You want to see how good a brewer is? Ask to taste his Pilsner.
Although I continue to try, I have NEVER had a Pils that I liked. And I have tried quite a few. They just taste bland and boring.
Maybe they are "easy to make", and "hide flaws well", and perhaps only sub-par brewers make them. But, if that is the case, I guess I will side with the sub-par brewers. Most of these "balanced" or "malt-forward" brews bore my taste buds. I like them bitter, and I like them to punch me in the face when I drink them.
The biggest reason that I started brewing was because most beers aren't "hoppy" enough for me. I often found myself sampling a brew and thinking, man, I wonder what this would taste like if we upped the hop flavor a few notches?
So I am sorry that the majority in this post get hurt when they go to the bar and see a string of IPA's and very few malt bombs. Some of us just like hops.....A LOT. Apparently quite a few of us, given the "trend".
I think its a rediscovery more then a trend . I drink what I like ....i dont believe there is that many sheep out there drinking beer just to be trendy
IMO, that is an untrue statement. At least here in Southern Oregon. From what I've seen from the local brewpub/nano's/beer festivals, there are people there that may have been beer drinkers without the trend, but now that beer drinking is en vogue, they are creating a trend out of it. Whether that is good or bad is up to you.
And since you mentioned sheep, I'm tired of fighting past the bleating hoards of beards, skinny jeans, vans, and wool caps to find a seat at the local pub.
So, what you're saying is that some peoples palates aren't developed enough to distinguish a good IPA from a bad one. And because of that it is easier to brew a good IPA than a good Pilsner.Sad fact is that beers like that are relatively easy to make and hide flaws well. Some sub-par brewers make popular, highly hopped IPAs... they make a pale-amber wort and throw a bucket load of hops at it, that's it. I am not saying that there aren't examples that are excellent beers brewed by skilled brewers, just that they are one of the easier styles to make without skill. You want to see how good a brewer is? Ask to taste his Pilsner.
So, what you're saying is that some peoples palates aren't developed enough to distinguish a good IPA from a bad one. And because of that it is easier to brew a good IPA than a good Pilsner.
I would argue that it takes more to brew an IPA that stands out from the others than it does a Pils. Good Pilsners rely heavily on technique and have a relatively narrow style space. This is something that can be learned. A top notch American IPA takes creativity along with skill. It's a style with more room for both success and failure for those who can tell the difference.
That's an interesting point... people that may not have been beer drinkers before getting into craft beers because it is trendy... hmm Is it a good thing or not? I think, ultimately it is. I think that when the 'trend' passes that most of those folks would find it hard to go back to drinking BMC, the craft brewers will still see sales and while there is not always going to be growth, the worst we are likely to see is an occasional flattening. As to the issue with having to fight for a seat, well... I don't know what to say there except that I would rather have to fight for a seat than my fave brewery go under because no one was buying their beer... *shrug*
I was, in a poor fashion, attempting to point out the current hipster trend that is invading the craft brew trend. In my small, judgmental, and overly opinionated mind, I find the hipster look to be ridiculous.
I do agree with the long term benefits of converting people away from BMC. I am 100% in favor of the small guy and try to buy local as often as possible.
You're assuming that consumption is trend based and not flavor based. I think that the trend will get drinkers to the table (or tap), but a taste that they enjoy will keep them there. The IPA thing has been around long enough that it's not mearly a fad. It's a stlye that drinkers enjoy and come back to.Using my own experience, the next part of the evolution is to move away from the common and start sampling the other options.
You should all try working at a LHBS and telling customers you don't really like hoppy beers... The look on their faces is priceless. People act like I'm crazy for not being a hop head. I feel like they assume all "Beer Nuts" are also "Hop Heads" for some reason. I respect and appreciate well crafted IPAs. I brew IPAs against my better judgement and to my wife's dismay (she's a malty fan as well). I can't help customers if I don't know how to make a good IPA. Knowing a lot of the local brewers and owners of breweries in the Philly area, I can say several have told me they brew IPAs because it pays the bills right now. IPAs are really popular and it's much easier to get a bar to put on a keg of IPA than something like a Bock or Munich Helles (both styles I really love). I'm working at a beer/food fest today (farephiladelphia.com) and expect to see the majority of the breweries in attendance pouring at least one IPA. I think the IPA craze will calm down eventually. It's just part of the US craft brew resurgence which is still relatively young and is a good thing for all of us no matter how you look at it. If IPAs are the reason I can visit 11 different breweries within an hour of my house, then bring on the IPA!
Kind of like people that visit the southwest for the first time and get a good dose of green chili for the first time ever. They often look at us like we are insane for having green or red chili on pretty much everything we eat.
Good point.
Leaving the central valley of CA for a mid-July trip to see the inlaws in central NC.
That means leaving 95F 10% RH and entering 90F 80% RH. FML.
Interesting. When I talk about my most recent IPA or ask the LHBS workers about their kit recipes, they always come back with blank stares. They have no less than 7 IPA kits (plus extract versions), but don't seem to be able to qualify the differences between them in words. Nor do they appear to be based of readily recognizable clones based on the name. That seems like a pretty big whole in their knowledge base to me if they can't describe or differentiate their own products.
On the other hand, I've had a 15-minute conversation about Rauschbiers. Go figure.
India Pale Ale is a style of ale noted for its alcoholic strength and bitterness. Using high-alpha acid Millennium hops and Falconer’s Flight Hops for flavor and aroma, this beer is guaranteed to send your midi-chlorians to another level. May the force beer with you.
This Millennium Falcon Double IPA kit contains:
13 lbs of Great Western Premium 2-Row Malt
2 lbs of Crystal 15L and Bisquit Malt
3 oz. of Millennium and Falconer's Flight Pellet Hop Blend
Muslin Steeping and/or hop bag
Irish Moss for Kettle Clarification/Sedimentation
As with all our recipe kits, you have several options for milling, liquid or dry yeast, and with or without priming sugar.
And that's exactly the kind of response they give.
I've never tasted "New Zealand". I don't know what a "profile" or a "specific hop character" tastes like.
Piney, citrus, floral, dank... these are just a tiny fraction of the kinds of words that help people understand what to expect from a certain IPA.
Here's an example of a description from their website, which does not appear anywhere on the kit.
Cute (even with the typo) but not terribly helpful if you don't know what Millenium or Falconer's Flight taste like or haven't had that exact malt combination in those ratios.
I have to brew three IPA's to every other batch just to keep up. It's got nothing to do with being a trendy hipster. No one's looking at me when I pull the tap handle in my own house.
The saturation of the market with extremely bitter, over-hopped (IMO) beers is the main reason I got into homebrew. It really tweaks my feathers when I go into a store, restaurant, bar or even a microbrewery and can't find a beer that won't twist my face in a knot. I often ask the waitress to list the beers, then, disappointed and frustrated, order a soda. I can't stand any IPA I've ever tasted, much less an IIPA or IIIPA. And I've sometimes come home from the grocery store with a 6er of something new, tasted one, poured it down the drain and given the other 5 to a friend. What's the point? I've actually heard people, even a homebrewing friend of mine, say that because of the similarity between hops and "some other flowering plants" that the hops almost get you... well you know where I'm going with this. It's ridiculous. Even the pales and ambers out here in California taste like hop-rockets. I just brewed up a Bavarian Hefeweizen kit from one of the online HB stores and lo and behold, it was noticeably bitter compared to the German beer it claimed to mimic. Most people selling beer in any form in this country, or at least in California, assume that you want lots of hop bitterness. I think there is definitely a trend toward hoppy beers, and those are the "cool" or fad beers to drink. I don't think IPAs and the like will or should ever disappear though. That's a silly idea given how many hundreds of years ago that style was established, and why, and how long it has been brewed since. It won't disappear any sooner than the helles or bocks or true weissbiers or many of the Belgian styles I like will disappear. All styles have their place in history and on the bar or beer list. Hop-monsters just happen to be all the rage lately, and any smart business will stock what sells, even the LHBS. Doesn't mean I have to drink it though. Yuck!!! I just brew what I like (and add the hops later in the boil).
It does seem like thats all anyone asks about. Especially the "beer guys". I tend to look on the IPA craze like I do the "real beer" BMC guys.
I'll be happy when the chatter levels off. Of course ambers and pales are as hoppy as I tend to go.
Just published. I'm not condoning or promoting the article, just adding it to the discussion.
Against Hoppy Beer
The craft beer industrys love affair with hops is alienating people who dont like bitter brews.
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drink/2013/05/hoppy_beer_is_awful_or_at_least_its_bitterness_is_ruining_craft_beer_s_reputation.html?fb_ref=sm_fb_share_chunky
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