People love IPAs, though, plain and simple. The most common refrain is that the IPA’s total dominance is killing creativity in craft beer, stomping out the opportunities for any other beer style to be experimented with and embraced. This kind of popularity makes the IPA especially vulnerable to criticism. Just last week, the Brewers Association officially recognized “hazy or juicy” pale ales and IPAs as a distinct style of beer. Beer Connoisseur published findings from Chicago marketing research firm IRI for 2016, as well, which listed the sales in dollars of different beer styles in supermarkets, convenience stores, and big-box stores. The Brewers Association reported that in 2016, IPAs alone accounted for a quarter of craft beer volume, with pilsners, golden ales, and pale lagers combining to equal one third. According to this hop trend examination from The Daily Beast, brewers joke that “IPA” stands for “Increases Profits Automatically,” “I’ll Pour Another” for bartenders. Over the last three decades, the IPA has gone from niche to respectably mainstream to a near monopoly. Is it worth all that hype? Didn’t it feel more like a craft beer insider’s treasure before you overheard your mom’s friends talking about it? Surely it’s a trend that can’t last forever, right? Every meteoric rise brings with it doubt, and the IPA is no exception.
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