Commercial beers that let you down?

This thread is exactly what the title says; What commercial beers, if any, have not lived up to the hype? I'm around a lot of beer fans and we talk about craft beer a lot. I'm also fortunate enough to work near a great craft beer store, so i have sampled some of the well marketed beer offerings.

Which beers have just not lived up to expectations? I DON'T want this to be a "bashing" thread, just a discussion. Some beers are released in limited quantities to drive up demand, and it often works.

My $.02, I just tried Bell's Hopslam. I have heard so much about this beer that I just had to try it! I have to say I was let down. The aroma was good, but not the big hop nose I was hoping for. The honey taste was present, and overall the flavor was nice. Alcohol was present, which I expected, but in general the beer just seemed unbalanced and definitely not my favorite.

Which commercial offerings have made you as anxious as a 5 year old on Christmas morning, only to find out you got socks from Santa?

-Cheers

Pliny the Elder

Left Hand TNT

DFH 120 min.

Miller Lite. Too much flavor. Three times too many hops.

SA Irish Springs. Taste like Lever 2000.

Guiness black lager

BargainMugs said:

DFH 120 min.

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Anything DFH except Santo Marron. I was not expecting much from that beer and I was pleasantly surprised by it.

BargainMugs said:

DFH 120 min.

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I'm curious because i have never had this one. what did you think of it? This one gets a ton of hype.

120: under-attenuated.

i had a 120 that was in my basement and keezer for about 2.5 years. i really, really liked it. i've never had one fresh.

A few of dogfishes,after trying so many awesome beers and coming back to the 60 and 90 min after a year,seemed the bar had been raised dramaticly with ipa's, that and Pangea just wasnt anything i expected.Sam Adams doesnt fail to let me down often, although i liked the small batch series somewhat but the saltiness threw me off also on those.

jonmohno said:

Sam Adams doesnt fail to let me down often, although i liked the small batch series somewhat but the saltiness threw me off also on those.

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I have tried so many varieties and just am constantly dissapointed... really would so much rather drink something else of the same style...

Maybe I'll age the next DFH120. I drank it fresh and it was decent. Pretty good considering the 18%abv, but definitely not worth the hefty price tag IMO.

DFH Chateau Jihau and Black and Blue. Cigar City Jai Alai.

Conversly, the Cigar City Humidor Series was a surprise -- great beer.

For me, it was Samichlaus Bier. It was hyped; the strongest lager in the world, only brewed once a year, et cetera. I was not impressed and should have been leery of the guy who was so willing to give me his last bottle.

Airborneguy said:

Pliny the Elder

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+1. Over hyped by RateBeer and drinkers in general. Not to say it wasn't good, but it's overrated.

I've heard so much praise for Westvleteren 12, there is almost no way it can live up to the hype. Unless it truly is the ambrosia of the beer gods.

Cambone said:

I've heard so much praise for Westvleteren 12, there is almost no way it can live up to the hype. Unless it truly is the ambrosia of the beer gods.

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I would not say Ambrosia. But, I would buy another. In fact, I'd buy any of the Westy series again.

A few weeks ago, I had my first Guinness Stout. It was also my LAST. My first batch of "Deception Cream Stout" had more flavor, body and mouth feel than the Guinness I drank. Perhaps a Guinness Stout draught would have been better. Oh, well.

glenn514

It's tough going to Guinness after drinking full bodied RIS and other imperial stouts. When I drink Guinness draught I always expect more body and mouth feel, but it's never there.

BUT, if you're counting calories, Guinness is a good choice.

Try to remember that Guinness is a dry stout and/or arguably a porter, it is not meant to be compared to those types of stouts. Doing so is like comparing a Pilsner to a Helles Bock; they are two completely different beers.

I can't hate on Guinness. If it's on draught, it's my choice out at a bar or restaurant that doesn't have anything else. It's tasty for what it is, and easy to drink with it being pumped with nitrogen instead of CO2.

That deception cream stout is pretty damn good, just popped open a couple of bottles that had only carbed for 2 weeks, and its a really good beer. But if you want something to compare to that, try Nitro Milk Stout by Left Hand. It's the best Milk/Sweet stout I've ever had, and it was even better on draught at Left Hand in Longmont!

I'm not hating on Guinness. It's one of my go-to easy drinking beers. I guess my brain tells my mouth to expect something different when my eyes see that black liquid.

I blame the Ten Fidy and Yeti I've been drinking lately.

BargainMugs said:

I'm not hating on Guinness. It's one of my go-to easy drinking beers. I guess my brain tells my mouth to expect something different when my eyes see that black liquid.

I blame the Ten Fidy and Yeti I've been drinking lately.

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Another plus for Guinness:

The Irish Car Bomb!

Biggest disappointment... I look at it differently than others, I guess.

Anything by Heretic - I don't mean to hate here, far from it. However, after brewing many of JZ's recipes over the years, these totally disappointed me. The Red Ale is good, but the porter and IIPA were not even in the same ballpark as his "Brewing Classic Styles" recipes of the same categories.

Gawd, I feel bad saying that! I almost soil my underpants thinking about moving from 5gal. batches to commercial.

Ya, often times 5 gal size batches don't scale up well, and vice versa. But if there is anyone who can refine his recipies and generate a quality product, it's Jamil.

DFH 120... Malty sweet, low on hop aroma and burned like a mofo... Maybe it needed to age... DFH World Wide Stout as well... Not as "bad" as 120, but hotter than hell... I have a bottle from 2007 in the fridge... Will update when I try that one...

Stella Atrois - When they forst started selling it everyine raved about it. Doen;t do anything for me.
Most anything Belgian - just don't care for the style

for me i'd say shock top and leinenkugels (though I do like the summer shandy on a nice warmer summer day).

Lija's Hellhound Brown by Pangea brewing. The label talked about how it was a luscious, smooth brown. At 6% and 90 ibu, there was nothing smooth about it. Worst beer I have ever had.

Piraat was another one. Heard good things, tasted very bad things.

Had it twice, because the first was spoiled (had that belgium brewers mixed 6 pack which had been mishandled and all had a terrible aftertaste (probably from highly variable temperatures during shipping)). Tried a big bottle the second time, and although this one did not contain that awful, spoiled taste, it still wasn't in any means a good beer.

This would be the new BLUE bottle...

d_ranged_eskimo said:

another plus for guinness:

The irish car bomb!

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+1000

D_Ranged_Eskimo said:

Another plus for Guinness:

The Irish Car Bomb!

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My neighbors "kidnapped" me a few years ago and took me to a local hole in the wall... I lost count after the 5th Irish Car Bomb... Mind you, I was drinking Guinness in between shots...

Here's a recent list:

Stone Cali-Belgique (Don't think the flavors blended well)
Jolly Pumpkin Bam Bière (Tastes like water with a little bit of beer flavor)
Saison Dupont (Just not a lot of flavor compared to other Saisons)
Arcadia Hopmouth DIPA (Did they forget to hop this thing??)
Bear Republic Racer 5 (Nothing special)
Great Lakes Edmund Fitzgerald Porter (Too light and watery)

Duckfoot said:

My neighbors "kidnapped" me a few years ago and took me to a local hole in the wall... I lost count after the 5th Irish Car Bomb... Mind you, I was drinking Guinness in between shots...

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My buddy's B'day is on St. Paddys Day. A couple of years ago, we rang up a $400 bar tab buying car bombs.

Work the next day sucked, but it was worth watching 4 drunk woman sign his ass in the bar for his B'day.

D_Ranged_Eskimo said:

Work the next day sucked, but it was worth watching 4 drunk woman sign his ass in the bar for his B'day.

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Nice, I have a new goal for my birthday!

I'm a big fan of Left Hand's products, but had a 6er of Milk Stout a while ago and just bought a 6er of 400 Pound Monkey that both had this heavy mineral taste to it, iron I suppose, like tasting blood from a cut.

It got to the point where it was undrinkable, which sucks, because when their beer is fresh, it's great.

Sam Adams has been letting me down across the board. I don't know if we are getting the contract brewed stuff but whatever it is the quality has taken a nosedive the past couple years.

There is some brewery in Las Vegas or near Vegas T...something creek. Some people rave about the beers, I found them extremely watery and bland. Maybe it's better fresh or whatever but I was disappointed by them.