Is the Sun Beginning to Set on IPA’s Heyday? Survey Says…

Beveridge Place Pub Calls a Timeout. No Hopvemberfest Tournament This Year

Is IPA still your favorite style of craft beer? Go ahead and say yes. We won’t judge. (Okay, we might judge a little.) IPA still wears the crown as the king of craft beer, but let’s be honest: that crown is starting to slip, and the court is whispering.

Allow us to introduce some evidence. A survey we ran earlier this year took the shine off of the crown. Nearly 35% of respondents said they’re less likely to order an IPA than they were a few years ago. That’s more than one in three of you quietly sneaking toward the lager list.

Don’t trust our data? Fine, we’re a beer blog, not rocket scientists. Consider Tastewise, a consumer-trend data tracking company that does this stuff for paying customers, like well-known consumer products brands. They report a significant decline in IPA’s popularity. What they call “traditional” IPA is down almost 18%. Hazy IPA is down 18% too, so those cloudy juice box IPAs aren’t safe either. And double IPA? Down 22.5%. Ouch. 

Data shmayda. Here’s the real tell. This year, Beverage Place Pub canceled its annual Hopvemberfest. Cue the sad trombone: womp womp wah.

Say Goodbye to Hopvemberfest and Hoptoberfest, too

Every autumn, for as long as anyone can remember, the pub turned its extensive tap list into a monthlong, tournament-style IPA bracket, cycling through dozens of locally brewed IPAs. Patrons advanced their favorites round by round, like March Madness for hop heads, until one champion emerged. The winner became the pub’s always-on-tap house IPA for the coming year. No more. The bracket has been busted.

“Yes, after 20 years of having you pick your house IPA at BPP during the fall (we originally did it in October), we’re switching things up,” said the pub’s announcement. “You see, this time of year is super busy with seasonal brews —wrapping up fresh hops, rolling into winter beers— and it was too much to juggle.”

And don’t forget about those lovely fest biers! All the rage these days. Increasingly and out of nowhere, each autumn those locally brewed, clean, bready, and elegantly malty lagers attract the attention and admiration of well-heeled beer nerds like me. I drank so many great ones this year, I am already daydreaming about next year’s fest bier season. 

And don’t forget about pumpkin beer, another style of beer associated with this time of year. Wait. Did I say that out loud? I’ll rephrase that. PLEASE, please forget about pumpkin beers. Let it rest.

Say Hello to IPApril

Back to the topic. IPA is not dead. Not by a longshot. But it is clear that things are changing. Beveridge Place Pub wants to be clear: they are not done dedicating a month to IPA. They’ll just do it in the spring and they’ll call it IPApril. Guess when they’ll do that?

If you show up at the pub this month expecting to sample several IPAs side-by-side, analyzing each before casting your ballot, you might be disappointed. But probably not. Guaranteed, you’ll find plenty of other seasonal treats on the menu to entertain your palate. It’ll do you good to break out of that IPA-shaped box anyway.  

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