Article on Over-Hopped Craftbeer

[Nick JD]

Interesting read.

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drink/2013/05/hoppy_beer_is_awful_or_at_least_its_bitterness_is_ruining_craft_beer_s_reputation.single.html

 

[doon]

Link isnt working from my mobile

 

[Nick JD]

Try using a computer.

 

[Bribie G]

Had a quick read and yes I'd agree. In my case I like malty beers with hop accents, sometimes very complex hop notes that hit you one after the other such as in Wells Bombardier or TTL, and I'd love to try them fresh off the cask.
But they wouldn't be described as particularly bitter.

When it comes to "craft beer", I don't like a lot of the Australian offerings because all I can taste is Cascade or Amarillo. Or something. Oh for some rich caramelly grainy malt. Fat Yak is to me the best balanced "craft style" beer out there, and I really enjoy 150 lashes - light, refreshing and a nice background of hops, especially if you let it warm up a bit. When I do the pokies every few weeks I get two schooners, plonk them next to Indian Dreaming and let them sit for a few minutes.

The most disappointing beers I was looking forward to were Sunshine Coast Bitter at the Platform Bar. I was looking forward to a taste of old Blighty and all I got was another APA, and Stone and Wood main brew (forget the name) which was cheesy and way over bittered.

In the Euro Beers I love those fresh-bread and toast malts in Central and East European brews such as Zwiec or Kozel with just that glorious aroma when you pop the lid, and the soft hoppy finish.

What I don't like is - flame suit on - just about every American brewed APA I've ever drunk out of the bottle. I tried my first SNPA last year and it tasted exactly like a case swap beer. By "case swap beer" I mean that - in all my case swap experiences - two out of three beers are highly hopped APAs because that's what most of the guys seem to brew as soon as they get into AG brewing, discover those hop things, and when you open the bottle, there's yet another one that tastes exactly like the previous one because your buds and nose have been hopped into submission and they all taste the same after a while.

Unless it's a RIS I rarely hop over 35 IBU myself.

Many on the forum will have different tastes of course, this is just my experience. But in the context of the article, it's no bloody wonder they are finding it hard to wow the VB drinkers and you'd have to say that the major successes in weaning the drinkers onto ales and more complex beers has come from JS and Coopers, and to a lesser extent LC and Matilda Bay Fat Yak, whose offerings don't fry your tonsils with every sip.

Edit: I'm also on some curry forums and exploring Indian Food. There are some parallels there - a tendency amongst beginners to hide faults behind a shitload of chilli or other spices rather than exploring more subtle options. The thing about many (not all) craft breweries is that if they were brewing Indian food rather than brewing beer, it would be Vindaloo Vindaloo and here comes another Vindaloo. More Korma or mild Madras would be welcome as well.


<end rant>

 

[sponge]

I will agree that when I first started brewing, my goal was to make APA's, with a couple of other styles thrown in here and there.

I just loved the aroma and flavour of the american hops and couldn't get enough.

In the last 6 months I have found myself brewing a lot more EPA's and milds due to their malt complexity with some more subtle herbal/earthy hop flavour instead. I find them a lot more sessionable than their american counterparts and my mates have also commented on them as well, preferring them to APA/AIPA's for the same reasons.

I still brew a couple of APA's when I have some 1272 on hand, but mostly that will be me doing single malt and/or single hop beers just to learn individual flavours rather than brewing them because they're my favourite style. I have found myself backing off on the hops though, leaning towards subtlety rather than masking all other flavours.

In saying all of that though, every so often I really do crave a nice hoppy A(I)PA..

Horses for courses.

 

[tricache]

Good find Nick!! (and yes the site automatically goes to the mobile version and screws the link if you are on a phone or mobile device)

A good read and totally agree, I think everyone remembers there first Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and how much of a smack in the face it was!

I went on a bit of a "hop bender" as such a while back and Burleigh Brewing's FIGJAM was (and still is) a big favourite. I wanted to share this new found passion of hoppy beers with a friend who I knew to be a big beer lover (he lived in Belgium for about 12 months) but he said he couldn't even finish a glass of FIGJAM and said it was too hoppy for him. I was gob smacked but since then I have kind of found myself in a bit of a sour beer spree which I don't think will go over any better with my mate :lol:

 

[JDW81]

Interesting read.

From the out I must declare I am a big fan of american pale ales and IPAs (both american and British).

However, I have noticed recently that there seems to be somewhat of a pissing competition between breweries to see who can make the hoppiest beer, often to the detriment of the overall beer quality. In many cases the lashings of hops aren't balanced by appropriate malt character. I see it as breweries using hops to cover up poor brewing techniques.

With this focus on hops what seems to be often forgotten are the real heroes of brewing, yeast and malt. IMHO it is these two ingredients that make or break a beer, and if handled poorly can ruin a beer in no time.

Hops are important, but not the be all and end all, especially not at the expense of basic brewing practices. You can paint a **** house with awesome paint, but underneath it is still a **** house.

I will continue to drink APAs, IPAs, but I will drink them amongst lowly hopped hefes, lagers (yes I drink lager, get over it), milds etc.

JD

 

[Phoney]

I can see where they're coming from and in many instances I agree, it's unbelievable how mainstream IPA's are in the US. They sell them at ordinary hamburger diners. No complaints from me of course, but I know those kinds of beers arent for everyone.

Though I don't think we have this problem in Australia. IPA's are still rare as hens teeth comparably speaking.

 

[black_labb]

Hoppy beers have their place and I enjoy them, but there is much more worth drinking that isn't done by craft brewers and should be given more consideration. There are a lot more flavours worth exploring.

I think part of it is that hop dominated beers are pretty easy to brew. Add some fruity hops to a fairly standard malt base and ferment on a clean yeast. You can do it any number of ways and still get something good. Start playing around with getting certain flavours from yeasts, or even getting the right flavour in your malts is more difficult, and what for? APA's sell. There is a lot of people new to craft beer and they are what they expect from it. I've tasted a lot of underwhelming craft beers, especially as I've improved my brewing.

I brew some english and american IPAs', but most everything else is quite heavy on the malt, which is what I like for most beers.

 

[slash22000]

I don't really see the point of this article. If you don't like hoppy/bitter beers, don't drink them? I've never found a Belgian beer I've enjoyed, but I don't cry about Belgian styles ruining the craft beer industry. I just don't drink them.

Yeah, pale ales and IPA's are popular. Lots of people enjoy them. Breweries wouldn't be getting rich off hoppy beers otherwise. Some US breweries seem to brew mega-hopped beers almost exclusively and they're thriving.

So what is this guy on about? :wacko:

 

[tricache]

I don't really see the point of this article. If you don't like hoppy/bitter beers, don't drink them? I've never found a Belgian beer I've enjoyed, but I don't cry about Belgian styles ruining the craft beer industry. I just don't drink them.

Yeah, pale ales and IPA's are popular. Lots of people enjoy them. Breweries wouldn't be getting rich off hoppy beers otherwise. Some US breweries seem to brew mega-hopped beers almost exclusively and they're thriving.

So what is this guy on about? :wacko:

Girl actually

 

[black_labb]

I don't really see the point of this article. If you don't like hoppy/bitter beers, don't drink them? I've never found a Belgian beer I've enjoyed, but I don't cry about Belgian styles ruining the craft beer industry. I just don't drink them.

Yeah, pale ales and IPA's are popular. Lots of people enjoy them. Breweries wouldn't be getting rich off hoppy beers otherwise. Some US breweries seem to brew mega-hopped beers almost exclusively and they're thriving.

So what is this guy on about? :wacko:

The point is that craft beer seems to be almost exclusively hoppy beers. It is pretty common feature of craft beers in Australia too.

 

[mckenry]

Exactly. Too much hops. Hey, has anyone tried these cleanskin premiums from Korea? Really cheap, all natural, no preservatives.... Didnt catch the name... h34r:

 

[Florian]

"While the resulting liquid, called wort, is boiling, brewers add hops to tone down the mixture’s sweetness—without hops, beer would taste like Coke."

How cool is that, I didn't know that!
Think I'll brew myself a big double batch of coke on the weekend and get all me mates over with a bottle of Rum.

 

[slash22000]

The point is that craft beer seems to be almost exclusively hoppy beers. It is pretty common feature of craft beers in Australia too.

Is that true though? I mean, looking over the selection from Australian microbreweries, I see pale ales pop up quite often, but IPA's are rare. I would not say bitter hoppy beers are "common" from Australian microbreweries.

Feral Brewing do a number of hoppy beers but they're not very bitter. Little Creatures has their pale ale, not bitter. Holgate have a pale ale but it's only 26 IBU, their IPA hits 65 so that's a nice bitter brew. Moo Brew have a pale ale, not very bitter. Mountain Goat do a number of IPA's, so I guess they are guilty.

Dunno. The problem isn't as serious as people seem to think.

 

[bum]

"The craft beer industry's love affair with hops is alienating people who don't like bitter brews"

Niche market holds no interest for the mainstream. You don't say? There's only one way to make something "new" mainstream and it isn't changing the mainstream.

 

[JDW81]

Dunno. The problem isn't as serious as people seem to think.

I don't think anyone is suggesting it is a problem, just merely passing their observations and opinions. You love your hoppy beers and hate belgians and there is nothing wrong with that. I enjoy hoppy beers, but am partial to belgian ales, lagers, british ales, wheats etc, etc.

Each to their own really.

 

[manticle]

I don't really see the point of this article.

Maybe this person's regular job is to write opinion based articles about beer?

 

[Bribie G]

Yup, Roger Protz would be out of a job if he didn't express his opinions on many aspects of the licenced trade.

 

[jezza79]

i went hop crazy when i first began brewing....at the moment i am settling for english ales with the occasional galaxy passion fruit fiesta thrown in to keep the females happy.

 

[treefiddy]

Exactly. Too much hops. Hey, has anyone tried these cleanskin premiums from Korea? Really cheap, all natural, no preservatives.... Didnt catch the name... h34r:

Pretty sure it was cleanface premium.

There are a lot of hoppy beers out there, but JS amber ale seems quite popular in pubs you wouldn't quite expect.

The number of hoppy beers is not unreasonable though considering hops is a primary ingredient in beer and that there are so many varieties and combinations to be tried.

 

[stakka82]

I'm a victim of 'lupulin threshold shift' like many others here.

When I started brewing I couldn't enjoy anything above 35 IBU. Fast forward to a few weeks ago, I'm drinking SN Hoptimum and savouring every drop.

I didn't even really notice it happening, but atm I have a lager at about 35 IBU with Motueka on tap (60 min and small 15 min addition). I find it a real session beer and almost indistinguishable from any other rather bland german pils type lager. My brother, who's a mega swill drinker, was around last week and I thought it would be right up his alley. He liked it, but he thought it 'tasted like little creatures' and found it almost overwhelming. I can barely detect the hop presence!

 

[black_labb]

Is that true though? I mean, looking over the selection from Australian microbreweries, I see pale ales pop up quite often, but IPA's are rare. I would not say bitter hoppy beers are "common" from Australian microbreweries.

Feral Brewing do a number of hoppy beers but they're not very bitter. Little Creatures has their pale ale, not bitter. Holgate have a pale ale but it's only 26 IBU, their IPA hits 65 so that's a nice bitter brew. Moo Brew have a pale ale, not very bitter. Mountain Goat do a number of IPA's, so I guess they are guilty.

Dunno. The problem isn't as serious as people seem to think.

You've just listed a bunch of hop forward beers in trying to argue that there are plenty of malt forward beers available, my point exactly. Can you list craft beers that showcases the malt over the hops?

I don't think it is a problem as such and things will work themselves out once the craft beer market plateaus and people start looking to differentiate themselves.

 

[tanukibrewer]

Exactly. Too much hops. Hey, has anyone tried these cleanskin premiums from Korea? Really cheap, all natural, no preservatives.... Didnt catch the name... h34r:

If its as good as what some people say Im gonna give up brewing and throw all my all grain equipment away.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm the blandness is overpowering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tanukibrewer]

Yeah right

 

[pk.sax]

It's quite simple really. Hops are more expensive per kilo than malt. If brewers tried to compete with established good beer producers (lets count German brewers here for the main part and then everyone else in the ballpark), they'd only shoot themselves in the foot. Making that style of beer popular amongst beer nerds will lead to competition where the craft brewers don't really want it. Why would any sensible business create a demand for someone else's product!? The big 2 in oz can easily lift their game and drown the crafties out with malt forward beers at lower cost than they'd have to spend to drown out hoppy fruity beers. Cases in point are the current JS and Matilda Bay ranges. Even they aren't stupid enough to push those too hard, it will turn their higher (guess) margin megaswill drinkers.
I can't quite find nice fruity hoppy beers cheap enough, which means if a new brewery prices their beer up at the price levels everyone here currently does, I'd not make a fuss about it. Have them try and sell me a big helga or something at price/L higher than German helles imports and I'm gonna whinge about it. The point of difference required for craft brews is almost mandatory, IMO.

 

[GrumpyPaul]

Why has no one noticed the side bar story

 

[bum]

You've just listed a bunch of hop forward beers in trying to argue that there are plenty of malt forward beers available, my point exactly. Can you list craft beers that showcases the malt over the hops?

Really? Almost every local brewery I've tried have at least two UK styles. Malty US Browns are fairly popular too.

 

[tricache]

Why has no one noticed the side bar story

"It was like seeing a great white whale breaching alongside dolphins."

I just sprayed beer all over the computer screen reading that...god damn...:lol:

 

[Nick JD]

I think the purpose of the article is to point out that in the US, the craft brewing industry is awash with IPAs to the detriment of other great-tasting styles and to the tastebuds of those who don't like hop dominated beer.

We might have one advantage to our sad craft industry here: that micros aren't obsessed with the IPA. I went to a brewery in Richmond, Washington and I'm pretty sure they used 1056 in every beer they made.