The Diversity of Craft Beer

One reason I like craft beer is there are scores of different styles of beer, and I like nearly all of them. As a beer writer who has gotten to visit many breweries,one thing I do when I visit a new place is to try a style a beer I don’t usually drink. Like a lot of people, I’ve been in kind of a rut, doing hazy, IPAs, stouts and fruited sours. I notice many of the big guns in craft beer seem to be focusing on these styles. At A Taproom which is local and brings in beer from breweries across the country for tap takeovers, the beers I mentioned above are usually the focus. But for someone who really likes a good red ale, and thinks the altbier is an under-appreciated German ale, I want to take the time to celebrate all styles of craft beer.

If I sat down and thought about it, I probably have tried several hundred different styles of beer. For their regular drinker, that probably sounds ridiculous, but yes there truly are that many styles of beer. If you take the time to look at all the sub variance within each category, you will see what I mean. Even within the style of IPA, you probably are aware of dozens of sub styles from hazy to west coast, DIPA to dry hopped, and so on. And the nuances of these styles makes for a lot of unique flavors within hoppy beer. So while I am enjoying myself at a favorite watering hole, IPA’s are my go to. But when researching, I usually order other styles. Besides, I haven’t always been a fan of the IPAs.

A lot of breweries focus on making a lot of different beer styles, and some focus on their core beer. But the more beer styles brewery has the time and effort to make does a service to craft beer in general. I don’t think I’m wrong in saying that the history of craft beer focused on a lot of styles of beer that we don’t want to drink anymore. Porters used to be my favorite dark ale, but they have been overshadowed by the brashness of stouts lately. And I can’t remember the last time I had a Dunkel Weizen!

As a craft beer drinker, I guess I just like to have a diverse choice is when I’m choosing my beers. I remember drinking at Rivertown Pourhouse in Pittsburgh with a friend years ago, and the bartender gave us a sample board with every beer they had on tap, which was somewhere in the vicinity of 35 beers! I don’t have that picture anymore, but it was beautiful to behold. Maybe you’ve had a similar experience because many places do offer large amounts of beer on tap, and if they are willing to serve you up a great amount of them, it could be a fun experience. Or a great reason to go back. Larger taprooms like Hop Station in Mishawaka do flight service as well and this is a good way to learn about beer.

So I want to celebrate the diversity of craft beer and encourage you to go outside the box. Next time you’re out drinking craft beer, try a style or beer or you may not be familiar with. More drinkers who are willing to do this will help brewers stay exciting as they keep all styles of beer alive. We all have our preferences in craft beer and that’s great, but we are willing to try other styles of beer, we are keeping craft beer exciting and vibrant. I want and like diversity in my beer, and I know you do too, so let’s do our part and order something different next time we go out.