Over the past decade, IPAs have dominated the hearts, minds, and fridges of the beer drinking public. Some people joke that the acronym stands for “Immediate Profits Ahead” because of how much of a sure thing it is in the business, but today we’re going to discuss an IPA that sure wasn’t.
At the end of the 2010s, Kim Sturdavant was brewing at Social Kitchen & Brewery in San Francisco when he developed a new kind of India Pale Ale. He dubbed his crisp, dry varietal “Hop Champagne,” and referred to the promising new substyle as “Brut IPA” — a nod to the sparkling wine this new beer resembled. Brewers in the Bay Area loved it, and drinkers seemed to as well, so Sturdavant had high hopes for the substyle’s future. But just a few years later, Brut IPAs rarely earn mention from craft brewing enthusiasts (let alone casual drinkers) and if they do, it’s often in the form of a punchline.
Today on “Taplines,” Dave Infante is joined by Kim Sturdavant to discuss what went wrong. Tune in for more.
