Go back a decade or so ago. Walk into your local taproom. Look at the draft list. Is it local or regional with the offerings and a broad mix of styles? You are not imagining things. The current shift in tastes favor hoppier characteristics and the numerous variants on the India Pale Ale. More and more establishments are catering to and curating within that confine. There may now be eight IPAs on a menu, but they may be eight unique takes on an IPA. Don’t forget the sour and wild ales. But what happened to the plethora of other styles and seasonal releases?
The marketplace is constantly changing. Currently, some styles are fading from the spotlight. Or worse, are they creeping towards production extinction? Are the trends decimating breweries all together? You can look at Olde Burnside Brewing in Hartford, Conn. It shuttered last year after an 18-year run. The brewery’s flagship beer was Ten Penny Ale, a Scottish-style ale. A decade ago, Ten Penny was a well-regarded and solidly-rated beer on Beer Advocate. When was the last time you had an un-barreled, un-imperial Scotch ale? Chances are lacking. There are few examples of the style still produced in New England on a regular basis.
Flagship Beers
The beer writer Stephen Beaumont launched a campaign back in February called Flagship February. The idea was to show a little love to the flagship beers from older breweries. Breweries that we may now overlook in this day have many options. It’s only in its first year, but it makes an excellent point about appreciating the beers and breweries that have paved the way to the current craft beer scene. It can also be argued that those breweries never left. Our taste buds changed.
Going, Going — Gone?
Black IPA
One style that has had a disappearance in recent years, which was quite popular a decade ago, is Black IPA. It was originally created at Vermont Pub and Brewery (VPB) in 1994 by Brewmaster Greg Noonan and Assistant Brewer Glenn Walters (now with Three Needs Pub and Brewery). It’s still in the rotation of beers today at VPB and was fairly common a decade ago in pubs across New England. Now it’s harder and harder to find on menus and taprooms. This is counter-intuitive. Hops are in vogue. Yet darker beers are losing favor among craft beer drinkers.
Jeff S. Baker II, Certified Cicerone, is the Education & Training Manager for Farrell Distributing in Vermont. He predicted in January 2014 in the Burlington Free Press that Black IPAs would rapidly fall out of favor. Getting his thoughts on the subject at present, he noted: “I think the real endangered styles are those that are malt-balanced: brown ale, English pale ale, etc. The current trends in craft beer have enthusiasts memorizing hop varieties and maybe even yeast strains. But I’m not sure that many craft beer drinkers are to the point of knowing the spectrum of malt types yet.”
A short-lived trend a few years back was the single malt and single hop series. A few breweries launched these initiatives, but they have since moved away from them.
Brown Ale
The traditional brown ale is another style that is becoming a lost art. There are many hoppy iterations of the brown ale out there, but malt-driven English-style brown ales are much harder to come by compared to a decade ago. Smuttynose Brewing’s (Hampton, N.H.) Old Brown Dog Ale is a New England classic, but many more have not fared as well.
“With the Extreme Beer movement of the early 2000s,” Baker noted, “craft beer drinkers became obsessed with hops, high alcohol content and unusual ingredients — all things that the brown ale does not dabble in. Sure, there were high-octane oak barrel-aged imperial brown ales (think Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron), but the traditional, low-ABV, malt-balanced brown ales were left outside in the cold.”
That’s not to say that the style is impossible to find. There is still a selection, albeit significantly smaller, at bars and bottle shops than a decade ago. Baker pointed out that “The real saviors of brown ale — and many of the endangered beer styles — are the brewpubs. Every time I walk into Zero Gravity Craft Brewery’s brewpub at American Flatbread Burlington Hearth in Vermont, I know that I will see a low-ABV true-to-style British brown ale, or something very close to it.”
Gruit
There are exceptions where a brewery dedicates a focus to a rare style. A brewery that is a great example is Earth Eagle Brewing in Portsmouth, N.H., which has become a focal point for the nearly lost tradition of the Gruit. A whole long-form piece could be written about the history of the gruit style, but it’s important to state that gruit is a beer without any hops added. In a gruit, the bitterness is derived from herbs, spices and botanicals. Earth Eagle has produced more unique gruit recipes in Portsmouth than the rest of New England combined. Gruits are still popping up, and there are good examples. Cambridge Brewing in Cambridge, Mass., Zero Gravity in Burlington, Vt. and Rock Art Brewing in Morrisville, Vt., have been doing their part to keep the style going.
It’s important to note the historical terms of beer and ale with gruits. “Beer” and “Ale” appear in historical texts together. While now the terms are interchangeable, they are not the same. “Beer” was “Ale” that contained hops and no other herbs or botanicals. Spices were fine. “Ale” was a fermented malt beverage with little to no hops added. To clear any confusion, it is recommended to read the 2012 Oxford Companion of Beer, edited by Garrett Oliver.
Not wanting to force a personal view on endangered beer styles, the question was pitched to the Yankee Brew News staff writers. Hollie Chadwick (Maine) shared the same view on brown ale: “A well-made brown ale is the mark of a good brewery. Brown ales are becoming hard to find, and in general classic styles are becoming a minority, but you can find them if you know where to look.”
Publisher Jamie Magee’s vote was altbier, another style that has been increasingly hard to find. Otter Creek Brewing’s (Middlebury, Vt.) original flagship beer was Copper Ale, an altbier. It’s important to note that altbiers have been clustered with amber ales. Magee takes solace that his local Springdale by Jack’s Abby brews an altbier, Ein Düssel!, and he’s heartened by the news that Notch Brewing has also brewed its own version of the famous Düsseldorf ale.
Bock Beers
Keeping the German style in focus, bock beers were noted by Howie Corbin (Upstate New York) and Scott Kaplan (New Hampshire).
Howie’s preferred style that is increasingly harder to find is a maibock: “For me, maibock. Hard to nail just right, with straw color, light residual sweetness and a dry finish.”
Scott noted: “My favorite style is bock. There are a few bock beers out there, but being a lager style, most ale-oriented breweries don’t make one. I wouldn’t exactly say it’s endangered, but it’s certainly rare. I’m ecstatic that Liar’s Bench in Portsmouth, N.H., throws a bockfest every year, and it garners six or so bocks from other local breweries to support the effort.”
Porters & Pale Ales
Frank “Uncle Frank” Fermino was quick to point out porters: “A true porter. I fear the demise of a good robust porter that isn’t a stout and not a black IPA.”
Ria Windcaller (Western Massachusetts) also noted porter as well as pale ales: “I try lots of pale ales that could pass as an IPA, or porters that taste like a stout. Maybe it isn’t a matter of neglect, but more of a desire to make a unique beer vs. one to style.”
Uncle Frank agrees with Ria: “Pale ale is a dying style. Nobody makes a pale ale. They are afraid of consumers saying — ‘Well, there aren’t enough hops for a hoppy beer.’ — Brewers are making IPAs or malty beers; nothing in between. Are we on the cusp of losing an important style that started it all?!”
That gap between hoppy and malty appear to be the area of concerned styles.
“I’ve suggested emphasis on beers other than hop bombs,” added Paul Zocco (homebrew columnist). “Though they’re in the spotlight right now, maybe a basic pilsner or traditional bock or Scottish ale would re-spark some interest in these styles. But the commercial brewers must offer them. It seems that money is directing what we drink. I understand that IPAs and hop-forward beers are paying the bills.”
The Future?
Who knows where styles and tastes will migrate to over the next decade? It’s easy to point out that IPAs will still be popular. But is it just as likely we will lose styles in the process? While it may never be your first choice, it never hurts to explore the obscure styles you come across. Sample that Scotch ale, sahti, patersbier or gruit. It might peak your interest enough to order again. Don’t wait too long. You might miss out.
Full Disclosure: Jeff Baker and Adam Krakowski are co-authors of the upcoming book Burlington Brewing: History of Brewing in the Queen City (History Press 2019).
