MN brewed Kölsch-style

Man, NEIPA, and fruited kettle sours, when done well are fucking delicious. That’s why they are so popular with craft beer newcomers, and grizzled vets alike. Also, it’s 2018, not 1998, or even 2008. This notion of weening folks off of macro lagers with gateway craft beer is becoming increasingly less applicable.

 

They certainly have flavor in quantity, even if we may disagree about the quality, although I think you may be underestimating the power of familiar flavors and trendiness in contributing to the present popularity of those styles. The fact that they seem to be crowding out bland styles like Kolsch can be taken as a good sign for the state of craft beer, as you touch on. The fact that they're also crowding out challenging, dry IPAs and complex, acidic sours is less auspicious, but I'm optimistic that's a temporary phenomenon. I predict NEIPAs and perhaps fruited kettle sours will have staying power as neo-gateway beers long after they inevitably go out of fashion among beer geeks.

Closer to the main topic, Wooden Hill in Edina proved to be an exception to the rule by debuting with a surprisingly flavorful and well-executed Kolsch called Kold Shoulder.