Hops Good Beer

[HermeticHealer]

I think freshness is everything with IPAs. I've had a lot of bad experiences with commercial beers. IPAs sit on the shelf for a while here in Ohio and I would say 60% of the beers I buy are skunked or oxidized or just old. I used to hate Stone IPA because every time I bought a 6 pack it was old. I had it fresh on tap a few times and my mind was blown. Similar thing with Founders Centennial IPA. I thought that beer was just...ok. Then I had a few pints at the brewery and holy crap was that good. Apparently I have a thing for centennial hops!

Anyways, there are lots of different styles of beer to suit the tastes of different people. No one's forcing anyone to love IPAs, but there are a ton of us who do. See you all at next month's "Am I the only one who hates hops?" thread.

Your response is exactly the reactionary type I expected. Instead of actually reading my post carefully, you assumed that this is just another "I hate hops" thread. I love hops. It's a beautiful thing. A carefully crafted, strong IPA/APA is next to godliness. I just think that the market has jumped on the hop craze and that's all you see on the shelves. It's crowding out other selections and I personally enjoy more choice.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Horse hockey. You can balance IPAs and malt forward beers alike. Just because your BU:GU is over/under .5 doesn't mean you can't strike a balance between hop and malt flavors. Never think about "balance" as ratio between numbers in your favorite brewing calculator. Balance is different to different people and is best measured by the drinker.

Exactly, a Big IBU IPA without the proper malt backbone and mouth feel to support it is not balanced just as a an IIPA that finishes sweet and chewy with far to much malt and no hop aroma or flavor is not balanced. That goes for any style you can name. Balance is about the proper ratio of flavor compounds for the style not an exact ratio of 50/50.

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

Your response is exactly the reactionary type I expected. Instead of actually reading my post carefully, you assumed that this is just another "I hate hops" thread. I love hops. It's a beautiful thing. A carefully crafted, strong IPA/APA is next to godliness. I just think that the market has jumped on the hop craze and that's all you see on the shelves. It's crowding out other selections and I personally enjoy more choice.

Then shop somewhere else, the places i get beer from carry everything...

 

[HermeticHealer]

I know someone has already commented on this, but I also have to chime in, because this comment just jumped out at me:

Speaking of corn sugar additives as a "poor brewing practice" shows that you might not have the best grasp of brewing practices. There are many styles where sugar additives, corn or otherwise, have a long history and are in fact very much vital part of brewing. Things like the aforementioned IIPA style, Barleywine, and just about anything Belgian - they all call for pretty hefty grain bills PLUS sugars like corn sugar to help dry them a little and keep them from becoming too syrupy or cloying, and to help other flavor components in the beer - whether those are the yeast, the hops, or other malt components - to come to the forefront.

Make sure, before you start attacking "poor brewing practices," that you really understand what do and do not comprise said practices.

Well, professor, let me clarify it for you: Using corn sugar or HFCS as a substitute for good malt due to a cost-effective production measure is, in my opinion, a poor brewing practice.

 

[Pappers_]

Your response is exactly the reactionary type I expected. Instead of actually reading my post carefully, you assumed that this is just another "I hate hops" thread. I love hops. It's a beautiful thing. A carefully crafted, strong IPA/APA is next to godliness. I just think that the market has jumped on the hop craze and that's all you see on the shelves. It's crowding out other selections and I personally enjoy more choice.

I'll be less subtle than the other moderator who posted on this thread - this thread's level of dialogue is just one notch above the "I hate InBev" threads.

OP, the premise of your first post was not as you stated above. It was, in fact, that craft brewers are making bad beers and covering it up with excessive hopping, and unsophisticated beer drinkers are buying them. Don't carp on other members for reacting to what you know is a challenging thread.

Since:

1) this topic has been covered endlessly
2) the level dialogue in this thread is remarkably low
3) the topic will come up again undoubtably

I'm closing this thread.

 

[Pappers_]

Well, professor, let me clarify it for you: Using corn sugar or HFCS as a substitute for good malt due to a cost-effective production measure is, in my opinion, a poor brewing practice.

You didn't say that. You said using sugar is a bad practice. The other member told you why it isn't a bad practice. The appropriate response is "Thank you, that's a good point".