Told the bride that I was getting burned out on IPA. She did the shopping today and surprised me with a bomber of Ninkasi Maiden the Shade. Says Specialty Ale on the label. No IPA written anywhere on it. I think the special ingredient is about 70 ibus of mosaic lol.
How popular do IPAs have to be that even the 23s are IPAs?
Hey West Coast, there’s like other styles to brew. Just sayin
I guess the AHA Brewers are Trend Breakers not Trend Followers;) 70IBU’s sounds low of a WCIPA, you sure its not an APA… heh
Folks gave me IPA’s all the time thinking as a homebrewer that I must be really into them…I graciously accepted and appropriately gushed over the gift, of course, but secretly said: damn, another IPA. Now I tend to tell them that I don’t need bottles and have no room to store the beer cold, so please enjoy them for me. Some insist on my keeping the beers, which I will do, but almost grudgingly. Still, every once in a while an IPA can taste great to me. So, I am not abandoning the style and make full exception for Denny’s RIPA (but I make 2.5 gallon batches these days and bottle it for a couple business associates who can’t get enough of it - and I do like that one!)
Oh I still appreciate and enjoy IPA. Don’t get me wrong. But, criminee sakes! Its like someone said “hey, mac n cheese is pretty good.” Now when you order pizza it’s got mac n cheese on it, or steak with mac n cheese, or mac n cheese flavored ice cream.
Rant over. SWMBO’s second thoughtful gift bomber is a Ninkasi Alt Pale. Aroma was like a Kolsch! But the rest is like an APA. Old APA, like from the 90s, back when they weren’t IPAs. You know, mac with cheese on the side. Actually it’s pretty good.
;D. My bride keeps telling me too sweet.
I am up to around 75 ibu in a robust porter. 
I’ve never been a fan of IPAs. Especially the ones that are designed to remove your taste buds. :o
And, I saw Mac n’ Cheese pizza on a menu at Biagies (SP?) last week. 8)
Paul
It’s a slight derail, but they could clear out a ton of shelf space in liquor stores by tossing the IPAs without freshness dating IMO. I just won’t buy them without a date - been burned too many times. I’m far from Vinnie C, but I make IPA the way I like it, and I can get it fresh. There are a few taps around town with excellent fresh IPAs though.
In fairness they were both great beers. Chasing then with a malty Irish off my tap, so all is well in the world me laddies. Sorry, my Irish (accent) is more Popeye than anything else.
Same here. I rarely buy IPA’s commercially because I can drink mine a whole lot fresher. I might add one to a mix-a-six if I haven’t tried it before and it has a good freshness date. Even the good bottle shops in my area don’t turn over their stock fast enough where I’d feel comfortable buying any IPA without seeing a freshness date. Except maybe Harpoon IPA, since that stuff flies off the shelves around these parts.
I too have begun avoiding IPA’s at the bottle shop for the same reasons but boy, they do seem to multiply every time I visit there seem to be more an more of them on the shelf and the local taps. It’s funny too that they tend to be the first recommendation if asking to try something new. I seem to keep having to steer the suggestion to something that’s NOT an IPA.
I enjoy them but as Jim mentioned, there sure are a lot of other styles out there to enjoy!
All breweries are getting their fresh hope contracts in so they want to brew with the hops when they are as fresh as possible, so there may even be more IPAs on market now than usual.
But, yeah, I agree - seems like some of these breweries could produce some styles that were less heavily dependent on hops.
I always have at least one hoppy beer on tap, but I like a good variety of styles that’s ever changing even with the seasons. A good-n-hoppy IPA is a staple in my house for sure, but I rarely drink the same style back to back. After an IPA it’s great to follow that up with a Robust Porter or even a Barleywine during this time of year. 8)