{"id":22526,"date":"2017-01-17T09:48:33","date_gmt":"2017-01-17T15:48:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/?p=22526"},"modified":"2021-08-31T12:32:35","modified_gmt":"2021-08-31T17:32:35","slug":"2017-beer-trends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.guysdrinkingbeer.com\/2017-beer-trends\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 Crystal Ball Gazing: Trends, Styles and Releases"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are the releases, style and ingredient resurgences and 2017 beer trends were most eager to set gain traction this year — or disappear altogether.<\/em><\/span><\/h4>\n

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Karl<\/p><\/div>\n

Putting together a \u201cwhat I had that was good in 2016\u201d list<\/a> is significantly easier than a \u201cwhat I\u2019m hoping for in 2017\u201d list, but I came up with a couple things that I hope to see happen here as we enter The Darkest Timeline. I\u2019ve come up with one good thing I want to see, and one bad thing I want to see go away. Is that fair?<\/p>\n

A Bad Thing That Will Hopefully Go Away:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Guys, I\u2019m tired of gose. I was marginally excited by the resurrection of a nearly-dead style when it first glimmered on my radar in 2015. But man \u2013 has there ever been a style of beer that went from \u201calmost extinct\u201d to \u201cpoorly overdone and bastardized beyond recognition\u201d faster than gose?<\/p>\n

I\u2019m tired of bad attempts at another \u201cmargarita gose\u201d made with lime thrown in. I\u2019m not impressed by any of the many other marginally sour, wheaty-salty-coriander-y thing with fruit jammed on top of it that so many breweries have seen fit to attempt over the last couple of years.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m really tired of fighting people who pronounce it wrong because I don\u2019t honestly care if you pronounce it \u201cgoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

I was over it as soon as I saw a \u201cgose IPA\u201d being released and I\u2019ve never really found a single one of them that I\u2019ve really<\/em> liked in the first place, so please, let\u2019s move on. I\u2019m not here to tell you that gose killed craft beer<\/a>, but I\u2019m definitely ready to go back to a world where Berliner-style weissbiers are everyone\u2019s favorite low-powered sour, thank you.<\/p>\n

A Good Thing That Will Hopefully Happen:<\/strong><\/p>\n

After the wave of fruited IPAs in 2016 and considering the ongoing growth of craft pilsners, hoppy lagers and the like, I\u2019ve seen a number of people saying that this is the year that that craft gets \u201csafe\u201d or \u201cboring.\u201d Honestly\u2026I\u2019m kinda ready for what most people would consider \u201cboring.\u201d<\/p>\n

I would love to see more breweries make me\u2026a perfect pale ale. Not with grapefruit or tangerine or dragonfruit. Not aged in tequila barrels. Not jammed with vanilla and coffee. Make me a beautiful, balanced, clean, gorgeous amber ale<\/em>. Make me a beautiful sparkling pilsner. Make me a perfect brown ale. Show me what you can really<\/em> do. I\u2019ve seen creativity. Show me real craftmanship.<\/p>\n

I am perfectly happy with a beautiful boring beer. I love a perfect Stiegl Pils<\/strong> or Sierra Nevada<\/a> Pale<\/strong> and I\u2019m never \u201cbored\u201d by a Bell’s<\/a> Two Hearted<\/strong> because it\u2019s awesome and you don\u2019t get bored with awesome things. Perfection is difficult. Jamming a ton of wacky flavors on top of an alcoholic beverage doesn\u2019t truly show me what you can do. Don\u2019t get me wrong. Crazy beer is a ton of fun. But I\u2019d love to see more breweries take more swings at making something \u2013 one thing \u2013 true to style and truly great.<\/p>\n

That would be a good thing to see.<\/p>\n

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Ben<\/p><\/div>\n

I\u2019ve been hearing the phrase malt is the new hops<\/i> being thrown around lately. While I am reticent to jump onto the next big craft beer trend, I reckon this is an idea I can get behind. We\u2019ve seen so much diversity and evolution in hops, but how about malt?<\/p>\n

Malt is the the <\/i>foundation of beer, yet so often beers are built on the same old boring American two row or German pils malt with a little caramel malt thrown in for good measure. We can do better, my friends. In 2017, I\u2019m looking forward to malt.<\/p>\n

But not just any malt.<\/p>\n

Just as we\u2019ve seen amazing things happen in hops, I too hope that, through the innovation of micro-maltsters and brewers who want to push the envelope in style and flavor, we begin seeing the rise of specialty malts. Think heirloom wheat varieties. Long forgotten barley strains. Crazy unknown varieties of rye. Now are you picking up what I\u2019m putting down? Can you imagine the untapped potential? The flavor profiles that have yet to be harnessed? Let 2017 be the year of malt!<\/p>\n

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Steve<\/p><\/div>\n

In early November, 18th<\/sup> Street Brewery<\/a> in Hammond, IN introduced its \u201cIn The Shadows\u201d series. It\u2019s their experimental batches, utilizing unique flavor profiles in 15-barrel batches only.<\/p>\n

Served both on tap and sold in cans at the brewpub, customers got to experience Teddy Bear Picnic, a magno IPA, as well as Drip, a double-dry-hoppped Double IPA. Then came Beware The False Prophet, a pale ale brewed with Pilsen malt and flaked oats before being hopped by zythos and falconers flight hops, before being heavily dry-hoppped with falconers flight again. The Amarillo-hoppped DIPA Thread The Needle with pineapple and mango notes, as well as The Fluff, an oatmeal stout with marshallow fluff and cocoa nibs, rounded out the last eight weeks of 2016.<\/p>\n

It’s a fun series. One that draws people into the brewpub just to try it. And for me, that\u2019s what makes craft beer so much fun \u2013 pushing the boundaries, trying new things, seeing what works. I can\u2019t wait for what\u2019s to come in the In The Shadows series for 2017.<\/p>\n

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Ryan<\/p><\/div>\n

I’m starting to see a trend developing here. Most of us seem to be longing for a return to the classics in 2017. And I’m squarely in the same camp. To be more specific, I’m eager to see the rejuvenation of the lager. But not in the form of an India Pale Lager. Nope. I mean a crisp, clean, standard-setting lager. One that’s bright and zippy but also bready and a little sweet.<\/p>\n

A style that was once considered a beer you had<\/em> to brew, along with an amber, a brown ale and a stout, the lager is starting to make a comeback. And not on a small town brewpub stage — although I hear Territorial Brewing<\/strong> in Battle Creek, MI is producing some killer lagers. Goose Island<\/a> recently announced a lager to kick of 2017 and perhaps others will follow.<\/p>\n

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NEW BEER! Preseason is an Amber Lager that we brewed to forget that it's cold and pretend it's almost spring! https:\/\/t.co\/oHDumwbVBF<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/3brvAteZUF<\/a><\/p>\n

— Goose Island Beer Co. (@GooseIsland) January 13, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n