A lot of IPAs are gross. Some are quite good. Bitterness is the most maligned of all tastes. Tons and tons of bitter things that people love and every one of them is a love/hate acquired taste thing.
Grapefruit, bitter melon, bitter black coffee, any sort of bitter beer (IPAs aren’t the only one), heck even burnt sugar!
The biggest problem with IPAs is that crappy/inexperienced brewers use the bitterness of hops to cover up brewing defects. This leads to really gross aftertastes or overwhelming bitterness and only hipsters like drinking that crap.
For a hot minute there near the end of the Obama administration, craft beer was a thing in this country and we had some excellent beers. Then Trump got elected and I haven’t seen a craft beer that wasn’t an IPA or a token jet black “oatmeal stout” since.
The “craft” part got killed in the commercialization of the genre. So it’s become the modern version of Pabst. And there is a contraction of micro breweries at the moment as beer drinkers are slowly learning to pass on all the crap out there.
It’s a thing that happened and I’m not sure by what mechanism. 2018, lots of microbreweries and brewpubs most offering a wide variety, by 2021 you’ve got seven IPAs and one token stout on the menu.
We’ve moved on to sours or IPA/sour combos. I drink them because they are delicious to my palate. Always drank my coffee black even as a kid. I like bitter.
Honestly I fucking hate the term hipster. I’m not hip, I’m a laborer in my 40s. It’s just another way for people to divide each other.
I dislike the term hipster in large part because it’s a cultural movement that’s nearly a decade dead. It was people being kinda annoying about the realization that small scale products and culture tended to be better value propositions than mass produced versions. In 2025 everyone knows that. We all know that some no name restaurant in town is likely better than Applebee’s for example. Every gamer knows that a good indie game will likely give you more fun for your money than a aaa game (though the aaa one is more consistently likely to not be terrible).
Calling someone a hipster in 2025 is like calling someone a hippie peacenik for opposing the Iraq war
Good for you I guess, but why’d the variety have to disappear? I want my ESBs and barleywines back. I haven’t seen a locally made wheat beer since before the pandemic.
Because sweet beers are fucking disgusting? Really though you like what you like. I live in a tiny state population-wise in the US. I can drive five minutes to several shops that have 30 different sweet wheat options.
Oh I don’t disagree with you. I’ve looked for decent non-IPA microbrews and have been puzzled at the lack of selection! I just wasn’t aware of the timing.
Where i am every microbrewery has an ipa, and most have a stout, but from there you get all sorts. Rhinegeist famously does whatever they feel like, which makes them a nice safe bet. I love an Oktoberfest and I’m never hurting for choices in the fall. I also love me an American ale and we’ve got one brewery that’s got one that’s gained a fair bit of popularity for good reason.
A lot of IPAs are gross. Some are quite good. Bitterness is the most maligned of all tastes. Tons and tons of bitter things that people love and every one of them is a love/hate acquired taste thing.
Grapefruit, bitter melon, bitter black coffee, any sort of bitter beer (IPAs aren’t the only one), heck even burnt sugar!
The biggest problem with IPAs is that crappy/inexperienced brewers use the bitterness of hops to cover up brewing defects. This leads to really gross aftertastes or overwhelming bitterness and only hipsters like drinking that crap.
For a hot minute there near the end of the Obama administration, craft beer was a thing in this country and we had some excellent beers. Then Trump got elected and I haven’t seen a craft beer that wasn’t an IPA or a token jet black “oatmeal stout” since.
The “craft” part got killed in the commercialization of the genre. So it’s become the modern version of Pabst. And there is a contraction of micro breweries at the moment as beer drinkers are slowly learning to pass on all the crap out there.
One of the weirdest takes I’ve ever seen. Bravo and well done for somehow working politics into this!
It’s a thing that happened and I’m not sure by what mechanism. 2018, lots of microbreweries and brewpubs most offering a wide variety, by 2021 you’ve got seven IPAs and one token stout on the menu.
Steel tariffs did hurt the craft beer industry actually
Mostly because they can’t be good at all of them. And there were/are a lot of bad brewers out there that don’t care about mastering the craft.
We’ve moved on to sours or IPA/sour combos. I drink them because they are delicious to my palate. Always drank my coffee black even as a kid. I like bitter.
Honestly I fucking hate the term hipster. I’m not hip, I’m a laborer in my 40s. It’s just another way for people to divide each other.
I dislike the term hipster in large part because it’s a cultural movement that’s nearly a decade dead. It was people being kinda annoying about the realization that small scale products and culture tended to be better value propositions than mass produced versions. In 2025 everyone knows that. We all know that some no name restaurant in town is likely better than Applebee’s for example. Every gamer knows that a good indie game will likely give you more fun for your money than a aaa game (though the aaa one is more consistently likely to not be terrible).
Calling someone a hipster in 2025 is like calling someone a hippie peacenik for opposing the Iraq war
Good for you I guess, but why’d the variety have to disappear? I want my ESBs and barleywines back. I haven’t seen a locally made wheat beer since before the pandemic.
Because sweet beers are fucking disgusting? Really though you like what you like. I live in a tiny state population-wise in the US. I can drive five minutes to several shops that have 30 different sweet wheat options.
You consider an ESB, an Extra Special Bitter, a sweet beer?
Didn’t know what an ESB was, sorry. I saw wheat and thought gross.
Oh I don’t disagree with you. I’ve looked for decent non-IPA microbrews and have been puzzled at the lack of selection! I just wasn’t aware of the timing.
Where i am every microbrewery has an ipa, and most have a stout, but from there you get all sorts. Rhinegeist famously does whatever they feel like, which makes them a nice safe bet. I love an Oktoberfest and I’m never hurting for choices in the fall. I also love me an American ale and we’ve got one brewery that’s got one that’s gained a fair bit of popularity for good reason.
It’s been a minute since I’ve walked into a brewery or beer shop and found something I’d prefer over Yuengling, my go-to grocery store beer.