Over the past few months, I have been conducting beer seminars at our Lansdale and Glenside locations. These seminars allow me to share the history of different beers, take people through a guided tasting and help them understand more about beer styles. The classic beer styles evolved in so many ways, be it available ingredients or copying a popular style or necessity. What scares me most about the craft beer scene today is that many of these classic styles are facing extinction on store shelves, and if left unchecked, it could be the death of craft beer as we know it.
In 1979, Homebrewing became legal at the federal level, and since that moment, home brewers have been revisiting classic styles and creating new ones. That first wave of home brewers became the craft brewing pioneers. Fritz Maytag of Anchor and Ken Grossman of Sierra Nevada challenged taste buds and palates with aggressive beers and new flavors. When Sierra Nevada’s Pale Ale was released in 1980, it had an IBU (international bitterness unit) of 38. More than three times the bitterness than Miller Lite, which dominated the market. Innovation and different takes on existing beer styles have continued at a breakneck pace over the last 10 years.
Since we opened in 2012, IPAs have taken center stage. We did not brew an IPA for 14 months after opening. We launched with a Black IPA, which was popular when we were building the brewery, but that style had faded to an occasional brew at most breweries by the time production hit high gear. We hoped we could exist without an IPA. We tried. We caved. We entered the land of an IPA brewery. Fast forward to 2019, we now brew at least 13 IPAs/Double IPAs (DIPAS) and pale Ales, with at least three more in planning. We went from a brewery with zero IPAs to a brewery with six to eight hoppy beers on tap at all times.
Last month, I did a beer seminar on IPAs, and I sought out some truly classic beer styles that showcase the history of IPAs. I wanted an English IPA, an East coast American IPA and a West Coast IPA. To my dismay, I only found an East Coast IPA, Hop Devil. For the English IPA, I had to settle on Harpoon IPA because it has more of a floral aroma. I was blanked on the West coast IPA. What I found was shelf after shelf of DIPAs, session IPAs, fruit IPAs, imperial IPAs, hazy IPAs, brut IPAs, New England IPAs and the occasion IPA. For fun, I looked around for a brown ale. There was only one. There were 78 IPA derivatives, and only one brown ale.
The current landscape on the retail beer shelves has me worried that craft beer is headed for IPA burnout. Many of my fellow brewers and more than a handful of consumers feel the same way. The tsunami of popularity around anything labeled IPA is too big to stop, but craft breweries are fighting back. A visit to your local brewery will often reveal a treasure trove of classic beers that are very malt-forward. These kegs, cans and bottles may never leave the brewery, but it serves as an oasis from the growing Sahara of wall to wall IPAs.
Breweries are doing their part. Will you join them?
Scott Rudich is the head brewer and co-owner of Round Guys Brewing in Lansdale, PA. Rudich is heavily involved in the local beer scene, and was awarded the Brewer Award at the 2013 StarChefs’ Philadelphia Rising Stars Gala. If you have any questions or comments, please email them to [email protected].
See also:
Round Guys: Ignoring the Comparison Culture
Round Guys: A Shift In The 'Why'
‘Ür Brewery’ Coming to Downtown Lansdale in May
An 'Underground' Look At Entertainment In Lansdale
McAllister's Brewery Prepares To Open In A Familiar Location
