It's funny to see IPAs dominate again, I remember when the last fad ended because hops became scarce and that gave way to the trend of absurdly strong imperial stouts. The sour trend was interesting but I'd much rather have a bad IPA than a bad sour.
And while IPAs dominate, at least on the east coast, there are a surprisingly large number of lagers, pilsners and lighter ales being put out by craft brewers, breweries are even making normal stouts! People always complain about the trending beers, but I still find more variety now that ever before in my drinking life.
Stronger beers will always dominate because frankly they're more interesting and diverse even if they aren't more drinkable. There's a lot more you can do with a barrel aged imperial stout than a lager.
That's why IPA dominates. You can "fix" a bad IPA. You can't fix a bad stout or lager.
IMHO americans aren't big on 'subtle' when it comes to anything food/drink (or really anything else) for the same reasons - 'really good beef' isn't the same as 'farm kobe with quadruple 5-adjective bacon and 10 cheeses' when it comes to a hamburger, and who wants a 'boring' ice-cream sundae when you can have a 'quadruple caramel chocolate oreo(tm) desertsmasher(tm)' or whatever have you
beer wise i tend to prefer english bitter ales which tend to be very well balanced and flavorful but are also subtle and not as 'clear' to explain as 'turbo bloodhound from hell ultra quadruple cascade hops mega super IPA brah'
same reason (+ more 'business' focus) we have comic-book branded wines which outline grape ratios in percentages with no thought as to terroir instead of subtly branded wines emphasizing regions/appelations/houses as in europe.
same thing is going on with the legal mj market where ultra-high THC percentages and max flavor are the focus
etc, etc, etc.
Today, you're much more likely to see a "New England IPA", "hazy" or "juicy IPA" in the star spot. This style is much less bitter, with a bigger body and a ton of sweet juice notes. It's a heavy beer but man is it tasty and refreshing.
Sierra Nevada Hazy Little Thing is a good example of the style that's widely distributed. Almost every craft brewer has one or two offerings of their own that are typically just as good.
I'm not much of a hop head but the New England style IPA is by far my favorite on the market. I'd encourage you to give it a try before swearing off IPAs forever.
For me it fills the place where a lot of people would put a stout or a Belgian - a really good one-and-done sort of beer.
That's why I usually try the non-IPAs whenever I try a new brewery; I am also usually disappointed...
You might be missing out on some really goods ones with this strategy
I understand the want to change it up. I seek out breweries that I haven't been to before or that have a deep catalog of beers that aren't found on shelves. Flights are a great way to try those beers, and their styles are usually of more variety.
One of my favorite breweries is Hermit Thrush in Brattleboro, Vermont. They specialize in sours, mostly aged. They source their aging barrels from all types of industries. Not only does the same recipe result in a different beer across multiple barrels, the same recipe results in a different beer each time a barrel is used.
If you look, you will find so much to explore. The space might feel dominated by IPAs, but other styles are benefitting from the rise of beer culture.
Even more shocking to me is what happened to ciders. Even with Seattle/WA ciders, which used to be far better than east coast stuff, taste like soda by comparison. There are a ton of incredible ciders on the east coast that are much drier, more nuanced and drinkable than current West Coast ciders. East coast ciders are a nice happy space between a sparkling wine and a beer. Honestly disappointed that the west coast has remained relatively stagnant recently.
Not just Treehouse, Trillium is another highly critically acclaimed Massachusetts brewery and its even younger (2013).
I have a similar rule for video games
Regardless, sorry to tell you, but IPA has long since passed its initial fad stage. New styles of IPA can take over the IPA niche in an annoying way once in a while, but IPAs as a category have reached a stable level of popularity that seems to be sustained as new generations of beer drinkers enter the scene.
I totally get being tired out of an extremely prominent style, but I'd encourage you to seek out some brews made with new hops as some of them are just very different and exciting. Of course, there's tons of other beer out there that's not an IPA, so by all means please continue to explore those spaces too!
They're not bitter at all, and instead they focus on extracting the fruit juice flavors of the hops. A lot of them taste like alcoholic orange juice mixed with other kinds of juice. I've developed a huge taste for them, and they're the perfect antidote for the storm of bitter nasty IPAs that have been flooding the market until a few years ago.
If you're looking for something from brewery that sells their products nationwide to sample, Lagunitas Hazy Wonder is really good. If you're in Texas, also look into anything from Tupps or Manhattan Project.
I long for the days when my college friends would bring me bottles of Augustiner in their suitcase when they came to visit. Absolutely boring. Utterly perfect.
I also live in Texas, where it gets really damn hot and humid out, and the refreshing citrus taste of hazies really helps deal with the heat in a way that wee heavies and milk stouts just don't.
Edit: I've also seen, thanks to Drizly, a new trend of light hazies that's starting to appear. They're a bit too thin for me, but if you don't like cloying you can always check them out. Sixpoint Trail Haze and Firestone Flyjack are the ones I've seen.
Back in the late 90's I fell in love with a Belgian beer called Moinette that came in a large bottle with a cork on top. It had a high alcohol level at the time. Loved it! To this day, it's still my favorite beer ever.
Bitterness =/= hoppiness