I hate hops. I hate craft beer. I specifically hate beer from Oregon for all the reasons listed. The fact that the author considers Widmer Hefeweizen to be one of the least hoppy beers illustrates the magnitude of the problem. I mean, Widmer and Pyramid are served with a fucking lemon wedge. The thing that really pisses me off is it's ruining other beers. Heineken has been getting more and more bitter every year. Bitter-ass beer is displacing non-bitter-ass beer. When was the last time you saw Killian's? But Stella - Stella you can buy anywhere. And Trader Joe's is now selling Warsteiner, which tastes like a skunk dipped in turpentine. I drink Kirin Light, Amstel Light and Sapporo in that order of preference. I know of two stores in an eight mile radius that will sell me Kirin Light. There are five Whole Foods within an eight mile radius of me.
I picked up a six pack sampler tonight. This post didn't even cross my mind. The only beer with hops is the one in the middle, and it's an IPA. The others are wheats and ales. They are all from Michigan. There's also a number of good lagers to be found here too, and it seems to me that the popular microbrews have been recently competing to find a winner in that space. I get the sense that brewing is less hip here. A few people in my family have brewed at home, and most of them did it 15-20 years ago. Perhaps those hobbyist roots have an influence. The winters probably do too. I like a Stella from time to time. Rolling Rock is my dive bar standard.
My dad was doing homebrew more than 30 years ago. I can't vouch for his stuff; growing up he drank a 12-pack a day of silver bullets and specifically mentioned he got into homebrewing 'cuz it was cheaper. My cousin homebrews occasionally, and he brews in the Issaquah Valley. It was there that I first experienced super-bitter beer that everyone said was delicious. I learned to hate homebrew. It's a penis size thing. "It must be better it's got so much hops!" Combine that with the fact that without hops, it's "malt liquor." And if it's malt liquor, you immediately associate with: - Old English - St Ides - Zima - anything "those people" drink Grunge culture was big about shitty, hoppy beer. Craft brewing erupted from Seattle to Portland to Colorado to everywhere and took excess hops with it. I think the sampler you've got is a backlash against it, as is the article we're all discussing; the hipsters I knew in Maryland were all about Yuengling and in Michigan I saw a lot of Leinenkugel. Makes sense; all the known craft brewers are owned by InBev and its ilk.Forties are often mentioned in hip-hop and rap culture by rappers such as 2Pac, E-40, Ice Cube, N.W.A, Cypress Hill, Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Wu Tang Clan, Warren G, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, The Notorious B.I.G., Eminem, Hollywood Undead and many other rap stars endorsing the "40" Ounce tradition. A similar trend was common around the late 90s' and early 2000' punk scene; notably The Casualties 40.oz Casualty and Leftöver Crack's Rock the 40.0z., and the song 40oz. to Freedom by the band Sublime.
Thankfully there's a slice of Oregon brewers that are revolting against the hop frenzy. Most Oregon beers taste like your necking with grandma right after she got done putting the aqua net on her hair doo. I think amstel light is the best "light" beer in existance. I don't care that It's an old lady beer, I'll drink it anytime. Most Asian beers have a clean crisp taste, I can't think of one I don't like.
One of my favorite popular microbrews is Motor City Brewery's Ghetto Blaster, which is a English ale. Short's Soft Parade is also a favorite, very popular around here, and not hoppy. Keeweenaw Brewing's Widow-maker is also a popular favorite of mine and not very hoppy. Bell's Oberon is another very popular non-hoppy microbrew. Of course there are plenty of hoppy craft beers, and some are ridiculously so, but I don't think we have this problem in the Midwest.
I live in Ohio, and I have to disagree. It seems like every single bar and brewery around here, at least in Columbus and Cincinnati, has taken a crack at having a great IPA. In fact, Columbus is best-known in the world of beer for a couple of IPAs brewed by Columbus Brewing Company and maybe Jackie O's Mystic Mama. Yuengling is certainly one of the most popular go-to beers in the area as well. Of course you can find good, locally-brewed beer that isn't hoppy, but those brews are certainly not enjoying the spotlight.
I went to their brewpub when I was in Seattle last month. Man, what great beers they had. Case in point: they had eight (8) pumpkin related beers since it was November and all. I had two and they were incredible, low IBUs and very flavorful. The food was fantastic too and it wasn't even a very busy place. Me, a friend, a guy on his laptop doing work, and maybe 3 people at the bar and that was all I saw. Of course their only beer (in six packs) that I can find out here is one of the IPAs... I would totally buy AK-47 Malt Liquor for the name alone.
Nope, I was at their location on 2nd. Probably why it wasn't so busy. Nice place though, and it was easy to get to/from for me and my friend. Not sure how it compares to the other places but I was a big fan. Butting in to another conversation going on in this thread: I homebrew with some folks at college and it's a great way to kill an afternoon. And get 5 gallons of usually good beer in the process.
Speaking of Bells, have you ever had their Java Stout? It's the best beer I've had from that brewery and maybe the best coffee related beer I've ever had.
They're my favorite beers as well! But that isn't the point of the article! The point is that while hoppy beer is great, it's important to appreciate the diversity of craft beer, rather than ignoring everything that isn't tailored to the hops-lovers. By focusing so heavily on hoppy craft beers, the community alienates anyone who prefers less bitter beer, and who might otherwise be a fan.
There are some IPAs that I think are incredible, but as a whole I'm a fan of beer with a maltier flavor profile, and Belgian beers right now. A good stout/porter will go far with me too. There are far too many IPAs out there, and I think there is a bit too much focus on them and not enough on other styles of beer.
yea, that was a pretty poor comment. I was lazy and didnt want to type anymore on my phone. When I first got into craft beers, I enjoyed that there was an actual spectrum of flavors to explore. I once had a beer that basically tasted like berry juice. Wish I remembered the name.
However, I found myself very intrigued with the way hops work in beers. It's something about the ingredient that makes me want to drink beer more than anything else.
Odds on it was a lambic. Lambics are a little ooky in that they're made by spontaneous fermentation like sake is. They get their spontaneous fermentation by letting the wort sit out in shallow metal pans up in the attic, then they scrape off all the stuff they don't want in the beer. I understand the process is a great deal more sanitary these days than it used to be, and that the attics are no longer full of bats. I once had a beer that basically tasted like berry juice. Wish I remembered the name.