You've seen them before, right? Pairing beer with food? That is so 2009-10. Five years before that, wet hop beers were the innovation that rose up, promised much and settled back down again. Reading this article about a new nearby fest - and one that by all accounts was great - made me wonder if we have another established truth or two coming which may be eagerly vying for this year's model:
"Beer has gone the way of the wine,” said Greg Haspect, who’s sold beer for almost ten years. “It’s not the traditional (way to just) get drunk, there are a lot more options out there.” People lined up Friday night at Ottawa City Hall to sample a wide-ranging roster of beer on the festival’s second-last night. "They are the best beers in Canada,” said Christopher Whelan. “It has some heart in it, it just tastes really good." “It sits well in the mouth, it's smooth . . . but not much beer flavour which is important in a fruit beer," said Stephanie D’Souza after tasting a sample. The co-owner of Ottawa’s Hogsback Brewery said beer is appealing more to women as tastes diversify.
There's a lot in there. The cause of selling more beer to women is one that has been confusing us in recent years. Lining up beer to emulate the way of wine has been something of a dead end theme for as long as I have been thinking about beer. Better beer through less beer flavour? Now that is a new one for me... but I am not sure it has much staying power. How far can that be spun? I do like the restatement of that most entrenched claim of them all, that good beer fans are not in it for the intoxication.
Maybe I am deaf to these things. Too removed from the chatter. Are claims of historical authenticity even purity despite an admitted lack of original records the new thing? Maybe it's another black bitter seeing as Black IPA has, well, you know, done what we all knew it would... and likely should. So, what are the newest ripest good beer clichés out there for fall 2012? I know it's coming. It's just that I can't see it coming. What can it be?
Comments
dansmallbeer - August 19, 2012 11:59 PM
Beer cocktails have enjoyed a surge of press recently. Difficult to work out what part of these trends is beer-geeks getting too giddy and what part is interested parties drumming up commercial ideas.
Bailey - August 20, 2012 5:36 AM
I think we're just seeing the beginnings of a fascination with smoothflow nitro-kegging for craft beer.
Peter Collins - August 20, 2012 8:21 AM
Sour and more sour. Oak aging everything. Wild yeasts. I'm hearing about more and more people enjoying those types of beers who had never had them before. They aren't my thing personally but many do enjoy them and I think craft brewers are moving in that direction (or already have and I missed the start of the trend. LOL )
Craig - August 20, 2012 9:20 AM
My prediction is that beer will be drank going into the fall of 2012. I'll leave it at that.
olllllo - August 20, 2012 2:58 PM
I've seen posts justifying a practice well in advance of their being strawman backlash against it. Contract brewing comes to mind.
Alan - August 20, 2012 5:52 PM
So... what you are saying... is that I should set up a favourable point of view in relation, get a bunch of people excited about it only to cut it down later based on hidden weaknesses in my own arguments. I love it.
Spencer - August 21, 2012 10:56 AM
Invasion of the Pumpkin ales coming to an LCBO near you this fall!
Jordan St.John - August 21, 2012 4:14 PM
The problem with beer is that it exists in a continuum whereas writing about beer doesn't. In order to be able to sell the constant dialogue, bloggers and columnists need to talk about the next thing. This means that there's always a next trend. The truth of the matter is that food and beer is not a trend, as anyone who has ever barbequed anything will tell you. Sour beers are growing in popularity, but they always sort of existed in the form of Lambics. Even Black Bitters or whatever you want to call them are not simply going to fade away. The point is that none of this stuff ever fades away because beer exists in a continuum. You think people are going to give up a barrel aging program when the articles stop coming? The coverage of the ideas is the problem. The ideas aren't.
Josh - August 26, 2012 1:25 PM
Citra, Amarillo, Cascade hops.
Alan - August 26, 2012 1:44 PM
Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail.