Duration Crisps and the Emergence of the Savoury IPA

What does it take to start a beer trend? When Brut IPA emerged from San Francisco’s now shuttered Social Kitchen and Brewery back in 2018, the idea was quickly picked up and copied the world over. The style fast-became a simulacrum of itself; based on an idea of a beer, rather than any tasting experiences or proper, boots-on-the ground research. It didn’t matter that the idea of using enzymes to ferment dry was an already years-old brewing technique used, for example, since 2012 by Cornwall’s St. Austell Brewery in its Big Job IPA. What mattered most was that there was a bandwagon to be leapt upon, and countless new SKUs to be sold. Every new version seemed like a less-good example of the one that came before it. I wasn’t surprised when the trend petered out to a whimper just months later. When Cold IPA arrived on the scene in 2022, its existence was met with a similar ‘creative’ fervour. I was lucky enough to interview its originator, Kevin Davey of Oregon’s Wayfinder Beer, around the

by Matthew Curtis · source ↗