Question for Beer Aficionados

[Orlong]

Im not much of a beer drinker, or drinker of alcohol at all. Usually the only alcohol I consume is the wine that I cook with. prior to about 2 or 3 years ago, I never even heard the term IPA beer, and while I dont drink beer, I know many people who do.

It seems like 90% of the ads you see online/on TV that arent for the major brands (Bud, Miller, Coors, etc...) are for IPA beer. Its also the type of beer that most people who arent drinking Gennessee or Schlitz just to get drunk seem to be drinking these days, and IPA seems to be prominently displayed on the table placards at almost every restaurant that serves beer, and it seems like the type of beer most microbreweries are making now.

So I guess my question is, is this a new type of beer? Or is it a kind of beer thats been around forever and is just being marketed like crazy now at marked up prices as a premium product. Is it like chicken wings (as in 20 years ago, they were 10 cents a pound and often fed to animals, then one bar in Buffalo cooks some because its all they had left to cook and someone was hungry and people found out they taste good so now they cost more than breasts)?

Im just curious as to what the big deal with IPA beers is all of a sudden. It seems to have taken off lately and talked about everywhere like bacon did not too long ago

[Radio]

First time I've heard of IPA personally, even as a fan of Pale Ale in general. >.>

[Feral Camel]

IPAs have been around for a fair few years (nearly 200 years). Its a beer with an interesting story. It was originally send from Great Britain to India, to last the trip it had to be heavy in hops, which back then was the preservative they used. Turns out, it creates a really strong and hoppy flavoured beer.

I hope that helps. IPA are not for everybody. They're a beer that... like most, the more you drink, the more you love. The problem is other beers can become very lackluster when you drink IPAs all the time.

I'll add, I'm not best at articulating flavours, a few others on the site may be better at explaining the flavour differences

[Orlong]

IPAs have been around for a fair few years (nearly 200 years). Its a beer with an interesting story. It was originally send from Great Britain to India, to last the trip it had to be heavy in hops, which back then was the preservative they used. Turns out, it creates a really strong and hoppy flavoured beer.

I hope that helps. IPA are not for everybody. They're a beer that... like most, the more you drink, the more you love. The problem is other beers can become very lackluster when you drink IPAs all the time.

I'll add, I'm not best at articulating flavours, a few others on the site may be better at explaining the flavour differences

Why are they so popular now though when nobody even heard of them 5 years ago. Now it seems like its all you hear about

[Sunseeker]

I hope that helps. IPA are not for everybody. They're a beer that... like most, the more you drink, the more you love. The problem is other beers can become very lackluster when you drink IPAs all the time.

I'd like to point out that this is not always true, I really dislike IPA, and it's not for the heavy hoppy taste either (i usually like that taste). I have never had an IPA I liked.

[Disenchanted]

IPAs are a polar taste. You either like them or you hate them in my experience. People who tolerate hoppy flavors love them. Those who don't usually never will. But it's become a fad the past few years with the rise of good microbrews.

I'm not a fan of them. My tastes run toward more malty flavors than hoppy. But IPAs are very intense in flavor, so I understand why others love them.

I'll stick with Guinness. Why mess with perfection?

[Gheld]

Before I read the question. Hops.

Now that I read the question. Hops.

I honestly am not a fan of super hopsy beers.

I personally prefer a nice light lager; especially since beer is meant to be enjoyed with food, if the beer has too powerful a flavour then that just tends to ruin the balance.

If you're looking for a very hopsy lager with a strong bitterness then a GOOD Pilsner is the way to go (not a crappy one).

If you're not a major beer drinker then you should stick to light lagers, since most bitter tastes are acquired over time, but be careful, because a lot of companies will label their crappy Pilsner's as lagers, even though a Pilsner is a very specific style of lager with a completely different tasting experience than the low to medium bitterness that is generally associated with pretty much every other style of beer labelled as a "lager".

If it's the kind of beer that comes in 128 packs and some college douchebag purchased it, there's a 100% chance that it's a crappy Pilsner. Cheap mass produced Pilsner's are sort of the "McBeer". It's an inedible mish-mash of every possible tasting note that could be put into a better beer. (That's not to say a Pilsner can't be done right, but any Pilsner that is done right won't come in 24 packs or be available in 24 hour drive through beer vendors.) This is why most people don't like beer the first time they try it.

So you should really pick your beer based on what you personally like. I like a smooth understated flavour, so I typically will either drink a light lager, or a "Scottish-Style" ale.

But "Beer" is a really a layman's term that refers to a broad category of different beverages. It would be like drinking green apple sourpuss and using that as your standard by which you judge all liqueurs. Don't just try one beer before you say you don't like beer. Try them all!

[Feral Camel]

Why are they so popular now though when nobody even heard of them 5 years ago. Now it seems like its all you hear about

Trends come and go, and then come back... its no difference with food. I also think the internet helps with the awareness of different styles of beer. IPA are a pretty well established style of beer though. Although I wouldn't class IPA as main stream, at least here in Australia. We are apparently about 10 years behind the American micro brewery revolution though. American pale ale, which are fairly popular in Australia seems like a more of a gateway beer to your heavy pales ales, such as IPA's, so I personally can see how the trend has evolved.

[entropism]

The craft beer movement has been slowly building steam for the past 10 years or so, but it's just exploded recently, and thankfully so. I'm so glad that relatively smaller breweries are getting recognition, and even the "big guns" of the craft world like Dogfish Head and Stone are gaining more & more traction. The less people drinking Bud & Coors, the better.

One thing about craft breweries? They usually LOVE their customers. Find a local place and take a tour of the brewery, and you'll probably be treated like royalty, while learning about the process and sampling some great brews (And some experimental, never to be released stuff as well).

I'll stick with Guinness. Why mess with perfection?

Try Great Divide's Yeti Stout, or Founder's Breakfast stout, and you'll never drink Guinness again. If you can find it (or willing to spend enough for it) Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout is just... Incredible doesn't even begin to do it justice. I'm a stout guy myself, and Guinness is seriously the bottom of the barrel unless you get it IN Ireland. Branch out, use an app like Untappd (almost like Yelp! for beers), and expand your horizons.

[PACOX]

Man IPAs. A lot of people say they like IPAs because its "cool" to say that you like IPAs. Those same people will say that anything with "IPA" at the end of its name is a good beer. You can get away making a bitter bottle of crap and people would still say its the best thing in the world if you call it an IPA.

[Adam Jensen]

I like IPAs, though they tend to leave me more thirsty. Usually once I finish a six pack, I go back to the more mellow lagers.

They are a bit of an acquired taste, I didn't like them on the first sip, but once I finished the bottle I was happy with it. Eventually they became a favorite type of beer for me.

[Sunseeker]

Try Great Divide's Yeti Stout, or Founder's Breakfast stout, and you'll never drink Guinness again. If you can find it (or willing to spend enough for it) Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout is just... Incredible doesn't even begin to do it justice. I'm a stout guy myself, and Guinness is seriously the bottom of the barrel unless you get it IN Ireland. Branch out, use an app like Untappd (almost like Yelp! for beers), and expand your horizons.

Agreed, craft stouts will put Guinness to shame. Not to mention there are so many varieties and flavors and styles to them. Guinness has what, 2, 3 different flavors? And really they're not all that far apart.

I'm also going "Old Rasputin, Old Rasputin...where have I heard that before?" so I go and google it and North Coast Brewing and I'm all "Oh yeah! I used to live down the street from them!" Ah good times, the Humboldt area is great for it's microbrews.

[Disenchanted]

The craft beer movement has been slowly building steam for the past 10 years or so, but it's just exploded recently, and thankfully so. I'm so glad that relatively smaller breweries are getting recognition, and even the "big guns" of the craft world like Dogfish Head and Stone are gaining more & more traction. The less people drinking Bud & Coors, the better.

One thing about craft breweries? They usually LOVE their customers. Find a local place and take a tour of the brewery, and you'll probably be treated like royalty, while learning about the process and sampling some great brews (And some experimental, never to be released stuff as well).



Try Great Divide's Yeti Stout, or Founder's Breakfast stout, and you'll never drink Guinness again. If you can find it (or willing to spend enough for it) Old Rasputin Russian Imperial Stout is just... Incredible doesn't even begin to do it justice. I'm a stout guy myself, and Guinness is seriously the bottom of the barrel unless you get it IN Ireland. Branch out, use an app like Untappd (almost like Yelp! for beers), and expand your horizons.

I LOVE Founder's double oatmeal breakfast stout. But it's too heavy for all night drinking. 2 maybe 3 max. It's also hard to get in my neck of the woods.

I can drink Guinness until the cows come home. It's perfectly balanced between flavor and not being too heavy.
I hate Yeti. Tastes like flowers.

[poser765]

The less people drinking Bud & Coors, the better.

.

The BMC beers have their place. When I want to sit around the pool and just have a good time bro style I'll drink some bud. Or if I am in the hotel after work and a beer sounds good I'll grad a Miller.

When I want to actually drink a good beer I'll pick anything but a BMC. I know good beer, but I am not a beer snob. Is BMC good beer? No...but I don't think it tastes nearly as much like piss as the beer snobs claim it does. Some of it is pretty good, and some of it is pretty trash.

Also, Orlong, I don't think your basic Bud/Miller/coors beer is classified as IPA. They are typically just a pale lager.

[Harry Botter]

I love a good IPA. I have completed the Brewniversity challenge (drink 500 different types of beer) at Taco Mac in GA twice when i lived there. Just checkedc and 79 of them were IPA's (I keep the personalized plaque they gave me on my wall it has the names and types on it). Hopslam IPA is my clear favorite. Very very hard to find and when I was lucky enough to try one cost me $7 for a single bottle. Not too bad since the six packs sale for upwards of $20+

[GennGreymane]

I think darker beers are the way to go. If you ever go to a real bar or restaurant (non chains or small chains)

get some of their different beers. Don't just go for the usuals.

[Orlong]

Also, Orlong, I don't think your basic Bud/Miller/coors beer is classified as IPA. They are typically just a pale lager.

Oh, Im aware. I was just using those as the examples of the only beers I see ads for that are NOT IPAs. Where I live we have a few local breweries that advertise too that arent IPAs like Yuengling (who also makes the best ice cream Ive ever tasted, and it doesnt even have beer in it. They came up with the recipe and sold it to stay in business during prohibition), Troegs, and Appalachian Brewing Company

[Phookah]

Dragons Milk.
Not even once.

[belfpala]

Why are they so popular now though when nobody even heard of them 5 years ago. Now it seems like its all you hear about

I started drinking EPA when I was legally able to buy alcohol (far more than 5 years ago; not IPA, I know, but subtle difference.) Things beyond the major brands have been around for a long time. I remember reading, have not verified, there were something like 80 breweries in the US at the end of the 70's, and nearly 3000 now. One of the oldest and best known local breweries where I live started in 1986, making the very same EPA I was talking about in the first sentence.

[Tulune]

Ugh, I hate IPAs, too bitter. A nice witbier however, yum.