With the explosion of IPAs, barrel-aged beers, and sours I got to thinking will there be another craft beer trend that will push one of those 3 styles out?
There are many different sub styles or all three of those; hazy IPAs are the craze right now but maybe a newer or a past IPA sub style will be the next Hazy IPA. Barrel-aging has gone from being with stouts and porters to pushing into sours, IPAs, browns, and more; is this a trend that will continue or will that fade a bit? Sours/goses/berliners/flanders are right up there in terms of popularity and demand as well.
I don’t see IPAs slowing down; sure some substyles will trend up but the overall IPA I think will continue to dominate the craft beer market. The same can be said with barrel-aged stouts/porters. I do think classic styles will continue to make their return to breweries/retail. Pilsners, Kolschs, Lagers, and Porters have seen an increase of demand recently. I’m a huge fan of Saisons and think this is a style, which popular by some degree already, could make a splash as well. Maybe not necessarily a style but that can be factored in to additions would be new Hop varieties. It seems like we are hearing on a daily basis about a new hop and it’s flavor profile.
One style I do see making a big jump, especially with warmer months approaching is the the Mexican-Style lager. Putting a craft spin on what used to be a Corona with lime in it could be a great gateway to craft but also could be excellent for the beach/river/pool come this summer. So, my question, at the end of 2018, besides the first 3 listed above, what will be the new craze in craft beer?
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I certainly hope less food/adjuncts happens in 2018. I’m sure there’ll be a new wave of hops that become more heavily sought after; el dorado is a new one that seems to be gaining popularity.
As much as I’d like to see lagers become more prominent, I doubt they’ll ever be more than an also-ran in the craft community. IPL’s and other hoppy lagers never really took off. As good as they are, they don’t seem to generate much hype or demand.
Saisons are also underappreciated and I chalk that up to not being as accessible. You have to have been drinking good beer for a while to like most saisons. They’re not that much different from sours however sours are generally more approachable.
It’s not unfathomable that hop-forward beers will one day be dethroned as the most popular style. What would replace them, I have no idea. It’ll be fun to see where we’re at and what beers we’re drinking the most of in 5, 10 years and beyond