Craft beer has become an industry of trends. Years ago it was trendy to brew wheat beers. But today, wheat beers are seen as pedestrian and standard. With every new trend, there’s always the debate about whether it will last or fade into craft beer history. That same debate began the second that the Brut IPA started to hit the market.
And at this point, it is easy to see that the hype around the Brut IPA has quickly subsided. What once was being touted as the next New England IPA, has fallen quite short of expectations.
So what happened? Let’s take a deeper look at what made this beer trend fizzle out.
What Is A Brut IPA?
We can’t go forward without first defining what makes the Brut IPA a unique style. This style is extremely new as it was created in late 2017 with most of the beer world not getting any exposure to it until 2018.
Kim Sturdavant of Social Kitchen & Brewery (San Francisco) is the originator of this style. He created it by adding an enzyme called amyloglucosidase to a traditional IPA. This enzyme is nothing new to beer as it has been used for years to help reduce the residual sweetness in beers like imperial stouts by breaking down complex sugars so the yeast can consume it.
By adding this to a beer that doesn’t have high sweetness, results in an ultra-dry brew. It still had amazing aroma and flavor along with a bright appearance. It wasn’t long before people across the nation were wanting to get their hands on this style.
Why People Thought It Was Going To Be Popular
There’s a general belief in craft beer that if you call a beer an IPA that it will sell considerably better. And there’s some truth to this because the IPA is the style that has driven much of the growth in recent craft beer history.
For example, at one time Black IPAs were called Cascadian Dark Ales but brewers found that the IPA phrasing appealed to drinkers. The same can be said about high ABV ales that most would consider to be American Barleywines but are called Triple IPAs to ensure customers give them consideration.
So just because of the name Brut IPA, beer fans were intrigued and brewers were confident people would buy it.
Beyond the name, the characteristics of the beer were often described in a way that made it sound like a style that would meet the current flavor profile of many drinkers.
Fruity aromatics and flavor, light, crisp, refreshing were all words used to tell drinkers what to expect. And in most cases, I would agree that this is what I experienced. Having fruity flavors was quite popular in New England IPAs but some thought the ultra hazy beers were too heavy. Brut IPAs seemed like a great alternative.
In addition, there has been a push for lighter bodied, easy-drinking beers in recent years. So maybe the Brut IPA would be that exact beer . . . but that just wasn’t the case.
Why It Didn’t Become Popular
Determining why specific beer styles become more popular than others isn’t always easy. Craft beer drinkers are often easily swayed as trends come and go. And when it comes to the Brut IPA, it seemed like most craft beer drinkers barely gave it a second glance. But why?
There’s a number of things that can be identified and all probably played a part. First off, the beer isn’t bold or extreme enough to really capture much attention. Most styles that become trendy are considered to be “pushing the limits” of craft beer. Pastry stouts, sour beer, etc all have big, strong flavors that are far beyond the standard beer characteristics and that’s what craft beer fans want in a trendy beer.
In addition, one of the selling points of the Brut IPA is its easy drinking profile. It has nice aromatics and flavor without being heavy. And while this seems like a great selling point, there are already many options that fit this category which have been around for a long time.
Compared To The New England IPA
And if compared to the popularity of the New England IPA, there are a few areas that the Brut IPA is completely different. First off, the New England IPA was extremely hard to get for a long time. This scarcity of the style created extreme fandom for the breweries that were producing it.
Furthermore, there was even controversy as many breweries refused to brew New England IPAs since the methods didn’t fall into standard brewing practices. Some claimed that breweries were adding items like flour to achieve the body and appearance. The mystery over how to make the beer added to the intrigue. This wasn’t the case with the Brut IPA as the amyloglucosidase was the known ingredient to achieve the dry profile.
Since the method was known, large breweries quickly started making their own version of the Brut IPA. This didn’t help this style either since scarcity is one of the aspects that is required to build popularity. But large breweries didn’t want to be left behind like they were for the first few years of the New England IPA. But widespread availability isn’t what this style needed; at least not initially.
What Might Save The Brut IPA
Can this new style of IPA still survive?
There’s always so much movement in the craft beer world that it is really hard to tell what styles will last and which will fade. I’d imagine that years ago it would have been hard to predict the popularity of the New England IPA and heavily fruited sour beers.
When it comes to the Brut IPA, there are a few shifts that may help it survive. First, small breweries need to continue to embrace and promote it. This will ensure that fans of local breweries are given many opportunities to like this style. It is quite possible that it will just take more time for Brut IPAs to take off.
In addition, if we’ve learned anything about current trends, extreme flavors are what gets the most attention. And while it goes against what the Brut IPA started as, adding new flavors to this style might be just what it needs to survive. Adding fruit seems like the easiest and most likely way to make this happen. Fruity, sweet beers continue to gain popularity and the Brut IPA could embrace this as well.
But many would argue that this would take away from what make the Brut IPA a unique style. But it also may be the only way to make it a viable style. In the end, beer style will come and go. The craft beer drinkers get to decide what stays and what dies. It seems like the Brut IPA will fade into craft beer history.
