Why does everybody think everything is an IPA?

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by jmw, Mar 19, 2013.

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  1. RBCORCORAN

    RBCORCORAN Initiate (0) May 18, 2009 Massachusetts

    Rumor has it that Brew Dog is realising one for octogenarians. It's called IPA LOT and will be shipped in depends.
     
    njhopspop likes this.
  2. Kadonny

    Kadonny Pooh-Bah (2,616) Sep 5, 2007 Florida
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    It's 2013 people, get with it. Every beer is a version of an IPA.
     
    jmw likes this.
  3. MADhombrewer

    MADhombrewer Initiate (0) Jun 4, 2008 Oregon

    Breweries/companies think (often right) that if they put "IPA" on the label it will sell. Look at it from a marketing aspect.
    I am not saying its right but I will look at a bottle closer if it is labeled as an IPA.
     
  4. Tballz420

    Tballz420 Initiate (0) Mar 4, 2003 Minnesota

    You know what I meant
     
  5. busternuggz

    busternuggz Initiate (0) Mar 9, 2008 California

    I'd love a dark ice IPA right now...
     
  6. jageraholic

    jageraholic Pooh-Bah (1,632) Sep 16, 2009 Massachusetts
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Your going to the wrong bars. Every good craft bar I go to has a fair mix of all styles of beer, not a 5-1 ration of IPAs to other styles of craft beer. And if your bar has 20 IPAs and 4 pilseners, that's really bad tap management.
     
  7. LCB_Hostage

    LCB_Hostage Zealot (659) Jan 30, 2013 Pennsylvania

    I totally agree with what you're saying, but I'm not sure that's the point the OP was trying to make. I agree with him that there does seem to be what appears to be a marketing-driven approach to tie every imaginable style to the IPA bandwagon, given that in the U.S., IPAs seem to one of the biggest-selling styles of craft beer. The problem with calling everything an IPA is that it becomes the snake that eats it's own tail. Of course, IPAs will be the best selling beers if EVERYthing is called an IPA -- which, in turn encourages brewers looking for sales to slap an IPA label on anything they make with an IBU over 10.

    My main concern is it does a disservice to breweries that honestly label their beers by style, because people are less likely to try something they THINK they've never enjoyed before. It kind of mutes the celebration of all the different great styles of beers out there that seems (at least to me) to a fundamental part of the whole BA Constitution (and yes there is one, but it's kept locked away and only brought out to settle disputes such as this that come before the Supreme Court of Beer, more familiarly known as "the bar")
     
  8. eric5bellies

    eric5bellies Pooh-Bah (2,218) Jun 9, 2006 Australia
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Not me, I really don't rate them all that much. I just can't see the difference in many of them and the DIPA, PA, IPA tag is confusing because they all just blend into one thing.

    At any given bottle shop or bar, I would choose none of the above over a Quad, BA Stout, RIS, Any Sour, Tripel, Oud Bruin, Belgian Dark, Belgian Pale or Weizenbock to name a few. I just find them very one dimensional. Maybe I'm missing something I don't know
     
  9. beerborn

    beerborn Initiate (0) Jan 22, 2012 Louisiana

  10. Swik

    Swik Initiate (0) Oct 2, 2012 Indiana

    Seems that breweries are adding ipa to anything that has a dry/bitter finish, even in the slightest bit. In my mind if the hops don't out weigh the malt it shouldn't be labeled ipa, period! I get it tho, self professed hop head and when I see ipa on anything I gravitate towards it, like a bug to a zapper :-\
     
  11. jmw

    jmw Initiate (0) Feb 4, 2009 North Carolina

    Yes. Exactly. Hostage wins the thread.
     
  12. drabmuh

    drabmuh Initiate (0) Feb 7, 2004 Maryland

    Cause hops are good. Generalize much?
     
    Smakawhat likes this.
  13. BarryMFBurton

    BarryMFBurton Pooh-Bah (1,785) Mar 28, 2011 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    Just what I was thinking. If IPAs are selling like crazy, why put "Black Ale" on your hoppy, roasted malt offering instead of "Black IPA?"
     
  14. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,077) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah

    Because IPAs are the new Pilsners.
     
  15. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    No, but they should share similar characteristics/ingredients, otherwise what is the point of having "beer styles" at all? (Given the ever increasing amount of them, I do wonder myself sometimes...).

    So, then, if "pilsner" has a good reputation, why not call your low hopped, adjunct-brewed, low-calorie light beer
    a "Fine Pilsner Beer"?

    [​IMG]

    Oh, wait... that's a product of Miller Brewing Company, so that makes it a laughing stock rather than brilliant marketing.
     
  16. BarryMFBurton

    BarryMFBurton Pooh-Bah (1,785) Mar 28, 2011 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    It's not brilliant marketing, it's just marketing: making your product seem desirable to anyone taking a quick glance at the packaging.

    Brilliant marketing would involve taking that Black Ale I mentioned and getting creative with the label (or building your own brand's reputation) so you wouldn't have to slap "IPA" on it to get people to buy it.
     
  17. Sweasty

    Sweasty Pundit (802) May 16, 2004 Texas

    I'll 2nd...3rd...what number are we up to now?!? that IPA is good basic descriptor. I have a basic expectation when I see black/Belgian/double/white IPA on a label.

    I also agree that the IPA labeling is getting somewhat ludicrous. Too many "IPA"s come across as being less hoppy than say Dales Pale Ale. Some of the new styles, like the black IPA, aren't per se new at all. There isn't too much difference, aside from hop varieties used, between a black IPA and an original porter.

    I just hope brewers get off the IPA labeling bandwagon, and just call a beer what it is, and not try to squeeze every beer with a noticeable hop quality into the IPA category. In short I want my pale ales back, dammit!!!
     
    jmw likes this.
  18. BigBarley

    BigBarley Pundit (759) Aug 5, 2011 Texas

    IPA Ice Cream sounds fucking delicious to be perfectly honest.
     
  19. SerialTicker

    SerialTicker Pooh-Bah (2,851) Jun 18, 2012 Missouri
    Pooh-Bah

    Could be. I may make a hop infused ice cream whenever I make myself a restaurant. DINGDING.

    Also, why does everybody say "IPAs are made with hops to last longer" ... that myth has been debunked. It isn't even true.
     
  20. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    It's quite amazing that so many people who live in the U.S.A. don't understand the basics of capitalist economics, but here we go with a simplified version:
    1. Someone comes out with a new product or an improved product.
    2. That product starts to sell really well, gets lots of media attention and gets people wondering that they should
    try it or be left behind their neighbor/friend.
    3. Other manufactures of a similar or related product take notice.
    4. Those manufactures start producing their own version of the new or improved product.
    5. The market gets flooded and you start to see all kinds of "new" versions of the new or improved product.
    6. People complain that there's too much choice.
     
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