Why is everyone only into IPA's

[Gavin C]

I had to look that one up. Never seen one of those before. I love malted milk shakes, and chocolate malted balls. I'll have to keep an eye out for those.

There absolutely delicious.

Don't know why everyone is only into them though.

 

[joshesmusica]

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

 

[PlexVector]

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

Wait! Wait! I meant to say Malted milk balls...

 

[Homercidal]

My take on why IPA's are so popular. (Besides hops are awesome!)

There are man, many hops to choose from. There are many hops coming out all the time. Brewers want to experiment and try different things.

So there are many, many combinations of hops and grains, and whatnot to experiment with. It's harder to experiment with other beer styles because they are usually very limited in the type of hops that they are made with. And when you do experiment with different hops, then it almost becomes an "IPA" be default, just because you used different hops than expected.

IPA is such a broad style, it's very easy to call something an IPA. Much harder to stretch the ingredients of most other styles.

 

[charles]

My take on why IPA's are so popular. (Besides hops are awesome!)

There are man, many hops to choose from. There are many hops coming out all the time. Brewers want to experiment and try different things.

So there are many, many combinations of hops and grains, and whatnot to experiment with. It's harder to experiment with other beer styles because they are usually very limited in the type of hops that they are made with. And when you do experiment with different hops, then it almost becomes an "IPA" be default, just because you used different hops than expected.

IPA is such a broad style, it's very easy to call something an IPA. Much harder to stretch the ingredients of most other styles.

That's why I change the recipe to get a different taste from the same basic kits.

 

[djonesax]

Over time, their tastes evolve and they discover various Stouts, Porters, Barley wines.

This is where I am right now... I'm over IPA and it drives me nuts that every bar I go to has 3 or 4 IPAs on tap and the rest is Bud, Miller, etc...

 

[eric19312]

Well,
I like to brew what other people like, I get great joy in sharing my homebrew. I like to brew often. Pale Ale and IPA are what they keep coming back for. I have some other simple stuff alternately on tap, Amber Ale, Red Ale and Stout for instance (all are very good, clean examples of their style), but they are for the most part slowing down the pipeline. I would love to begin learning to perfect a Saison and other more sophisticated beers, but fear that they will contribute to the congestion. My brewery has very limited capacity!!
And my wife and I really like IPA!!

Enjoyed 15 pages of sarcasm but brick_haus got it right on page 3 or 4. I manage my pipeline. I keep 3 beers on tap. Tap 1 is always IPA. Tap 2 is a clean beer that isn't IPA. Might be APA, Stout, Brown, Blond, or even DIPA. Tap 3 is a sour beer ususally Gose or Berliner. For 10 kegs I probably brew 6 IPA, 3 non-IPA and 1 sour. And thats because I tend to run out of IPA and we are forced to try drinking something else.

 

[mattdee1]

My take on why IPA's are so popular. (Besides hops are awesome!)

There are man, many hops to choose from. There are many hops coming out all the time. Brewers want to experiment and try different things.

Interesting theory, but that's the brewer's perspective. The other half of the equation is the consumer.

Supply and demand. Why so much demand? Part of it is because a good IPA is a good beer, sure. But never underestimate the marketing power of cool.

I think IPAs, to a lot of craft beer neophytes, represent the ultimate embodiment of the "anti-BMC" taste, due to the crazy strong flavor that tends to offend Uncle Bob Budweiser. From a craft beer marketing standpoint, this is pure gold, because it means they're not just selling beer, they're effectively selling backstage lanyards to the cool kid's club. It makes the drinker feel more cultured and "with it" than the frat boys crushing Miller Lite cans on their foreheads. Other traditional styles, such as dark English milds and ambers and porters and the like--delicious as they may be when done well--don't interest as many people in the expanding craft beer demographic because all they are is plain old good beer, with absolutely zero "hip" factor.

 

[Spartan300man]

Other traditional styles, such as dark English milds and ambers and porters and the like--delicious as they may be when done well--don't interest as many people in the expanding craft beer demographic because all they are is plain old good beer, with absolutely zero "hip" factor.

However, consider this addition to that theory: I think that holding a dark colored beer is also like having the rebellious backstage lanyard. People across the bar can't tell what you are drinking if it is a pale colored ale, it could be a Bud, but a dark colored beer is a badge of honor in the "BMC Rebels Club".
I remember what I saw at a lot of the trendy yuppie bars 'back in the day', and having a lemon in a giant glass of Hacker Pschorr was the backstage lanyard. (I was just using the restroom and happened to notice as I quickly walked in and out, of course). That has since been diluted by the Corona lime effect, which is now a sign of wussie-ville.

 

[QuadConPana]

It is a pendulum swing...the Macro-beer drinkers get sick of the watery, fizzy, tasteless swill, and they discover a different kind of beer, usually a Sam Adams, sometimes a Hacker-Pschorr. I call these the "gateway-beers". This leads them on a journey, and often this journey takes them on the pendulum swing down the path of the IPA simply due to the hunger for massive flavor.

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. That's why I get bored when I go to Total Wine and see 600 IPA's but only a handful of each other style.

 

[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 bitch 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...