Is it wrong to not like German styles?

[brewsterk2]

I love beer. Love my ales especially. English, American, Scottish, Irish, hell even Welch, you name it. If it's an an ale, I'll drink it.

And lately I noticed, as any beer lover/brewer would, the beauty and advantage in offering my pallette something new and different. So I have begun drinking a good share of traditional wheat beers and lagers (compared to my usual intake). Lagers sit well with me, although I can only drink them rarely compared to ales. But some of these traditional hefe's and dunkelweizens have just been way to phenolic-y for me. Is this typical of all traditional wheats? I want to brew a high-quality wheat beer with a yeast similar to Widmer's hefe because I simply don't find the phenolic flavor and aroma a desirable one. I honestly prefer Widmer's. Is this blasphemy? I hope I'm not the only one.

 

[dukerutledge]

Yes you are wrong.





No, its all about what YOU like, that's why you homebrew.

 

[doctorRobert]

Not everyone can like every style. There are German ales too that you might like and lots of people don't like german wheats. I call those people cowards. jk... those just happened to be my favorite.

 

[machinelf]

I'm with you, I don't care for a lot of those German styles. Not crazy about Belgian beers either. But I do love me some Ales.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

I'm honestly not a big fan of most german styles either. This is probably because I don't have a real taste for lagers or wheats and most german beers are some form of one or the other. This upsets my Dad to no end because we are of german heritage and he loves his german wheats. I just prefer more robust, flavorful ales and there is nothing wrong with that. Although my next beer is going to be a german hefe which I'm going to give him for his birthday.

 

[Gremlyn]

I love beer. Love my ales especially. English, American, Scottish, Irish, hell even Welch, you name it. If it's an an ale, I'll drink it.

Welches makes beer now? All along I thought it was just grape juice and jellies...

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Was ist das?! You will go to hell! For it is written "only through the German Beers will you find salvation!"

But really, dude, drink what you like, make what you like... RDWHAHB.

 

[slowbie]

Obviously there is nothing wrong with discovering you don't actually like a certain style. What people will have a problem with is if you start claiming that you love Belgian beers, but then further discussion reveals to them that Blue Moon is your favorite 'Belgian', and in fact the only one you like. Similar reactions come when you claim to not like lagers but have never tried a lager without 'Lite' in the name.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Take a trip to Germany... Drive around the country for a week or two trying different beers. Then you can make up your mind. At least that's what I'm trying to convince my SWMBO that we have to do before she can really say she doesn't like Belgian beers...

 

[Gremlyn]

Was ist das?! You will go to hell! For it is written "only through the German Beers will you find salvation!"

I think you mean "Sie werden zu Hölle gehen" (my German is a little rust, did I get that?)

 

[Brewing Clamper]

I think you mean "Sie werden zu Hölle gehen" (my German is a little rust, did I get that?)

LOL! I think so... mein Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut!

 

[BlueSunshine]

There's actually quite a few people that don't like German beers. I think part of the reason is that it's pretty tough to find quality German beer here in the states. The only brewery that has wide distribution and makes great examples of German style is Ayinger. Warsteiner ain't bad either.

Also, a few homebrewers feel pigeon holed by the Reinheitsgebot when our hobby encourages such great innovation. Personally, I love German beers and I can't wait till I have the capability to lager.

 

[CiscoKid]

Welcome to beer - you're allowed to like what you like and not like what you don't. I love wheat beers but am not a big fan of some of the hop bombs the west coast guys love. There's nothing wrong with having a preference. And kudos to you for trying some new styles and learning about them.

As for Widmer's... there is probably a lot of die-hards who would argue all day about why they shouldn't call it a hefe... It is certainly an American take on the style and they will tell you that they deliberately used a clean fermenting yeast to avoid those phenolic flavors. Stan Hieronymus discusses it briefly in "Brewing with Wheat."

 

[SumnerH]

Try an altbier and a Kolsch or two. Neither lager nor wheat, yet German. A roggenbier is worth a shot, too.

 

[BrookdaleBrew]

It's funny, the only real craft brewery in my city specializes in German style beers. Their two house beers are an altbier and a kolsch. Sure, technically they are ales, but they taste like lagers to me.

http://www.oldemeckbrew.com

 

[Special Hops]

i don't like belgians beers. not sure why. I have tried them repeatedly but just prefer others.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

I've said this way too many times on this forum, but I started homebrewing so that I could brew bitter.....period. Now, I went through a stage when i thought that after I perfected (Still trying) my precious bitter, I would branch out and try brewing other stuff. Bitter is my all time favourite, but I enjoy other styles too on occasion.

My problem is, that I drink so fooking much bitter, that I have come to realise that I can never have a big enough pipeline to fit in those other styles.

Conclusion. I think I will only ever brew bitter, and will buy the other styles from commercial sources when I want to partake in the malty goodness that is more foreign to my tastes.

SO yeah, you brew what you like the most, and screw everyone else.

 

[wildwest450]

You obviously have never made Kaisers German Altbier. Fantastic, no matter what your favorite style is.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

You obviously have never made Kaisers German Altbier. Fantastic, no matter what your favorite style is.

That might not be awesome for him either, but I do agree that there is ALWAYS something out there that will make anyone rethink their previous thunks.

 

[UnderThePorchBrewing]

Take a trip to Germany... Drive around the country for a week or two trying different beers. Then you can make up your mind. At least that's what I'm trying to convince my SWMBO that we have to do before she can really say she doesn't like Belgian beers...

Did this 4 years ago with my wife and another couple. once you travel the country and sample some of their home brew and their wine you realize they don't export the good stuff. drove Frankfurt to Rothenburg to Munich to the Black Forest to the Rhine and back to Frankfurt drinking most of the way (when I wasn't behind the wheel). loved the local wheat beers there but have found few imported to the US that I like.

 

[TRainH2o]

Drink and brew what you like.

However, there is a huge range of German style beers. Helles, Miabock, Ocktoberfest and Dobbel Bock are my favorites. There are many more than that. Maybe you haven't found a style that you like yet.

 

[waldoar15]

There's quite a few styles of beer that I don't care for (wheat beers being one of them). Doesn't bother me in the least.

 

[fatmoose]

That kind of snobbery bugs the crap outta me, drink what you like how you like it. I say the same think about wine and all the rules around it. If you like a merlot with your fish, have at it. Chardonnay with your steak, enjoy! Personally I don't generally like wheat beers, though I've had a couple dunkleweizen that blew my doors off. I don't generally like Belgian beers either though it seems many beer connoisseurs consider them to be the apex of beer evolution. I'm always willing to try another one though

Life is too short to live it according to the expectations of others. Beer is good. It is supposed to be enjoyed. Drink the beer you like.

 

[doctorRobert]

No you must only enjoy the beers I tell you drink.

 

[Laughing_Gnome_Invisible]

OK, may I summarise?

It is OK to not like German styles, but it is a cardinal sin and a crime against the brew gods not to try every single new beer that is put in front of you.

You can close this thread now, mods. I answered it.

 

[SwampassJ]

Drink what you like, but eventually keep trying other brands of styles you dislike. 6 months ago I hated trippels, now I'm liking them.

 

[BogusOwnz]

I didn't like wheat beers for the longest time but then I tried a Paulaner and the heavens opened up. Since then i've went back and tried other hefes that I didn't like and now I love them. Over the last few months hefes have become my favorite style. So maybe you just have to learn to love them?

 

[Minky]

brewsterk2,

You're cool man, but my sin is unforgivable.

I HATE Cascade hops!!!!! Now I must assume the position and receive my punishment.

 

[shanecb]

I'm not crazy about German styles except for hefeweizen. It is probably my second favorite style overall. Other than that, I just can't get much into other German styles.

 

[humann_brewing]

don't worry, I am 50% German and I don't like man y German beers it is sad to say but I love American hops. Not that I don't enjoy a good optimator now and then but I hate the banana and clove from a German Hefe.

 

[Babylon]

Personally I'm not a huge fan of German beers either, although I'll take a mainstream German beer over a mainstream American or Canadian one any day. There's something about the way the malt is handled in a German beer that just doesn't taste as good to me as it does in the British styles. Belgians though, those I enjoy quite a lot.

 

[Teromous]

It's better to admit your dislike of a beer, than be pretentious and say you like it because of its namesake or origin.

Everybody and their mother tells me I shouldn't like Blue Moon. I've had nearly every American, Belgian, and German wit I can think of, and I like Blue Moon. I don't care if it's Coors. People used to like Hoegaarden and then when people started realizing it was inBev "suddenly" they stopped liking it. That beer is damn tasty too. Also, I just happen to like German and Belgian beers a lot. I also love hefeweizen and to a lesser extent dunkelweizen. I'm not a fan of most barley wine and quite a few IPA/IIPA/DIPA/WTFIPA like most beer drinkers are. It's all about what you like.

 

[KevinW]

OK, may I summarise?

It is OK to not like German styles, but it is a cardinal sin and a crime against the brew gods not to try every single new beer that is put in front of you.

You can close this thread now, mods. I answered it.

+10(except closing the thread) lol

Anybody ever had Skullsplitter?