Recently, my friend and I were discussing the obsession in this country with hoppy beers. I'll forewarn readers that this post may not be the most popular opinion, but hey...it's my blog and if you disagree, please feel free to voice your comments...they will be welcomed.
Anyway, the latest Beer Advocate had the best breweries in the country for 2007 and #1 was Brooklyn Center's own Surly Brewing Company. Surly has always gotten a lot of love in Beer Advocate and certainly has its fair share of fanatics on the web. My friend Brian and I don't like Surly, and so we obviously disagree with the rating. To be fair, Brian said that Surly's Cynic Ale, their summer Saison, was really good, I meant to pick it up, but didn't. However, I have given both Bender and Furious several tastings, thinking the next one will be the one to win me over. But I have to say I don't like either beer...and I think its because they are way to hoppy. Let me clarify that there are plenty of hoppy beers I like. But I take issue at times with the "we're hoppy as hell, and if you can't take it, you don't get it" attitude.
The newest craze seems to be Imperial beers- big, and super hoppy. An Imperial IPA?! And I think there were something like 10 Imperial Russian Stouts in the BA's top 25 brews of 2007.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for innovation and creativity. Its how I strive to brew. However, I do think there is something to making a complex Belgian, or something with a subtle mix of malts and hops.
One more thought on the whole hop overload in recent beers...in a time when beer prices are going up because of hop shortages, shouldn't the trend be the opposite? To experiment (like Ted on Ted's Brews) with alternative flavorings, like herbs or spices. At the very least to try to limit our hop consumption? Just a thought and I'd love to hear people's ideas.
I recently visited East End Brewing Company and they have a really hoppy Belgian Ale called Ugly American, because as they put it, its a"perfectly enjoyable classic Belgian Trippel corrupted almost beyond recognition with a completely inappropriate amount of US hops. Only in America can such excessive excesses be fully appreciated, celebrated, and enjoyed..."
I think that's clever, but I do think its true, there is something about the excessive excesses when it comes to hops and even alcohol content. I've just been thinking about that as I've been seeing bigger, hoppier beers dominating my liquor store.
But of course I'm a hypocrite because I'm brewing my La Libertad this weekend with a lot of cascade hops and am currently toying with the idea of trying my hand at an imperial beer. I'm thinking of something a bit different, an Imperial Mexican Lager.
So weigh in on my ramblings if you want. Like I said, I'm not against hoppy beers and I think there are a lot of great, other beers being made. But it feels like right now, the hoppier and the bigger you can get, then you're really pushing boundaries.
I personally think that Dogfish, New Glarus, Rogue, New Belgium or even Bell's are breweries that really put out a wide variety of beers that range from classic to experimental and are examples of breweries that are impressive in my mind.
Just my two cents...
Cheers!
The Bearded Brewer
Friday, January 11, 2008
Hop Madness
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5 comments:
I have to completely agree with you. One of the main reasons I started my own beer blog in the first place was because I disagreed with a lot of what the brothers at BeerAdvocate have to say about beer. It's not that they're wrong by any means, it's just I think they're not happy with a beer unless it's so elitist that nobody you know except for them actually like it.
I love IPAs. Stone's Arogant Bastard is great. I even love Ruination, but Double Bastard? That's where I had to draw the line in terms of brewing a crazy IPA just for the sake of it. Brewing great craft beer doesn't mean you brew something just to say you did. Brewing great craft beer should be about making something unique AND making people beg for more.
I know it's been discussed on BeerAdvocate before, but I also think it's a cultural thing. Folks on the east coast in general just seem to have a different opinion of what great beer should be compared to the midwest and especially west coast. Sure the brothers rate some west coast brews highly, but by and large they tend to favor brews from the east.
With that said I still think BeerAdvocate is probably the best beer resource on the internet due to its incredibly active community.
Rick, well said. I agree that its probably a matter of culture and taste of certain reasons. For the midwest, and the Twin Cities, what Surly is doing is bold. But I also feel like there is a culture of excess that is about who can brew the biggest.
Bearded Brewer,
I know what mean. It doesn't bother me a whole lot, but, I know what you mean.
Over the last few years I have tasted hundreds of beers on my own and when I was with Bryan over at The Brew Lounge. The marketing of very hoppy beers really drew me to some beers. Double Bastard, Alpha King, 120 minute, Rogue 10000, etc. Hell, I even dry hopped the hell out of a strong ale I made.
For me it is part of the exploration. As we explore the world of beer, I think people tend to gravitate to things that are easily understood. Bigger is better or hoppier is better can be very easy to understand.
On the other hand balance and combining complimentary ingredients is not as approachable. It requires experience and wisdom. If you bring beer to the masses they need to start somewhere.
So, I think it will be cyclical. We'll have to let it play out and see where things go next. I'm personally quite enamored with English Milds and Bitters right now. I find cask conditioning and dry hopping a beer just before it is consumed gives me a new perspective as an American beer drinker.
Good topic :-) Cheers!
I agree with you completely. I'm new to brewing, and didn't really start understand some of the complexity of the flavors until I started brewing. I started going hop crazy in the beers that I was buying, until I ran into the Dreadnaught, the Three Floyds Imperial IPA. It was so bitter that it almost tasted astringent. So, while I still love the hops, it's caused me to pay more attention to some of the other flavors in my beers.
There was a great article the other day in the New York Times about the hoppiest beers, and there was a great quote from (I think) the brewmaster at the Brooklyn Beer Company. Basically as he stated it, coming out and saying you are trying to brew the hoppiest beer is like a cook saying he's trying to make the saltiest dish. There's no point. Sure, you can make it so ridiculous with the IBU's, but if it tastes like something you'd pull out of a medicine cabinet, what's the point?
Kevin, I agree. I learned a lot more about beer styles and beer types once I started brewing. And I'm always suprised by a beer I like. Porters are a great example, I'd never had one, thinking I wouldn't like it. On a tour of Summit brewery I had one as a sample, and loved it. Now I'm a huge porter fan and can really appreicate the porter style. But sometimes there are styles that are just not for you. That's how I reacted to Imperial Stouts. I get that they are huge, but its less impressive when I spend money on a beer and can hardly drink it. I think the goal should be to brew really drinkable beers.
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