Craft beer has gone stale: let's hear it for age-old favourites | Richard Godwin

"My habits are simple, my tastes banal, he once told an interviewer. I would not exchange my favourite fare (bacon and eggs, beer) for the most misspelt menu in the world. I've often thought of this as I've perused misspelt beer menus over the years, wondering what Nabokov would make of all the hazy dubble IPAs and triple brown mocha porters, because, over the course of what we might have to label the craft era, beer has become anything but simple."

"The very term craft beer itself is confusing enough. It was originally used by the Colorado-based Brewers Association to denote small, independent and traditional breweries, but many of the movement's trailblazers (Goose Island and Brooklyn to name just two) have since been snapped up by multinationals, while the actual American craft sector declined last year even as IPA tightened its grip."

Vladimir Nabokov preferred simple food like bacon, eggs and beer over fancy menus. Beer styles have multiplied during the craft era, producing hazy double IPAs and mocha porters. India pale ale evolved from a British export ale into an American craft standard characterized by aggressive hopping, bitterness and sourness. The term craft beer originally meant small, independent, traditional breweries, but several pioneering brands have been acquired by multinationals while the American craft sector recently declined even as IPA stayed dominant. Mass-produced lagers and mainstream beers, including Guinness, have regained popularity with younger drinkers, while some British brewers promote a return to simpler, lager-focused brewing.

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