So who am I to knock America's current beer trend? Well, I'm a certified beer judge who has judged dozens of homebrew competitions along with one World Beer Cup and one Great American Beer Festival. I have had articles on the subject published in the Denver Business Journal, the Rocky Mountain News and the Rocky Mountain Brewing News. I have tasted and reviewed around 8000 different beers in my life. I have been in the business since 1998 and currently run a very successful liquor store in Arvada, Colorado. The majority of my life has been beer, wine and liquor and at the moment my biggest fear is for the one dimensional beer industry. Granted we are seeing a revival in some old strange styles like Leipziger Gose and Grodzisk, but there currently seems to be one sole focus in the American brewing industry. That focus is the IPA.
IPA stands for India Pale Ale. When the Brits were occupying India the climate was not very suitable for brewing beer. If they got lucky, they managed to get the stuff to ferment, but it tasted nothing like those delicious Pale Ales they had at home. Patriotic brewers in England answered the call by creating a high alcohol heavily hopped ale that would age on it's 6 month journey in wooden barrels and by the time it reached India it would have mellowed out and tasted like home. A great new style of beer had been invented and despite my hatred for colonialism, a great story to boot.So where's the problem? Back in the 90s and early 2000s when my friends and I would party, we'd almost always include a Pale Ale or an IPA in addition to our 6 packs of Stout, Hefeweizen and Bock. It's bitterness was a refreshing change and many people enjoyed an occasional IPA. These days it has simply become a trend. Brewers don't care about making beers proper to style anymore they just see the dollar signs of this latest craze. What happened was millennials and old people who used to think the best beer they ever tasted was Corona tasted one of the thousands of IPAs on the market and realized that wimpy Mexican beer was nothing compared to a more complex American craft brew. The problem is most of them simply stopped there. Instead of moving onto Robust Porters, Scotch Ales, Oyster Stouts, Pilsners, Vienna Lagers or Bitter they simply stuck with the style they knew they enjoyed. As they noticed the beers that were even hoppier than the last it suddenly became a pissing contest between not only brewers, but customers as well. Young people treated it like hot sauce in telling there friend "I bet I can slam a hoppier beer than you can". Brewers then flooded the market with what can mostly be called one dimensional crap. Brewers like Sam Adams suddenly created 3 IPAs overnight to add to their shrunken portfolio. New Belgium, a brewery who focused on (duh) Belgian brews, today has 4 India Pale Ales. Green Flash Brewing has 5 IPAs in their regular line of 8 beers. Then when I talk to the brewery reps about all these IPAs and when are we going to see something new like a Bière De Garde or a Rauchbier they simply tell me IPAs are what the people want. This is total nonsense as when polled although IPA is listed as the most loved style it is also listed as the most hated. The problem is that these breweries are ramming India Pale Ales down our throats, not giving us any other options and then claiming "see...people only drink IPA". Americans didn't suddenly begin to love hops. There wasn't this sudden demand for our food and drinks to be more bitter. In fact most IPA drinkers don't even know that the main component flavor of their favorite beer is bitterness. They have no idea that 100 IBUs is pretty much the most bitter thing ever made and 100 International Bitterness Units is absurd and totally unnecessary. When I tell customers to try an Extra Special Bitter (ESB for short) they say "no thanks, I don't like bitter beers...now where are your IPAs". I recommend a boozy, hoppy barleywine and they say "no thanks I don't like high alcohol or high hops...now where are your double IPAs". Those trendy drinkers know so little about the beer they claim to love that I've actually had customers young and old ask me for EYE-Pas and EE-Pas.
Hey, I'll always love beer as it was the first thing to get me involved in the industry I love so much, but the corporatization of the beer industry along with some greedy new comers who see dollar signs if they simply put three little letters on their beer are destroying the brewing industry. We need some companies bold enough to say they aren't going to follow a trend. They are going to start making beers like Belgian Quadruples and malty Irish Ales for the people who love beer and aren't just drinking the in thing. They need to start making beer for those of us who have enjoyed a 15 year old bottle of Thomas Hardy or six different vintages of Anchor Our Special Ale back to back. I know brewers can make some quick easy money by simply making IPAs, but they can also steer the trends by not ramming the India Pale Ale down our throats. There are currently 100 mediocre IPA beers for every one great IPA. I've listed a few of my favorites below just so you realize I don't hate the style I hate what has become of it. Like Fireball or bell bottoms, India Pale Ales are a fad. The fad will thankfully die and usually all that remains are the ones that were always the best...I for one can't wait for that day!
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| Brewdog Punk IPA from Scotland. At around 6% alcohol and 40 IBUs this is probably close to what British soldiers would have tasted in the late eighteenth century. |
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| Probably the IPA I have been drinking the longest. Classic with it's piney, citrusy taste along with loads of minerality...I can almost taste England's hard water in this one. |
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| One of the most balanced IPAs in existence. Of course this style should have some hop dominance, but a good beer of any style should also have malt and yeast presence. Odells pulls this off brilliantly. |
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| Almond Pink IPA from Italy is an unusual gem. Many American brewers are adding fruit to their Pale Ales, but these guys went with Vietnamese pink peppercorns. The result is a hoppy, spicy, peppery, menthol minty delight. |
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| The queen of the IPAs...Cactus Queen from the now defunct Yellow Rose Brewery in Texas. When I met the owner/brewer I told him his beer made me feel like a British troop in the tropical heat of India. In my opinion there has never been a more accurate IPA and I would call it one of the greatest beers ever made. |
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