>I have a personal theory that the overwhelming aroma and taste of hops in a beer can be used to mask many errors and missteps in the brewing process, which might be more easily tasted by the customer if it were, for example, a weissbier.

This is exactly it. An IPA is much more forgiving to lackluster consistency of material inputs and process control making it a perfect match for small operators that don't have those things dialed in yet (or can't afford to dial them in)