the Von Trapps are doing some nice things with easy drinking Austrian/ German beers.
Really? Huh. I bought a mixed 12 pack once and didn't find a single one to like. The last five sat in the fridge for a couple of months (my wife has frugal compulsions) until I finally threw them out. It's amazing how tastes (ou bien, goûts) differ — people like Von Trapp beers, obviously, or they wouldn't keep selling them.
I was never much for IPAs (too bitter) until I bought a Sam Adams Hop-ology 12 pack, limited-release, several single-hop beers. From each a different hop flower bloomed; I got hooked. Beers that non-IPA lovers say are "over-hopped" are really just all
about hops and how that flavor is articulated. If you like that, it's good. To a hops-lover, there's nothing like cracking a Heady Topper or a Focal Banger or a Very Hazy and letting that aroma blossom up into the skull. I suppose you could call it a fad, but it's a good fad, if you have a taste for hops.
So many good IPAs flood the market that deviation is difficult (a world-class Founders Centennial IPA goes for $7.99 a six at my local co-op). A hops lover could drink only IPA and live forever in an endless garden of flowers.
But to neglect other styles would deeply wrong. Stout alone . . . !