BarlimanButterbur

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I tried searching around for this, but keywords like "normal" pull a ton of other topics.

I feel like every time I look at someone's signature, they've got at least two smoked, oaked, spiced rye beers with two kinds of fruit in them, and often they haven't got anything normal brewing! Now, I think there's a time and a place for really delicious beers that are not made of only hops and barley but I feel like a lot of people are making beers that can't be better than 'normal' beer.

I haven't had enough 'normal' beer to consider brewing something any more spiced than a Wit or a Pumpkin ale, and I can't see the extreme brews being that much better (say, on a day to day basis) than a pale ale, stout or lager. Even then, when I think of any slightly more festive beers, I tend just to think in the direction of strong ales and hefeweizens.

So, what do we think? Maybe I'm just new to this (I've only been at it about a year now) and I'll change my mind. Maybe I'm homebrewing mostly to get good beer cheaply, and other people have access to reasonably affordable 'normal' beer.

What do you all think?

Edit: Feel free to point me to any existing threads on the subject

Yooper

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I never brew any "weird" beers. I like pale ales and IPAs, mostly, and brew them most often. I also like a stout, a American ambers, and a few other assorted beers.

I think the answer to "Why all the crazy beers?" is because they can!

I've noticed that a LOT of newer brewers will come to the forum wanting to brew a vanilla coffee caramel pumpkin porter or something like that. I guess it must sound good to people limited in the past to buying beer off of the shelf. I've never had the urge, though.

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Broken Leg Brewery
Giving beer a leg to stand on since 2006

boo boo

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Hey, it's only you and me Bro. OOps, Yooper beat me to it. I guess that makes three of us, lol.
I brew mostly " normal " beers " but have had my arm twisted to drink a scattered out of the ball park brew.

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How do you BBQ an elephant....first you get your elephant....

Teromous

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You don't know, until you've been through the rabbit hole.

boo boo

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Where the White Knight talks backwards?

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How do you BBQ an elephant....first you get your elephant....

El_Exorcisto

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I think the best allegory would be how you felt as soon as you got your driver's license. You know how you'd drive anywhere, for any reason, just so you could? That is about where the American craft beer/home brew scene is. There is a lot of pent up aggression, and it seems a lot of people here get their release from smoking, fruiting, spicing, funking, sour mashing, and who knows what else to their sordid fermentations.

I'm a simple guy myself, lover of all things balanced and yummy. That said, even I am heading off into the scary world of spontaneous fermentations and truly wild funk. With as many options as have been dreamed about by the home brew scene in the last thirty years, it's hard not to deviate from Reinheitsgebot just a wee bit.

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On Deck: Saison "Jardin d'été" (3rd Gen 3711, Wild bugs, Pale ale malt, wheat, Willamette dry hop)
Primary: Saison "Vomissure de Grenouille" (2nd Gen 3711 from dregs, Pale Ale malt, Crystals and Willamettes)
Secondary: BM45/Spontaneous Bugs Experiment (down to 1.008, and tastes awesome)

Bradinator

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That begs the question: Why not all the crazy beers?

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"There is only two ways do to something; The smart way or the hard way."

"Beer is pretty resilient stuff, its resistant to human stupidity"

Ultrazord

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I think a lot of it is just to test the waters. I can potentially make a beer with vanilla and caramel. Where can I buy that? Or if I want a pumpkin ale in april....unheard of.

I don't think most people do these all the time, it's just fun to talk about and share/get opinions on the interesting brews. "Hey guys I made another basic ale" doesn't stir up as much debate as "How would I combine a porter, an IPA, and make it 19% alcohol and still taste good?"

boo boo

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[QUOTE=El
I'm a simple guy myself, lover of all things balanced and yummy. That said, even I am heading off into the scary world of spontaneous fermentations and truly wild funk..[/QUOTE]


When you do one as good as Cantillon Brewery - Gueuze 100% Lambic send me one please

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How do you BBQ an elephant....first you get your elephant....

Homebrewtastic

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I think that the best answer is... because we can. That's really the biggest appeal for me. I can make a beer that tastes exactly how I want. If I want a chocolate Chili pumpkin porter then I can have one. If I want a beer that has 200 theoretical IBUs then I can have that too. Or strawberry ginger kolsch.

Now all that being said I do also like to make regular beers, in fact most beers I make are more on the tame side. Lots of saison, American amber, low gravity Ipa, milds etc...

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On Deck:
Primary: El Simarillo IPA, Lambic-ish, Wild Saison
Bottled: Epik Barleywine, Chocolate Chili Pumpkin Porter, EKG Amber
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