The New Prog Beer Snob Thread

[moecurlythanu]

^^ No offense at all intended, but it sounds like your tastes are a bit of an outlier, at least in today's Craft Beer scene.

[Buddhabreath]

^^^
My tastes might be outlier as well. Wherever I go its the same crap it seems: IPA, double-hopped, dry-hopped, extreme-hopped etc. Why? I like a good balanced or malty beer now and again. For 99% of the 5000+ history of beer there were no hops used at all. I for one don't always want to have hops in my beer.

[moecurlythanu]

^^^
My tastes might be outlier as well. Wherever I go its the same crap it seems: IPA, double-hopped, dry-hopped, extreme-hopped etc. Why?

Because we like it. IPAs were first thought of as a fad, then a trend, and now has become accepted as an American beer drinker's favorite. It's been well over 10 years since this wave broke, and it ain't goin' nowhere. We've been told that Sours are the Next Big Thing, but despite their proliferation, they haven't caught on with beer drinkers the way that IPAs did. The Sour revolution reminds me of the announcement in the late 90s that Electronica (the music formerly known as Techno) was going to be the Next Big Thing. It did well in the clubs in America's big cities, but never caught on with radio or the American music buying public.

I like a good balanced or malty beer now and again.

Yeah, me too. But the ratio for me is probably better than 5 to 1 in favor of the hop forward beers.

[Zeuhlmate]

^^^
I for one don't always want to have hops in my beer.

Most beers are brewed with hops. Generally its the hops that makes it taste and smell of beer (even most Belgians).
German Bock is an exeption, there are probably others.

[Buddhabreath]

Don't get me wrong guys, I love hops and a good IPA, I just think there could be more diversity out there. With all these heavily hopped bears it just seems to be the hops dominate from first impression to aftertaste. Again it is a matter of personal taste and some will think I'm daft. Sure IPA is here to stay, but tastes and fashion ebb and flow as they should in the scheme of things.

But the real reason for this post is to share an interesting list of beer for people that don't like hops that I stumbled across:
https://www.mensjournal.com/food-dri...hops-20160225/

[polmico]

^^ No offense at all intended, but it sounds like your tastes are a bit of an outlier, at least in today's Craft Beer scene.

Oh yeah. None taken. I'll probably agree with that (to a certain extent--I mean, I drink a lot of lager).

But if an organization is putting together a list of "best beers," I'd hope for a bit more breadth in selection. Think of it this way, if you put together a list of "best prog albums" and only included albums from five English bands that were active in the 1970s, people would get upset. Even objectively, claiming that Magma or Henry Cow don't belong on that list because you don't like them or they're not as popular as Genesis and Yes, just doesn't make much sense. This works the other way, too. I may not like hoppy beer, but I understand the best hoppy beers need to be on that list, just like the best sours or goses or kvasses or whatever need to be there. (I know the analogy is not perfect, and it certainly sounds snobby as shit, but, well, the thread title suggests we're already snobs, right?)

EDIT: Seems to be what Buddha was suggesting in the post above.

[Dave (in MA)]

I agree with Buddhabreath 100% in #1455

Every time I go to the "craft" section of the store, the IPAs are at LEAST 3/4 of the selection.

[polmico]

We've been told that Sours are the Next Big Thing, but despite their proliferation, they haven't caught on with beer drinkers the way that IPAs did.

I know this is anecdotal and limited as a result, but nearly every brewer here in Charlotte has a sour or gose on their regular menu. For incredibly restrictive and stupid legal reasons, most Charlotte (and NC) brewers cannot distribute outside of the region (I won't go into again, but the case brought forward by two CLT brewers, NoDA and Olde Meck, is moving its way up the circuits). But the style is popular and its reach is wide. There is a very successful sour fest (called the Funk Fest) every year in Charlotte, and Fonta Flora out in Morganton just wrapped up their wildly popular festival (State of Origins). Hell, even the local grocery stores sells a decent amount of sours, and most big brewers (Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Bells) with national distribution have at least one sour or gose. I don't always want to drink sours or goses (again, I drink lagers and pilsners more than anything else), but I never have a problem finding good and unique ones when I want it.

I think most brewers in CLT now try to have as much reach and appeal in their menus as possible. I wouldn't have guessed that lagering would become as popular as it has, but they've all got lagers now, too. Lager lagers, hoppy lagers, fruit lagers, Mexican lagers--there's a lot that can be done with the style. Just as much, I'd argue, as IPAs.

[NogbadTheBad]

Most of the places I go are probably 50% IPA's with the balance Stouts/Porters, Lagers, Ciders, Ambers, Gose/Sours. I can usually find a pretty good variety. Popularity contests are always going to favor the IPA's the same way that if you do a prog top 10 album list you'll get 3 by Yes, 3 by Genesis, 2 by ELP, 2 by Pink Floyd.

[moecurlythanu]

Oh yeah. None taken. I'll probably agree with that (to a certain extent--I mean, I drink a lot of lager).

But if an organization is putting together a list of "best beers," I'd hope for a bit more breadth in selection. Think of it this way, if you put together a list of "best prog albums" and only included albums from five English bands that were active in the 1970s, people would get upset. Even objectively, claiming that Magma or Henry Cow don't belong on that list because you don't like them or they're not as popular as Genesis and Yes, just doesn't make much sense. This works the other way, too. I may not like hoppy beer, but I understand the best hoppy beers need to be on that list, just like the best sours or goses or kvasses or whatever need to be there. (I know the analogy is not perfect, and it certainly sounds snobby as shit, but, well, the thread title suggests we're already snobs, right?)

EDIT: Seems to be what Buddha was suggesting in the post above.

All valid points, but I think they said this list was compiled from ratings on Untappd, RateBeer.com & BeerAdvocate, plus some of their own biases. So that's pretty much what we got.

[moecurlythanu]

I know this is anecdotal and limited as a result, but nearly every brewer here in Charlotte has a sour or gose on their regular menu. For incredibly restrictive and stupid legal reasons, most Charlotte (and NC) brewers cannot distribute outside of the region (I won't go into again, but the case brought forward by two CLT brewers, NoDA and Olde Meck, is moving its way up the circuits). But the style is popular and its reach is wide. There is a very successful sour fest (called the Funk Fest) every year in Charlotte, and Fonta Flora out in Morganton just wrapped up their wildly popular festival (State of Origins). Hell, even the local grocery stores sells a decent amount of sours, and most big brewers (Sierra Nevada, New Belgium, Bells) with national distribution have at least one sour or gose. I don't always want to drink sours or goses (again, I drink lagers and pilsners more than anything else), but I never have a problem finding good and unique ones when I want it.

I think most brewers in CLT now try to have as much reach and appeal in their menus as possible. I wouldn't have guessed that lagering would become as popular as it has, but they've all got lagers now, too. Lager lagers, hoppy lagers, fruit lagers, Mexican lagers--there's a lot that can be done with the style. Just as much, I'd argue, as IPAs.

Yeah, I wasn't talking about availability or widespread proliferation. (As I said in what you quoted.) Many of the breweries around here brew a sour or sours, but they also brew many other styles. Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor has been specializing in sours for many years now. I was talking about sales. How much of a dent have sours made with the beer drinking public? How many are on the shelves compared to IPAs, Pale Ales and Stouts? I think the answer is comparatively few. Most beer aficionados that I've met take the same approach I do: One sour in the night's rotation, no more than that. I don't think they can be called a total bust, but they've got a long way to go to catch up with the top selling Craft styles.

Oh, and the two beers brewed by Burial Brewing that I mentioned in my post from the Small City Tap House were from North Carolina. Asheville, I think. So somehow a restaurant/Watering hole in Sandusky, Ohio was able to get some kegs. Not sure how they may have gotten around the legalities.

[NogbadTheBad]

Been shopping

treehouse.jpg

[polmico]

Yeah, I wasn't talking about availability or widespread proliferation. (As I said in what you quoted.) Many of the breweries around here brew a sour or sours, but they also brew many other styles. Jolly Pumpkin in Ann Arbor has been specializing in sours for many years now. I was talking about sales. How much of a dent have sours made with the beer drinking public?

.

Sales probably are lower, but they probably should be, too. Mostly for the reason you mentioned. Most people (myself included) aren't going to drink sours all night. I may drink a wild or a farmhouse all night, but that's something else. And, yeah, Jolly Pumpkin is indeed excellent. We don't get it often down here, though.

Oh, and the two beers brewed by Burial Brewing that I mentioned in my post from the Small City Tap House were from North Carolina. Asheville, I think. So somehow a restaurant/Watering hole in Sandusky, Ohio was able to get some kegs. Not sure how they may have gotten around the legalities.

Burial is indeed awesome. (Their Donut Skillet Stout is a perfect breakfast beer.). More than likely, the brewers are friends and sent a keg or two up there in exchange. The law, if you're curious, states that if a NC brewer exceeds 25K barrels, they must use a distribution company, even for distribution in the home city. This is patently ridiculous and has led to some very shady business practices. An ex-marine was forced to shutter his non-profit brewery after signing up with a distribution company because the distributor wanted to market other beers. Wicked Weed, sensing that they were never go to succeed with these limitations, agreed to a buy-out from Anheuser-Busch. (This gives Wicked Weed about as much "independent brewer" credibility as Goose Island or Devil's Backbone.) In essence, they decided that, rather than stand with their fellow NC brewers, they'd throw them under the bus in the pursuit of profit. Wicked Weed makes excellent beers. Heck, some of you might have seen it in your local shops, maybe even grocers. Understanding what they did might make you think twice about purchasing.

[moecurlythanu]

^^ That is a ridiculous law. It takes a politician to fuck things up that badly.

[beano]

A little early for our Beer Snobs tasting. Think you can save a few ?

Been shopping

treehouse.jpg

[NogbadTheBad]

A little early for our Beer Snobs tasting. Think you can save a few ?

I will replenish

[notallwhowander]

It heartens me that there are a number here not on the incessant IPA train as well. A balanced, malty beer? Sounds good to me!

[Painter]

Reading over these lists of 101 "best beers" and such, and having heard of only maybe 2% of these breweries calls to mind a conversation I had with someone a few years back. He asked if I ever tried making my own beer. I said I had no interest. He replied that it's easy. I countered with, with ALL these beers to choose from, why would I bother making my own? It is even easier to simply buy the offerings of those more skilled than I. There is simply SO MUCH incredible beer out there, this is the Platinum Age of Beer.

[Painter]

It heartens me that there are a number here not on the incessant IPA train as well. A balanced, malty beer? Sounds good to me!

While I do enjoy a not-over-the-top-hoppy IPA in the summer months, the malty Porters and Stouts are my go-to's. That is why I started to "sour" (no pun intended) on Victory (right down the street from me). They (Victory) focus nearly all their beers on variants of IPAs.

[Lopez]

I will replenish

I, too, will bring some for trading and tasting.

[Buddhabreath]

Reading over these lists of 101 "best beers" and such, and having heard of only maybe 2% of these breweries calls to mind a conversation I had with someone a few years back. He asked if I ever tried making my own beer. I said I had no interest. He replied that it's easy. I countered with, with ALL these beers to choose from, why would I bother making my own? It is even easier to simply buy the offerings of those more skilled than I. There is simply SO MUCH incredible beer out there, this is the Platinum Age of Beer.

Because you can make the beer to your tastes, be creative, it can be fun and it's way way less expensive. Of course not all hobbies are for everyone.

[Buddhabreath]

Been shopping

treehouse.jpg

... and they say men don't like to shop. Balderdash!

[Dave (in MA)]

Keytar Bear Beer. https://www.masslive.com/entertainme...from_tril.html

Sounds potentially revolting. I might have to try it.

[Lopez]

Keytar Bear Beer. https://www.masslive.com/entertainme...from_tril.html

Sounds potentially revolting. I might have to try it.

I realize the sales are for a good cause - I've enjoyed his playing in several places around town - but milk sugar in my beer, no thank you. If I want lactose, I'll drink milk; I won't drink beer.

[philsunset]

A long day. Relaxing with a 2017 Wolverine State Brewing Massacre. This is a 14.5% abv bourbon barrel aged lager. Yup!