benko
Well-Known Member
Wanted to get some opinions on this. Do you think that there's a market for good, traditionally brewed German beers in the American Craft Beer landscape? The stuff that gets imported tastes like crap by the time it gets here, and is usually from the German equivalent of BMC to begin with. I try to get to Germany as much as I can, and when I'm sitting in a beautiful local brewery's beer garden (which probably only offers a couple of beers) drinking a fresh, malty Helles, or even a nice fresh Bavarian Hefeweizen, I think to myself how great it would be if we could have those types of beers in the US. I know that there are a few breweries that try, but they're few and far between, and sometimes their beers just aren't as good.
But then my natural cynicism hits me and I realize that beer nerds are fickle, and all you would hear are "Where's the imperial black IPA? Where's the chipotle-cucumber-melon rye belgo-sour ale? These beers are boring. Etc." Do you think people would accept that "hey, these guys do a couple of solid, drinkable beers, and that's fine." Whenever I read reviews of breweries that try to go this route, the number one thing mentioned is lack of variety.
Why does everyone need a blonde, a pale ale, an IPA, a red, a nut brown, a porter, a stout, a belgian, and a rotating seasonal? That's the standard american micro line-up, which to me is boring.
But then my natural cynicism hits me and I realize that beer nerds are fickle, and all you would hear are "Where's the imperial black IPA? Where's the chipotle-cucumber-melon rye belgo-sour ale? These beers are boring. Etc." Do you think people would accept that "hey, these guys do a couple of solid, drinkable beers, and that's fine." Whenever I read reviews of breweries that try to go this route, the number one thing mentioned is lack of variety.
Why does everyone need a blonde, a pale ale, an IPA, a red, a nut brown, a porter, a stout, a belgian, and a rotating seasonal? That's the standard american micro line-up, which to me is boring.