I was explaining the concept of IPA Day to my sister-in-law and she asked me a question that I reflexively laughed away. If there is an IPA Day and a Stout Day and Barrel Aged Day, why isn’t there a Wheat beer Day?
See, she prefers wheat beer, more specifically fruity wheat beers. IPA’s are too bitter for her palate. Give her a bottle of McMenamin’s Ruby ale and she is a happy camper. Hand her an ounce of an XPA and she hands you half an ounce back.
But why did I pooh-pooh her idea so without thinking? Why can’t Wheat beers have a day in the sun? Why was my first thought that it would make an excellent April Fool’s joke? (I still might use it) I talk about variety and not letting craft beer become pigeonholed as a bastion of bitterness but even I can’t fathom Wheat Beer Day!
Craft beer is trending toward a hop filled universe at the expense of ambers, quads and pilsners which I think is detrimental to craft beer as a whole. At a recent forum, a chef at a noted restaurant/craft beer locale noted that they needed at least 1/2 the taps to be IPA’s. That should be a warning sign. I have said/typed it too many times to count, craft beer is/was a response to the monoculture of the BMC industrial water lagers. If it moves backward to a monoculture of IPA’s, that is just as bad. I hate seeing the “uncool” styles getting low marks while an average IPA gets 100% scores. Especially unbalanced IPA’s with no nuance or flair.
Yes, these IPA’s can be great and are light years ahead of Blue Ribbons and Cold activated cans but if we are to grow the number of people that we siphon away from the light beer barons, we need to appeal to the wide spectrum that is not being served. And you simply can’t do that on the back of one very popular style alone.
This is no anti-IPA screed. I love them. I always have some on hand but I also have a smoke porter, a sour blonde and a pumpkin/cranberry beer too. And that is the way I like it. I want multiple styles from multiple breweries from multiple states and countries.
I also want a mock-up of an Untappd Wheat Beer Day badge. Because I cannot draw.