Could we have reached peak West Coast IPA?

The trend for drinking highly hopped West Coast hazy IPAs could be waning with consumers seeking balance and more alcohol free beers.

Speaking to the drinks business, Siren Craft Brew founder Darron Anley said that “the desire for balance with bitterness is coming back” and yet he admitted he is seeing “California IPA, West Coast Pils and Modern West Coast IPA increasingly popping up in our brewplan”.

Last year, db reported on how British beer was potentially poised to replace ‘aggressive’ New World flavour trends with the New World hopped IPA market being over-saturated.

Speaking to db, independent Yorkshire brewer T&R Theakston’s joint managing director Richard Bradbury said: “The market is potentially saturated for New World IPAs but we can see plenty of opportunity for both hazy IPAs and British IPAs with well-balanced hop flavours.”

Anley explained how breweries across Britain could also lean into the trend for no- and low-alcohol variants throughout 2024 too with the increase in consumers looking for alcohol-free drinks. Anley told db: “Average ABVs will continue to come down, with a combination of consumer preferences and duty changes it feels inevitable”.

But, he lamented: “Sadly, this may mean fewer of the more special, imperial strength releases and speciality styles that will become less viable” yet hinted that, despite this, Siren has an affinity with broadening drinker’s horizons and highlighted how “as a 10%+ barrel-aged barley wine blend, Maiden, is the heart of our brewery.”

Anley added: “We’ll do everything we can to keep pushing boundaries”.