Tropical IPAs=Malternative?

No matter what flavor profile an IPA has it is always described by flavors we are familiar with. Hops can taste like pine, white wine, citrus, onions, tropical fruit, grass or flowers - so I think it is a little weird to say you either like IPA's that taste like "beer" or you like IPA's that taste like fruit juice. That is like saying, "you like simcoe hops, why don't you just drink cat-pee when you want cat-pee and a beer when you want a beer" (full-disclosure I don't get "cat-pee from simcoe, but others do).
I love that a well crafted porter or stout can taste like chocolate, espresso, and dark fruit. Or a good hefe tastes like creamy banana runts, just from its yeast - it is awesome! If beer just tasted like wet grain with varying levels of bitterness then I probably wouldn't like it, but that is just me.

 

This is a thought I've had many times, and I'm one of the more vocal critics of this trend on the site. We're losing sight of what sets beer apart as a beverage as the more the sought after flavor profiles skew towards fruits of all kinds. I realize that we're only able to describe new things in relation to familiar things, but beer is losing its beer-ness.

I got a few growlers of Green from Tree House a while back, and they were flat. The experience was not dissimilar to drinking a cocktail at a tiki lounge. It still tasted good (and I do enjoy drinking these tropical fruit heavy IPAs), but the fact that they have become the standard bearer for quality beer is disconcerting.

Another unpopular opinion: new, tropical-flavored hops make brewing 'good' beer easier. I'm a decent homebrewer, but I've never won any metals. I made a Double IPA with huge amounts of Mosaic, Citra and Galaxy and every single person I gave it to loved it, including my Mom, who, in addition to being my most honest critic, tends to not like hoppy beers. Which leads me to believe the overall sentiment bears some truth (though malternatives might be too strong a word): we're getting pretty far from the beer realm.

Also disconcerting is the disappearance of balance, but that's another thread.

 

I am not prepared to claim this is a trend but I have had more IPAs in the last 1-2 years that had flavors of 'dank' than I have had in the previous two decades. It seems to me that there are hoppy beers being produced with a variety of flavor profiles.

Cheers!

 

This.

There's a big difference between mango juice, and the "mango juice" flavor that some people use to describe IPAs. All those flavors are coming from the hops, not fruit, not fruit juice. Just because the way most people describe these flavors is "juicy" doesn't make it a malternative.

 

What I think OP is trying to say here is that he is trying to compare an IPA with tropical fruit/citrus flavors from hops (mango, grapefruit, whatever) to Bud Light Lime-a-rita and saying "if you want fruityness, drink a lime-a-rita, if you want an IPA, drink one that doesn't taste like fruit. I happen to like the citrusy flavors that hops provide but not sugary sweet artificial syrup flavors in malternatives.

 

Yeah I love dank and piney - but so many new IPAs these days are more like juice with very low bitterness. I like my beer to still taste like beer - not overwhelmed by a very strong flavor, I'm also not a BBA fan. But the trend is certainly here to stay. I just appreciate the breweries that make a variety of styles.

 

I agree. We're going to describe a flavor we pick up in terms we are familiar with; quite often that comes from a food we've had before. With the exception of malt (and probably a few others) most of the those hop flavors can be described as something like mango, so I'm not really sure how to differentiate between those and "tasting like beer," because thats what the beer tastes like.

 

Yep. When those flavors are a product of the hop, it seems more genuine, more refreshing and certainly more memorable. When it's added, there's less hop character. I enjoy a nice radler, but not when I want a beer!

 

I prefer my ipas to have a good amount of bitterness. If it's all fruity/tropical hops without bitterness to balance it out I don't like it as much. I also still love me some piney, resinous, grapefruit IPAs. I love them all but I do prefer the more tropical juicy IPAs.

 

I am new to the IPA world and claim little to no knowledge of varies hops but get what you are saying. Basically, I do not prefer a fruity taste in IPAs no matter how it is achieved.

 

Because I don't like Sierra Nevada, and if that's what hoppy beer is "supposed" to taste like, I'd rather some alcoholic mango or grapefruit booze then ever have to drink an IPA again.

 

People's enthusiastic preference for a flavor profile doesn't magically change a beer into a "malternative" beverage. The idea that people really really liking a certain type of beer somehow discredits it or makes it uncool smacks of the worst kind of hipster-ism. That's my thought on the matter.

 

Could not have said it better myself. Its sad for the most part if and IPA doesn't taste like juice people don't like it or rate it very low.

 

How many clear, crisp, resinous IPA's can you brew? I think the trend towards "juicy' flavor/aroma profiles are due to more brewers brewing, newer hop varieties, and a desire to explore different flavors and brewing techniques. I love both but prefer a blend of piney citrus.

 

Nothing wrong with fruit-forward hoppy goodness with minimal malt presence. Suggesting that it's more juice than beer is typical backboner talk.

 

No, the problem lies in the fact that it's the new standard for desirability, almost exclusively.

Also, what's "backboner talk"? I've never had a backboner, sounds uncomfortable...

 

I like beer that tastes like fruit. I like beer that tastes like chocolate. I like beer that tastes like malt. I like beers that taste like hops. I like beers that taste like yeast.

I have no idea what the standard for the taste of beer is. Miller? Paulaner? Old Speckled Hen? Rolling Rock? Sierra Nevada Pale ale? Boston Lager? Kingfisher? Kind of depends where you are.

There's always this weird sentiment of a "Beer" flavor when beer is one of the most fluid kinds of beverages in the world when it comes to taste, historically and presently. Gruits and abbeys and lagers and ales, oh my! There isn't a standard for beer, even if there are standards for style. Even slight variations in the most popular styles in the world are profound, be it Tsing Tsao or Budweiser or Kingfisher or whatever. Enjoy the variety, malternative is a meaningless term, and beer is close to one, even if it is delicious.

Beer is dead, long live beer.

 

There was a point in time where your current ideas of what beer is "supposed" to taste like, was the radical new flavor. Just because the beer landscape is changing, and brewers are creating new flavor profiles that people want to drink, doesn't make those beers any less beer-like.

Who cares if more people are enjoying beer? Beer doesn't have to be exclusive, with only a handful of people "understanding" what it should taste like.

 

Flavor profiles of IPAs do not have to be either/or propositions. I have an IPA fermenting right now (in the dry hop phase) where I used equal proportions of Simcoe and Amarillo for the flavor and aroma additions. This beer will be both piney and citrusy for my palate.

Cheers!

 

Damn right I do. Give me a Last Snow or a Morning Wood and a Treehouse Green or Trillium Double Dry Hopped Fort Point most days and I'm in hog heaven. I LOVE the blurred lines between my adult beverage and what I like most about the foods I enjoy eating. I don't like mixed drinks as they are too sweet, so beer has a platform that suits me perfectly.

That's not to say I never crave a SNPA, Dortmunder Gold, or other more "traditional" brews.