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.