Part of that is seasonal. You're not going to get a stout in the summer, just like you're not going to get an Oktoberfest in the spring or a Shandy in the winter. Like you said about IPAs, there are so many variations, they've become a year round beer. Other year round beers are things like lagers and ales. Comparing a seasonal style to a year round beer isn't a fair comparison

If you can't find a stout on tap in the winter, you're going to the wrong breweries

[–] ursakhiin@beehaw.org 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I definitely drink Stouts year round.

Personally my issue with IPAs is that so many of them are generic IPA that tastes the same as 75 percent of the other IPAs and everybody that successfully brewed an IPA things they need to open a brewery with a bunch of IPAs.

When I go to a brewery and the option is 7 different variations of IPA and a guest beer, I usually know that the master brewer doesn't know much else about beer.

[–] _Sc00ter@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Just because you drink them year round, doesnt mean most people do. They dont brew them in the summer because they cant sell them enough to make it profitable.

You definitely have a point there about only having ipas at a brewery. IPA is the easiest beer to make, and the easiest beer to hide any imperfections. 1 of our 2 main breweries in town basically only does IPAs. Took them like 5 years until they did something that actually was good and not an IPA

[–] ursakhiin@beehaw.org 3 points 1 year ago

Might have been a wording mistake but I was replying to the idea that I wouldn't do it.

And there are breweries in my area that seem then year round.

[–] Spendrill@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

I live in the UK. My experience has been that the selection of beers isn't that seasonal. Sure there will be guest beers in some pubs/chains but for example I can go to a Sam Smith's pub and they have four stouts year round plus a pretty good porter. Just a lot of people don't like to go to Sam Smith's pubs because the owner has... feelings about one thing and another.

So if I'm meeting friends usually there's something nearby that we're planning to do and in a great number of pubs the choice is Guinness or nothing.