Is IPA really that popular?

[Lando]

I was in several grocery stores in the area over the past few days and, as always, browsed through the beer coolers. It seems that one of the styles that was lacking presence was IPA. In the section where you can build your own six pack the racks that were picked over the most were Landshark Lager, Stella, Flying Dog Amber Lager, Shock Top and Corona. They have the Longhammer IPA and numerous pale ales, but very few IPA's in the single section. There were tons of various wheat beers, several stouts and even more pale ales in six packs, but only a couple of IPA's.
Is the IPA trend fading, or was it never really that big to begin with?

 

[mmb]

Among beer geeks/snobs, IPA is still hugely popular.

Unfortunately, IPA isn't a gateway beer from BMC and as such isn't as easy for those American Light Lager drinkers to jump to. Quite a surprise for a new to build a six pack BMC guy to jump from Landshark to something like Dogfish Head 90.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Never underestimate how stupid the people working at liquor stores are. Most of them (at least around here) have no idea about anything they are selling. Same goes for most managers. They just stock what the distributors are pushing/unloading.

IPA's are a popular style. So are pale ales. So are light lagers. I don't think the American IPA will fade anytime soon, it is kind of our international calling card.

 

[ThickHead]

IPA is without a doubt my favorite style, but I am a bit of a hop-head. Having said that, I am gushing over the Oktoberfest I currently have bottled, which is far removed from an IPA. I guess I just like beer....eheh!

Love me some IPA though...the hoppier the better.

 

[niquejim]

My local store sold out of SNCA in one day each the first 2 deliveries this year. We are a small but loyal group

 

[corvax13]

IPA is a VERY acquired taste. I would say that outside of the homebrewers/avid beer drinkers, it is not a popular style. BMC drinkers are more likely to sway the brown ale/porter route, I think, than towards IPAs.

 

[humann_brewing]

I certainly love a good IPA now, but would not have said that even 2 years ago. I was not a BMC drinker, I never really settled for the lowest quality beer, even if that meant getting Henry Weinhards instead of BMC.

In the past 5 years, I have really come to appreciate craft beer and more recently started loving bitter beers, before it was a lot of porters and browns. For a while, I thought SNPA was too hoppy if you can imagine that

 

[TexLaw]

You buy mixed sixers. Quit griping.

Yes, IPAs are popular, but they are far from "most popular." If you go through my normal beer store, there are a whole lot of IPAs available, and nearly all of them are not pretending to be IPAs.


TL

 

[noblesquirrel]

IPA is a VERY acquired taste. I would say that outside of the homebrewers/avid beer drinkers, it is not a popular style. BMC drinkers are more likely to sway the brown ale/porter route, I think, than towards IPAs.

I've seen it work both ways, though Guinness usually sends people one way and Sierra Nevada sends them the other

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I think American IPA's could be the kind of thing that will stop the more adventurous BMC drinkers from crossing over to the good side. There is so much emphasis now on hoppiness and kick yer face in extremeness that there is no middle ground apart from over hoppy APA's. This is fine for the converted, but I can't really see where the craft brew movement is really helping itself grow in the US with the absence of good session ales. Having said all that, it is ironic that Budweiser has actually done more to affect any possible changeover with their attempted "American ale"

 

[luvmy40]

Obviously I do not speak for everyone. I have come to love IPA and especially IIPA. This a fairly recent infatuation but a strong one.

I cannot think of a style that I do not like. I can think of several brand specific brews that I would not drink again if paid, though not a single brewery.

IPA (extreme style) has become the American Craft Brew calling card. As Americans we must be the biggest baddest and most extreme in all things. This not always good but is certainly not always bad either.

Go to a package store that caters to the Home Brewers and for the Craft Breweries and see what is the best selling style...I would be hard pressed to build a sixer that did not include at least two extremely hopped beers.

JMHO

 

[scrambledegg81]

I think American IPA's could be the kind of thing that will stop the more adventurous BMC drinkers from crossing over to the good side.

You mean Luke drinks IPA's & Vader drinks stouts?

 

[ian-atx]

I think it is popular especially with the beer enthusiasts and home brewers. but I also know people that are big beer fans that can drink maybe one IPA and then need to move onto other beers.

It probably depends a lot on your local area.

 

[humann_brewing]

I think bring up any beer related topic here is going to bring different responses that if you took a poll at the local grocery store.

It is hard to tell from my sig because I don't have all my beers listed but as a example, last night, I had a SN Anniversary (IPA), my Pliny clone (IIPA) and then my sterling pale (APA)..... yes I like hops.

 

[ThickHead]

You mean Luke drinks IPA's & Vader drinks stouts?

Darth could only have drank something with "Imperial" in the title. DUN DUN DUN, Dun DA DUN, DUN DA DUN...

 

[david_42]

This is fine for the converted, but I can't really see where the craft brew movement is really helping itself grow in the US with the absence of good session ales.

Have to agree there, too many people associate craft brew with monster enamel removers. Mark at GVB got tired of losing sales to BMC, so he now has an American Hybrid on tap. And has trouble keeping up with demand. Even some of the hopheads talk about how hard it is to find something they can have with lunch and go back to work.

 

[alexdagrate]

Come out to the West Coast sometime and prepare to have your mind blown.

There are dozens upon dozens of different APAs, IPAs, and IIPAs available in our multitude of bottle shops and grocery stores.

Redhook, Pyramid, and Weinhard's IPAs are dirt cheap and nothing special. A six pack of Deschutes Inversion IPA can be picked up for $6 on sale. I get Sierra Nevada Harvest Wet Hop at my ALBERTSON'S.

Every brewery and brew pub HAS to have at least one IPA available out here, most have more than one.

Being located near the hop-growing regions of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho has its privileges.

 

[waldoar15]

IDK, the only ones I'll buy off of the shelf are Dogfish Head or Stone. The price for six of those here is one reason I started brewing my own. I doubt if either of the two package stores I stop at sell more than a case or two of each a week.

 

[ThickHead]

You know...I have lived in a lot of places in the US over the years. Maybe it's just the locations where I have and I have been lucky but I have never found it difficult to find a place where there was not only a quality selection of many different styles but at least one knowlegeable person to chat with about beer. Now, that isn't to say that these places have been the local Ingles, Piggly Wiggly, Bi-Lo, Kroger, or Win-Dixie. I guess it's all about how far you are willing to drive or just how big an area you choose to qualify as "local." Perhaps I am overly diligent....

 

[noblesquirrel]

You know...I have lived in a lot of places in the US over the years. Maybe it's just the locations where I have and I have been lucky but I have never found it difficult to find a place where there was not only a quality selection of many different styles but at least one knowlegeable person to chat with about beer. Now, that isn't to say that these places have been the local Ingles, Piggly Wiggly, Bi-Lo, Kroger, or Win-Dixie. I guess it's all about how far you are willing to drive or just how big an area you choose to qualify as "local." Perhaps I am overly diligent....

I was going to say something similar as well. I think that there is a lot more to offer than IPAs. Now, every brewery does one, if not several, IPAs and they do seem very ubiquitous, though I've never really had an issue finding an immense selection of a variety of styles. I'd even go so far as to say that a lot of Midwest breweries are incredibly well rounded in what they release (Goose Island, New Glarus, Bells, Founders), offering things for virtually everyone. One of my favorite craft beers is fresh Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold (and I am a hop head).

 

[skadalajara]

I'm a hophead. I'd use Cascades as a salad green if I could get it fresh.
This is a college town.
My beer store is pretty much on campus. And they have a hyooge selection of hop bombs.
When DFH 120 comes out, they limit you to 2 per day.
Apparently I/IPAs sell well.
But...
Lately I've been discovering that there are other beers out there besides Torpedo, Celebration, Longhammer, Hop Juice, etc. It's kind of refreshing, actually. I'll probably enjoy my next hop bomb that much more because of it.

 

[MeatyPortion]

Soon, Bud will come out with Xtreem EyePeaAY! Then the apocalypse will truly have begun.

 

[Runyanka]

I think it depends on what store you go to. For instance, if I got to crap-mart or target, all they have is the stuff the OP stated. Now if I go to lets say, central market or market street, they have 3/4 of the beer isle dedicated to craft brews!!!

 

[josiahcox]

In my neck of the woods, IPA's have been and continue to be available in great variety even at most local grocery stores. Hell, gas stations usually have at least 1 or 2 good micro IPA's. Of course I live in NW Washington and we are hop crazy up here.

 

[Homercidal]

I don't think IPAs are a fad. I think that the style tends to lend itself to a bit of aquiring, but many people do end up appreciating them.

I never thought I'd be a hop head, but after a few I learned to get past the bitterness and appreciate the hop flavor and aroma. For me, the extreme is not the bitternes, but the hop flavor so potent that it's like you are drinking liquid hops. Yes, a bit bitter, but not so much that it interrupts the enjoyment of the flavor and aroma.

Lately I've gotten away from IPAs, just to try some other stuff out. I'd been drinking them pretty regularly for a while. I've done some session stuff, and some other styles for the seasons (lighter during the summer and darker this fall.)

But I'm just about ready to get back into the IPAs. It's a style that I'd really like to get a handle on brewing.

 

[hal2814]

I don't think IPA's are a fad, but I do think there is a hops arms race going on right now that certainly is a fad. For example, I don't think we'll eventually see a Dogfish 720. I don't get a lot of variety locally. My supermarket sadly has the best selection in my town. But I can still get Longhammer and Sweetwater IPA. I can also occasionally find Sierra Nevada's IPA. So I'd have to say they're pretty popular based on my experience.

 

[david_42]

hops arms race

This was lost about 6 years ago. A IIPA called Colossus (not DuClaw Colossus) was at the Boonesville Fest. The brewer told me he lost 25% of the wort to the hops. Hop juice cubed! Can't remember what it tasted like, don't remember much about the Fest period. One fee, unlimited tastes. Even at 4 oz each, you can do a lot of damage in 6 hours.

 

[Yooper]

I was in a grocery store today, about 30 miles from my home, picking out beer. A random stranger asked me what I was looking for, an I said, "I don't know for sure!" He recommend an IPA from Central Waters Brewing "if you like hoppy beers". I said I did, and he said it's one of his favorite IPAs and IPAs are his favorite style. Then he said, "I brew my own beer, and that's when I really got into IPAs". I didn't get to talk to him anymore- he was in a hurry and grabbed a six pack and ran.

The point is that IPAs are well-loved, but it sure seems that lots of hopheads are homebrewers!

 

[Bullshivit-brew]

#1 to yooper I didnt like them until I started brewing and know I am turning to the dark side

 

[bigjoe]

They are that popular. I think the popularity will fade, but it will still be an American staple beer. When I got into homebrewing Stouts and Porters were the thing. IPA is the thing now.

Any local liquor store I go to has a huge variety of IPA's. My neighbor and I did our best to sample them all.

I'm done with them and pursue beers with more balance these days. I think the fact there are so many bad IPA's is what started to turn me off on them.

If my homebrew club is any indication they are still hugely popular. Nobody is really brewing them, but if they bring a 6'er its most likely an IPA. I've had so many thin bodied, and overly flavorful IPA's its not funny. Often lacking in bitterness and malt. So a good example of the style tends to stay with me. O'Dells is one that comes to mind, and my local favorite is Blvd Double wide IPA or Single wide IPA.

Is anyone else's local micro-brewery producing a bad Lager to compete with BMC? Blvd has one and I don't think its very good, and I've liked everything they've done so far.

 

[Irrenarzt]

IPA is my primary beer. I make 4x more IPA than any other style. We had a recent brew day and I brought 3 kegs of 3 different varieties of IPA's and all were a big hit. IPA's may not be the most popular as they are an acquired taste but amongst "beer people" IPA's are a thriving style...

 

[blackwaterbrewer]

they don't sell ipa's in the mix-your-own, because ipa's are much more expensive than most beers. sometimes, i cheat and grab a few dogfish 60 min.'s out of a sixpack and stick it in with theother ones.

 

[jbambuti]

I've gotten more and more into the hoppy beers in the last couple of years. I love lots of styles, but keep coming back to stouts, IPA's and IIPA's. I walked into delivery day at my local alcohol megamart yesterday and saw Green Flash West Coast IPA. As Chicago has such weird distribution, this was the first time I'd seen it here. I'm still waiting for Stone to come to Chicago.

Drinking a Green Flash right now. Mmmm...95 IBU's. I'll be glad in a week when my homebrewed pipeline is running strong again.

 

[MistyMountainHops]

IMHO you can't go wrong with an IPA. I dont care if it was ever popular, or is never popular again - bc that means more for me! The hoppier the better. I love hops so much I dry hopped an oaked imperial stout. Sounds crazy, but it's money! Imagine a strong hoppy foretaste/aroma with a lingering of oak.

 

[hbomb]

This thread makes me miss Oregon where you could get a great IPA at gas station quicky mart. Here in Texas I have a tough time satiating my hophead tendencies. Even when I can scout out a good IPA, the local ones rarely have the emphasis on aroma of the west coast "imports". They may not appeal to the masses, but the great thing about the craft brew movement is the emphasis on diversity rather than common denominators that manage to simultaneously satisfy everyone and no one.

 

[Dalarast]

See I can't find a good IPA unless I get one from a local HB buddy or brew myself. Hence why my next batch to brew is an IPA. Don't think it will ever go away. Don't care about the people who are all about their coronas or light carb beers.. get a nice full IPA and enjoy.. and then run in the morning.. so worth it

 

[HalfPint]

I've always been a huge porter guy, but I'm really starting to love the refreshing hit you get from an IPA. I only have one Pale ale in my arsenal right now, but I think this is going to be my next brew.