I mostly agree. There are good examples of all of those but I don't seek them out. I will add: 5) Imperial Pilsener...it's like jumbo shrimp 6) India Pale Lager....see above 7) Sour and fruit beers that barely have any sour or fruit character. Why bother?

I disagree a little on #3 and strongly on #4 - but I agree that India Pale Lager is ridiculous. I happen to like a trace of bourbon in a good stout, but as they say in France and Quebec, chacun à son goût.

1) They're here and have been around a long time - deal with it 2) This is the woprst fad ever, North American brewers have no clue how to make them, and North American beer drinkers don't know what they're supposed to taste like so it's an easy way for a brewer to market a failed beer. Several dozen brewers have been called out on this at the GABF over the last few years, although very few brewes will admit to their failures, especially those that have been able to make a loving off of poorly made funky beers. 3) Berliner Weisses being fruited is a North American thing, but then, anything being fruited is a North American thing. 4) It was a popular fad 10 years ago, and while the amount being made is 'increasing', sales of barrel aged beers have dropped 40% since 2014 because it is a niche crowd that buys them. The grades at the GABF have been falling steadily for this sector as well as the average craft beer consumer wants an ale with flavour, like a NEIPA or milkshake IPA.

5) Imperial Pilsener...again, a North American thing, and most of the Imperial Pilseners I have tried, aren't even true Pilseners. Again, just a marketing ploy by North American craft brewers trying to cash in the (erroneous based on the session trend) belief that true craft beer consumers prefer a higher alcohol level in their beer. A true German or Czech pilsner can be anywhere in the range of 2.5% to 10%, and in Central Europe, the traditional brewers would never add an 'Imperial' to the style. 6) India Pale Lager....India Pale Ales were originally uber-hopped English Pale Ales that were destined for India. Russian Imperial Stouts were originally uber-hopped high ABV English stouts sent to Russia. Uber-hopping should not a reason to add the phrase 'Russia' or 'India' to anything. If you add a shitload of hops to your 'pale/blonde' lager, big deal, it isn't necessarily 'India' style. What next? We uber-hop a pilsner and call it Jimmy's India Pale Pilsner? 7) Sour and fruit beers that barely have any sour or fruit character. Why bother? North Americans (of which I am one) have so much to learn about beer. As I stated above, sour beers are usually blasphemous creations by people who don't know what a true sour tastes like, and fruited beer is just as blasphemous (I can't drink this American wheat so lets add a ton of raspberries to it and call it a 'raspberry wheat'). But you're right, most of these beers claim to have tons of fruit added but you can't detect it.

I tend to agree with cyrenaica, though I've had some really good barrel aged beers. But then, the best BA beers often have a non-BA sister version, which often is equally good, or even better.

Funny