even self professed beer enthusiasts might have not heard of it. Now, it is everywhere. Similar with Berliner Weis, I'd say.

My own personal favorites are wheat beers and there's no sign of that becoming the next wave, but who knows. I also love malty ESBs and common ales and cream ales and these have bee showing up more as niche styles for some brewers to make a name for themselves as being different.

I think the best thing about beer is the huge diversity and range of options, even more so than in wine or cider. So I share the hope that we can move beyond the obsession of the day and get to a point where we just appreciate all the styles, and the more obscure and dead styles in particular, along with moving forward to blurry, and break down the borders between styles rather than pushing one style to the extreme limits of its defining characteristic.

Cheers!

 

The question itself is Sacrilege. Why would anyone want the IPA craze to end? Hop Heads Unite and throw out this Anti IPA Infidel!!!!!!!!

 

I'm not an IPA fan, but as popular as the style is, kind of hard to imagine what might come along that could usurp it - particularly as there are enough variations on the theme to interest a lot of folks. Many of the other styles have had their time in the spotlight, so I guess it is inevitable that something else will become more popular, but IPAs will still be popular. The big question is what current style will see a resurgence, and draw fans from IPAs? Just can't see it being a stout, porter, or sour. Perhaps Hefeweizen?