Why is everyone only into IPA's

[Spartan300man]

What's weird is that I came into the craft beer scene backwards. I was a wine drinker who was given an Abt 12 and had the "THIS IS BEER???" reaction. I soon began discovering tripels, saisons, hefes, etc. High IBU's tasted soapy to me at first.

Nowadays, if you measured my intake in gallons, you would find that probably 40-50% of what I drink is high IBU's. But, if I made a list of what beers I've had over the last 6 months, I doubt if 20% on that list are IPA's. (Probably even less, really.) The reason is, I have a few go to IPA's and don't need to stray from them much. If I am in the mood for hops, and there's a Jai Alai in the fridge, I'm fine. But, if I'm buying a saison, it probably won't be what I had last. .

Are there some hoppy Saisons that are your favorites?

Your story is not uncommon. I stayed away from the Macro breweries for many years, hardly drinking any beer except for the occasional Guinness, and perhaps a wheat beer. My intake was heavily tilted towards red wines, big bold and tannic, and then there was an introduction into the varieties of tequilas. I guess it was a need for flavor. Then Sam Adams and Anchor Steam came into the picture, and then the influx of IPAs and some of the other varieties that offered a choice got me exploring and back into beer again, and eventually brewing my own. As is often the case, I had a 'dry-spell' when the first baby came along, but kept enjoying store-bought offerings. and now brewing my favorites again.

 

[worlddivides]

I would rephrase the question...

Why is everyone only into lagers?

 

[schematix]

I would rephrase the question...

Why is everyone only into lagers?

Clean, crisp and refreshing. As much variation as IPAs, although not as bold.

For what it's worth, even my IPAs are lagers now.

 

[Patch62383]

Lagers you mean ***** pop? Just kidding

 

[FloppyKnockers]

I like beer.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Because IPAs are delicious.

Hah. Seriously, because I'm pissed on the first IIPA I've brewed in 3 years, innit? It's normally 3-4% Bitters and Milds for me, so this is an abrupt change.

 

[Michigan_Wolfman]

I would rephrase the question...

Why is everyone only into lagers?

Because there's no rule against it.

 

[slym2none]

hahaha he said he likes chocolate malted balls. i guess maybe a little saltiness probably adds another dimension of flavor?

 

[Odbrew]

I enjoyed Ipa's before they were cool .....#hipster

 

[Staylow]

When I got into brewing nearly 3 years ago, I could barely stand an APA, let alone IPA's. My how that has changed. Once I developed a taste for big, bold hops, there was no going back. I have to say though; I love hop flavor and aroma, but I still do not care for overly bitter beers. Stone is the perfect example - nearly every one of their beers is too damn bitter for my tastes, but has fantastic hop flavor and aroma.

That said, I still love a good Marzen/Oktoberfest or brown when it starts to cool down, and soon enough, stouts and porters. I also have a nearly unexplainable obsession with a good, malty amber ale.

 

[55x11]

Clean, crisp and refreshing. As much variation as IPAs, although not as bold.

For what it's worth, even my IPAs are lagers now.

I beg to differ.

Lagers are in general much more narrow and one dimensional than Ales.

Even if you compare all Lagers to Pale Ales - from Pale Ales to Double IPAs, I suspect ales still win but its sort of like "all pies against tiramisu" type of competition - not fair at all.

Besides, I suspect the question was - why do people like crappy light lagers so much - budweiser, miller, coors etc.?
Something like 90% of beer drinking in this country is this crappy style of "lagers", not IPAs. Are you really going to defend this practice?

 

[schematix]

Something like 90% of beer drinking in this country is this crappy style of "lagers", not IPAs. Are you really going to defend this practice?

I will defend it. It may not be YOUR favorite type of beer, but there are plenty of people who do like it. Recognize it for what it is - clean, crisp, not filling. The reason the lighter lager styles are so popular worldwide is because that is what the vast majority of people prefer.

 

[55x11]

I will defend it. It may not be YOUR favorite type of beer, but there are plenty of people who do like it. Recognize it for what it is - clean, crisp, not filling. The reason the lighter lager styles are so popular worldwide is because that is what the vast majority of people prefer.

Bud Light &Co is definitely NOT my type of beer. And to each his own.

There are many reasons so many people drink Bud/Coors/Miller, and I suspect a LOT of it has to do with market saturation, historic domination of three BigBeer companies, aggressive promotions/marketing/ads, price point, convenience, tradition, beer history going back to prohibition, etc.

There are many examples where consumer choices are based on these factors rather than independent, informed decisions based on quality/taste.

Are you seriously arguing that vast popularity of Bud Light is due to its superior taste quality?

Low ABV (=less filling) may be a factor here, but I seriously doubt taste plays a key role (or even any role) - it's not as if people who regularly drink these beers have tried a wide variety of ales and other lagers before independently settling on Bud Light as the "king of beers" due to its "clean, crisp and refreshing" taste.

If this point of view smacks of snobbism, so be it - but I am happy to see craft beer revolution slowly taking over market share of BigBeer which dominated the beer market for 80 years or so. Maybe as IPA "fad" fades a bit, people will be more interested in saisons, sours, blondes, etc. - and maybe back to quality pilsners. But if current interest in IPAs drives people to try something other than Bud/Coors/Miller, that's great news.

 

[Roadliner]

Once everyone is into all those other styles of beer, will you be upset with that "fad" too? Clearly people will only like them because they hadn't tried any others.

 

[filthyastronaut]

Hop flavors are interesting, often fruity, and wildly variant. IPAs are also so full of flavor that many people don't mind if it ends up drowning out any subtlety. I love IPAs, but the best ones are effective at maximizing both malt flavor and hops. They smack you in the face with a variety of flavors and retain subtlety. Those kinds of IPAs are more difficult to make, but they are my favorite style.

To me, it's best to treat hops similarly to spices in IPAs. You don't need to be wimpy about it, but less is still often more.

 

[worlddivides]

I beg to differ.

Lagers are in general much more narrow and one dimensional than Ales.

Even if you compare all Lagers to Pale Ales - from Pale Ales to Double IPAs, I suspect ales still win but its sort of like "all pies against tiramisu" type of competition - not fair at all.

Besides, I suspect the question was - why do people like crappy light lagers so much - budweiser, miller, coors etc.?
Something like 90% of beer drinking in this country is this crappy style of "lagers", not IPAs. Are you really going to defend this practice?

The point behind the question I posed was that the OP in this thread is making a fallacious argument because "everyone" is NOT into "only" IPAs. Even if you narrow it to just homebrewers and craft beer drinkers, you'll find very few people who "only" drink IPAs. You might find people whose favorite beer style is IPA or who like IPAs more than most beer styles, but you won't find people who are "only" into IPAs. In my personal case, my top three favorite beer styles in no specific order are: sour beers (in particular lambics and Flemish red ales), IPAs (especially West Coast IPAs), and dry lagers (in particular Japanese, German, and Czech styles).

So I corrected it to a more accurate (but still incorrect) argument. Lager is not only the most popular beer style in the US, it is also the most popular beer style in the world. While the "everyone" part obviously isn't true, there are tons of people who ONLY drink lagers.

And, in doing so, I was trying to point out the ridiculousness of the OP's question and also a point of "why do you care? It's none of your business." Just like there might be someone who eats nothing but hamburgers, but that person is not the norm, and it's none of your business why that person has decided to eat nothing but hamburgers.

 

[Patch62383]

Sorry but I know a lot of people who are only into and drink IPA's. Nothing else

 

[Roadliner]

I know people who are only into Carona and drink Caronas. Nothing else

Why is everyone only into bottled pee?

 

[day_trippr]

Sorry but I know a lot of people who are only into and drink IPA's. Nothing else

Cool story, bro...

Cheers!

 

[Roadliner]

Sorry but I know a lot of people who are only into and drink IPA's. Nothing else

It's probably just because IPA's are really good.. they have a massive amount of variance in flavors, and are readily available. a lot of people just stick to one thing when they find something they like.

They might get ranch dressing on all of their salads...

 

[charles]

All your major beer companies are looking for there bottom line. They all can mass produce beer at very little cost. It is good that you see tons of micro breweries popping up all over the place. As for all you who don't like ipa's we are not shoving "our" beer down your throat. Drink what you like and support you local micro breweries. Cheers

 

[day_trippr]

My theory on the "popularity" of fizzy yellow pisswater: kids buy cheap beer, and never grow out of it...

Cheers! (There. I said it. )

 

[55x11]

The point behind the question I posed was that the OP in this thread is making a fallacious argument because "everyone" is NOT into "only" IPAs. Even if you narrow it to just homebrewers and craft beer drinkers, you'll find very few people who "only" drink IPAs. You might find people whose favorite beer style is IPA or who like IPAs more than most beer styles, but you won't find people who are "only" into IPAs. In my personal case, my top three favorite beer styles in no specific order are: sour beers (in particular lambics and Flemish red ales), IPAs (especially West Coast IPAs), and dry lagers (in particular Japanese, German, and Czech styles).

So I corrected it to a more accurate (but still incorrect) argument. Lager is not only the most popular beer style in the US, it is also the most popular beer style in the world. While the "everyone" part obviously isn't true, there are tons of people who ONLY drink lagers.

And, in doing so, I was trying to point out the ridiculousness of the OP's question and also a point of "why do you care? It's none of your business." Just like there might be someone who eats nothing but hamburgers, but that person is not the norm, and it's none of your business why that person has decided to eat nothing but hamburgers.

I agree. it's sort of like asking - why is everyone into home-smoked meat?
Or - why is everyone a gluten-free vegan? Why is everyone so into watching "The Wire"? Why is everyone so into Tour De France?

This describes a tiny section of a very small portion of entire population. Anyone asking a question of why so many people are into IPA should realize that it says a lot more about THEM than it says about beer tastes of the US or the world. Bud Light (alone) sales outnumber Sierra Nevada by a factor of 70, Lagunitas by a factor of at least 200 and Stone by a factor 600. Yes, there is Sam Adams, at 3% of Bud Light, but their top offerings are still lagers (Boston Lager), not IPAs.

And that's just comparing to Bud Light, which is by far #1 beer in US - more than the next three combined (which are Coors Light, Budweiser and Miller Light - all crappy watered-down "pilsner" imitation if you ask me). Craft beer is about 5% of all domestic "Big Beer" - 55K cases for craft, as opposed to 1,198 cases for domestic beer. And IPAs are even smaller percentage of the "craft beer", since Sam Adams Boston Lager and other Ales/Lagers dominate craft market.

So I would guess this thread is complaining about a beer style that is approximately 1%, maybe 2% of all beers sold in US.

First world problem indeed.

 

[Subdivisions]

My theory on the "popularity" of fizzy yellow pisswater: kids buy cheap beer, and never grow out of it...

Cheers! (There. I said it. )

I was one of those "kids"

I grew out of it though.

 

[GCPHomebrew]

The first time I smelled hops all I could think about was brewing something that tastes as good as that wonderful smell. So I brew session ipa 8 out of every 10 batches. Love hops.
Imo you can categorize home brewers
1. Hopheads: add a lot of hops to every style(porter ipa, Belgium ipa, IPL etc) or just brew only ipa.
2. Maltheads: love everything malty
3. The I love all styles and brew them guys.
4. The I brew for the season guys( dark in the winter lawnmower in the summer)
5. Bjcp style obsessed guys

I can't think of another. Add if you can.
I do know when I go to a brewery and a malthead is the brewmaster the ipa, session ipa, and pale ale suck. But the coffe stout, porter etc are awesome.

 

[metanoia]

6. All of the above.

 

[PlexVector]

You got me thinking: I guess my approach to beer is similar to my approach to salads. Some restaurants I get a Cesar if they have a really good Cesar and another I get the spinach salad. Same with beer...depends on whats best never mind the style. I'm just glad that there are now more styles of beer than salad dressings! Lets not get stuck on any one type...enjoy the bounty!

 

[Venari]

You got me thinking: I guess my approach to beer is similar to my approach to salads. Some restaurants I get a Cesar if they have a really good Cesar and another I get the spinach salad. Same with beer...depends on whats best never mind the style. I'm just glad that there are now more styles of beer than salad dressings! Lets not get stuck on any one type...enjoy the bounty!

I've seen salad dressings made from malt extracts....so now there's an equal amount of beer and salad dressings!

 

[mattdee1]

Bud Light &Co is definitely NOT my type of beer. And to each his own.

There are many reasons so many people drink Bud/Coors/Miller, and I suspect a LOT of it has to do with market saturation, historic domination of three BigBeer companies, aggressive promotions/marketing/ads, price point, convenience, tradition, beer history going back to prohibition, etc.

Yeah. It's funny how those beers are so dominant, yet the way they taste is so far down the list of reasons why.

It's the same story for music, movies, food, and all kinds of other things: the masses are suspicious of choices that aren't mainstream, and they're just not curious enough to explore the dusty dark corners of the liquor store for that special craft brew. The underlying mentality is "if such-and-such beer were any good, it would have banners at NASCAR races and everybody would be drinking it."

Here in Ontario, Canada, you cannot buy beer at any old supermarket like you can in most places in the US. About 80% of beer gets sold through a chain called "The Beer Store", which is owned by Molson-Coors, Anheuser-Busch InBev, and Sapporo--all foreign companies. They have the power to make sure their brands get the most shelf space and get pushed to the front for non-discerning consumers to see and buy. It's pretty crooked and disgusting, actually. The little guys have their supporters (like me) but by and large they don't stand a chance.

 

[Komodo]

Buddy of mine at work is one of those "Norm on Cheers" guys. He walks into the local bar and there is a frosty mug of BMC waiting. When he takes the last sip, another is automagically served up to him. He knows all about my brewing and "beer snobbery", and gives me crap when I go on about it. One day at the bar he said "OK fine, what should I get if I was going to have. "good" beer, actually doing the air quotes and mimicing my worst beer snob voice. I had him order a Bell's Two-Hearted, and from that day forward that's ALL he would drink! lmao

Then he started branching, posting pics on FB of doing flights here and there, visiting Deschutes out west, etc. Now he orders Domaine DuPage everytime and acts like a freaking princess everytime he orders it.

 

[Psylocide]

My theory on the "popularity" of fizzy yellow pisswater: kids buy cheap beer, and never grow out of it...

Cheers! (There. I said it. )

I still drink at least a 30 pack of Busch Light a week with my homebrews.

Love the stuff, could drink it all day every day.

And I do.

 

[Chris_Primavera]

I still drink at least a 30 pack of Busch Light a week with my homebrews.

Love the stuff, could drink it all day every day.

And I do.

The first step is.....

 

[Gavin C]

I still drink at least a 30 pack of Busch Light a week with my homebrews.

Love the stuff, could drink it all day every day.

And I do.

How many straws does it take to effectively chug one through your Bōgu?

 

[Psylocide]

How many straws does it take to effectively chug one through your Bōgu?

Haha... never tried it! Either 2 standard straws or 1 krazy straw, but might take some finagling to get it through the grates.

True story though, I basically sweat beer... my whole set smells like a brewery after a good half hour of aggressive sparring.

 

[Roadliner]

How many straws does it take to effectively chug one through your Bōgu?

.

 

[Roadliner]

True story though, I basically sweat beer... my whole set smells like a brewery after a good half hour of aggressive sparring.

Nobody.. Nobody wants to know this

 

[Gavin C]

Haha... never tried it! Either 2 standard straws or 1 krazy straw, but might take some finagling to get it through the grates.

True story though, I basically sweat beer... my whole set smells like a brewery after a good half hour of aggressive sparring.

Hoppy aroma, no? (Gotta stay on topic and talk about IPA)

 

[Gavin C]

Haha... never tried it! Either 2 standard straws or 1 krazy straw, but might take some finagling to get it through the grates.

True story though, I basically sweat beer... my whole set smells like a brewery after a good half hour of aggressive sparring.

Or you could chuck bits of it into a secondary. Voila, soon to be sour (IPA)

Horseblankety.

 

[PlexVector]

.

Those are great! they'd go well with my chemistry set.

 

[Melana]

I have been brewing for about 2 years and I am currently getting into brewing with other people hopefully starting a club. I love love love IPA's don't get me wrong but I am so tired of everyone only brewing and wanting to brew IPA's. I am venting I just think its good to try something different and brew other styles to get your skills and pallet expanded.

My favorite beers to brew are dark and sultry... I love IPA's but I love brewing all beer.