Is IPA still king?

It must be a location thing, then, as I've had a new brewery open locally within the last few months -- which coincided with the opening of a new "tavern" that emphasizes craft beer. I check the tavern's rotating lineup for IPA and find while a few are in the bottle and maybe 1 of their 12 taps is IPA, they are putting priority at keeping a wide range available. Witbiers, doppelbocks, Pale Ale and quality pilsner along with a stout and/or a local brew blend.

As for that new brewery -- they are taking their time getting around to developing an IPA, having opted with an oatmeal porter, an APA, a saison and a ginger wheat. I mention all this because it's refreshing to me, a true hophead, to elect alternate varieties from time to time.

 

I don't now if they're "king", but they're still going strong. And, I love IPAs, but I love a lot of other styles and I get sick of talking about IPAs.

 

IPA is the Intro class to craft beer. 200 level is reds, stouts and porters. 300 is BA stouts. 400 level is European styles, especially lambics and gueze.

 

I came across this article that puts some numbers behind IPAs' popularity and even mentioned them as being the "king of craft beer"

IPA Nation: How this ale became craft beer's most popular style

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101202036

The style, which is known for its strong hop character, dates to the 1800s and its popularity has seen peaks and valleys before. But the modern day IPA is currently the king of craft beer. It is the fastest-growing and best-selling style of craft beer by nearly any metric.

According to market research group IRI, which tracks off-premise beer sales, IPA sales were up 36 percent in the first half of 2013.

Another market research firm, GuestMetrics, which measures on-premise sales, said the IPA style was the fastest-growing beer category in 2012, posting unit growth of 39 percent.

Then there is the Great American Beer Festival, the world's largest beer competition. Since 2001, the most-entered category has been the American-Style IPA, which saw 252 entries in 2013.

 

500 level is session lagers

 

I think that IPAs remain a corner stone, but they certainly do not dominate open discussion the way they did even few years go. I think that within the small universe populated by the sort of people who frequent this site, beer talk gravitates towards wherever some extreme is being pursued. Creating the most intensely hopped beer is no longer an attention drawing pursuit so discussion around IPAs as a frontier has diminished a bit. In its stead, there is considerably more discussion around more novel barrel aging -- e.g. wine and process related things (minute characteristics about breweries that distinguish "the real deal" from the "posers").

All of this is to say, IPAs are now more mainstream and less intimidating for laymen so the beer obsessed have shifted toward other things that the outside world finds more intimidating (for now) allowing the beer obsessed to distinguish themselves. Anyone up for a discussion about whale beer? http://www.theatlantic.com/internat...icelands-newest-beer-ingredient-whale/282937/

 

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/77972/

 

If that's the case, I must be a graduate student slumming it in the easy classes.

 

Personally I still love an IPA. I think it's an easy step for people who aren't into craft brewing. So I guess im saying IPAs are a gateway beer to craft brewing. Im exploring other beers now because a bartender friend introduced me to IPAs one night and I've been in love with craft beer since then.

 

Year plus old IPAs sitting on the shelves certainly arent the King of anything. I saw an IPA I never had before and got all excited and then I checked the bottle date and saw it was from 2012 and my heart sunk. In my opinion any beer thats the king should be a beer that you dont need to have fresh to maximum enjoyment from it since so many old beers are on the shelves.

 

I'm not sure if it's been said already in this thread, but didn't you mean, "Beauty is in the eye of the be(er)holder?"

 

So, were you at boston brewing and talking with Koch?

 

IPA
Watch the Throne