I couldn't agree more. I did have it in the bottle, it's just too much.
What's the worst craft brew (commercial) you've had?
- Thread starter kylevester
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
I couldn't agree more. I did have it in the bottle, it's just too much.
CGVT
Senior Member
fosgate
Well-Known Member
I'd definitely not a hop head. 
Not that I don't like hops. I enjoy the smell and slight bitterness and aroma of hops. I'm sure with all the preservatives value of hops they keep well but I prefer to taste grain and not flowers.
Not that I don't like hops. I enjoy the smell and slight bitterness and aroma of hops. I'm sure with all the preservatives value of hops they keep well but I prefer to taste grain and not flowers.I don't really like the idea of bashing craft brews, but what the hell. Not a fan of Eel River Brewing Co. I've had their porter, imperial stout, and Triple Exultation. Just underwhelming. Any brewery that says on their website "Finest California Microbrewery" with a straight face needs to calibrate. We have some of the country's best breweries in California, and Eel River ain't one of them. But I chalk this up to the isolation of them being based in Fortuna, which might as well be on the moon.
If a brewery is all in my face about being organic, that's a warning sign. Alone, it has no bearing on quality and taste. IMO, beer should stand on its own. If the best thing they can say about their beer is that it's organic, you know it's going to be forgettable. If it's good AND organic, that's just a bonus.
Side rant not having to do with Eel River: Around where I live, "some" breweries are nuts about being organic, but their beers are very mediocre... dull, characterless, but all-organic. People who know good beer go to other brewpubs, while the hippies and hill rats* go to the organic one. "Some" breweries sell one of their beers in six-pack cans around town, and it costs like twelve bucks. (That's about $3 worth of beer and $9 worth of organic-ness.)
*Hill Rats: "Seasonal gardeners".
If a brewery is all in my face about being organic, that's a warning sign. Alone, it has no bearing on quality and taste. IMO, beer should stand on its own. If the best thing they can say about their beer is that it's organic, you know it's going to be forgettable. If it's good AND organic, that's just a bonus.
Side rant not having to do with Eel River: Around where I live, "some" breweries are nuts about being organic, but their beers are very mediocre... dull, characterless, but all-organic. People who know good beer go to other brewpubs, while the hippies and hill rats* go to the organic one. "Some" breweries sell one of their beers in six-pack cans around town, and it costs like twelve bucks. (That's about $3 worth of beer and $9 worth of organic-ness.)
*Hill Rats: "Seasonal gardeners".
bottlebomber
Well-Known Member
Man, I can't remember having any of their other beers, but the ER Triple X pitcher I had in the brewery was one of my most memorable beer drinking experiences. I'll have to try the others. One thing I will say about them is I've tried emailing them to get information on the brewing process, and they never will respond, which is kind of *****ey.
Owing to Bottles vs. Draft? I don't know... it's been a while since I had their beers, so if someone were to push one in my face i wouldn't decline, but one bad experience lasts a long time otherwise...
But you're another Ukiah resident... how do you feel about organic brews in general?
bottlebomber
Well-Known Member
grimstuff said:
I feel ok about organic brews... Lol. Are we talking about some place in particular?
Ya you know, the one in UKIAH. The UKIAH one. lol...
bottlebomber
Well-Known Member
grimstuff said:
That's a whole discussion in itself. When the place opened, the beer was great. And since then it's gone from amazing to beer that will actually make you physically ill. 2 years ago they had a brewer there, AJ, who was very talented though he didn't play well with others and had to go. Then their beer went back to being crap. Now they have a new guy who they took off the floor and taught him how to make beer. He literally has no brewing background, but I've spoke with him several times and he has huge potential I feel. I actually see a glimmer of hope for that place for the first time in a long while. The new owner seems very unpretentious and down to earth. The beer is still far from great, but not bad either. And this guy seems like he's going to stick around, so I'm hoping for good things. I think they really need to quit it with their wheat beer styles though, they really don't have it going in with those. I've never had one that I liked, and it's not because I don't like the style.
ElyIrishBrew
Well-Known Member
Absolutely gross...........
Ingredients, as far as the brewer will tell you, are 2row, 6row, American and German hops, cereals, and blueberries... sounds good, doesn't taste good.
Ugh, absolutely! We have a huge annual Blueberry/Arts Festival here each July, and that "beer" sells over the counter at the local liquor stores for a couple weeks then.
Yuck!
I didn't know it changed owners... I knew the original owners (did some janitorial work there back in the day) and it seemed like it took a while for them to work out the kinks, but I always felt the beer was bad... However, there were large gaps in my experience there, as I moved away and returned a few times in the space of 12 years. I tried their pilsner the other day and it tasted very basic and uninspired... drinkable but absolutely not worth the rather high price.
bottlebomber
Well-Known Member
grimstuff said:
I've had huge gaps too, since I outright boycotted the place for about 4 years. That's basically right where their beers are now IMO. Expensive for what you get, and just drinkable. I actually think they should ditch the organic thing for the beer and just keep the food organic. It would open up worlds of ingredients for them, and they could probably get their beer back under $5 a pint. I want it at 4 - 4 for them, 1 for the server. It makes it really hard to tip at the prices they have now.
Yeah, it's pretty unreasonable. Especially with Mendocino Ale House down the road with excellent $3-4 pints. (And a good organic line to boot.)
meadmazer
Well-Known Member
Keeping in mind that opinions vary (thats why there is more than just a couple beers after all), 4 come to mind for me: #1 yucky is Wild Blue. Also I dont like Pyramid Apricot, Chainbreaker White, or Trippels in general, tho in fairness I believe my body just has an issue with coriander. Maybe because it shouldnt be in beer.
You may be alone on this one.
Again don't know how "Craft" Sam Adam's is anymore, but another nod to how bad the cherry wheat is. Seriously 1980's drugstore-brand cough syrup. Tried it twice (poured in glasses) and both times couldn't drink it. I am not picky and have drank some bad beer, but that wins the prize!
Now I had Sam Adam's Blackberry Witbier and thought it was really good. Only fruit beer I ever had that I would drink again. Helps that it's not an overpowering flavor like their cherry crap.
I would agree that Southern Tier in general is underwhelming. Think they focus so much on filtering to have crystal clear beer that they strip all the flavors out. Although the couple of times I have had Unearthly, I really enjoyed it.
If you ever buy an APA, IPA, IIPA and it has a born on date that is over 2-3 months old, do not buy it! Light-colored, hoppy ales do not get better with age unless your goal is to remove the hop character and make bland beer.
Now I had Sam Adam's Blackberry Witbier and thought it was really good. Only fruit beer I ever had that I would drink again. Helps that it's not an overpowering flavor like their cherry crap.
I would agree that Southern Tier in general is underwhelming. Think they focus so much on filtering to have crystal clear beer that they strip all the flavors out. Although the couple of times I have had Unearthly, I really enjoyed it.
If you ever buy an APA, IPA, IIPA and it has a born on date that is over 2-3 months old, do not buy it! Light-colored, hoppy ales do not get better with age unless your goal is to remove the hop character and make bland beer.
45_70sharps
Well-Known Member
Hands down the worst was Rogue's Voodoo bacon maple beer.
We drove three hours away to give it a try. I didn't think it was going to be a new favorite, but it sounded interesting.
We sat down and each ordered a bottle. My buddy drank all his, I had less than half of mine before I just couldn't take it any more. I asked for a strong stout to get the taste out of my mouth.
On the plus side they had many more beers that were great.
They were out of barley wine, the one cask conditioned beer was too sweet and the mead tasted like cider but everything else was great. I tried about ten of them.
We drove three hours away to give it a try. I didn't think it was going to be a new favorite, but it sounded interesting.
We sat down and each ordered a bottle. My buddy drank all his, I had less than half of mine before I just couldn't take it any more. I asked for a strong stout to get the taste out of my mouth.
On the plus side they had many more beers that were great.
They were out of barley wine, the one cask conditioned beer was too sweet and the mead tasted like cider but everything else was great. I tried about ten of them.
DrummerBoySeth
Well-Known Member
Another "not really craft" and "not very good" beer is Newcastle Werewolf. I marinated some steaks with it (it is OK for that, I guess) and poured the other 1/2 of the beer into a glass and tried to drink it. Something just seemed "off" about that beer. It ended up going down the sink after 3 sips. Luckily I still had some homebrewed RIS to chase that bad taste away with!
bottlebomber
Well-Known Member
Last night I had a Belhaven Twisted Thistle IPA, the Scottish Ale, and the Wee Heavy. Each of them were so skunked (The Thistle almost made me ill) from the clear bottle that it was hard to tell what they might have been at one time. It's probably not "craft", and I payed way too much for these. But it was the worst beer experience I've had in a long time. With the craft beer market gaining increasingly high standards, these guys really need to get their act together and start taking better care of their beer of they are going to lose a huge chunk of their US market.
Might have more to do with distribution and storage... I've had several Belhaven Wee Heavys from Westside Renn Market and they were excellent.
aceparadis
Well-Known Member
Mississipi Mud black n Tan, very disappointing, imo.
EnjoyGoodBeer
Well-Known Member
aceparadis said:
+1 cool bottle tho
that's too bad you had a bad experience. first time i had a belhaven scottish ale, i followed it up with making 10 gallons. it thought it was tasty. maybe the stuff you had got hot, cooled, hot, cooled, etc
Whattawort
Well-Known Member
Indeed it is. My brother likes the stuff, so I lay claim to all his empties.
A skunked twisted thistle is about the worst thing that i can imagine!
I can't tell you how many times i've had skunked newcastle. I can tell immediately, and the bartender often gives me this, 'yeah, whatever' look when i tell him he should check his supply.
jhhicks
Well-Known Member
I agree! Great bottle though, I kept that one haha
jhhicks
Well-Known Member
I know I will be in the minority here, but I really don't like the Dirty Helen Brown Ale by Barley Island Brewing Company. I have tried it two different times (6-pack purchases) and I just didn't care for it. I love English Brown Ales though. Oh well, just not for me.
dannypo
Well-Known Member
Frog Island Wee Heavy. Tasted like band-aids and feet. I actually spit it out right in front of the brewer at a festival. Kinda felt bad about that but I just couldn't swallow it.
scottyg354
Plant Based Homebrewer
Atwater Grand Circus IPA (in a Can, never had the bottle). Tasted like an overly hopped Michelob Ultra. Really nasty. Should have read the BA reviews prior to buying a sixer.
scottyg354
Plant Based Homebrewer
Agreed with the Cherry Wheat as well. Nasty stuff, but Southern Tier? Pumking, Choklat, Creme Brulee they make some fantastic beers.
dannypo
Well-Known Member
scottyg354 said:
Funny. I can't stand all three of those.
wyowolf said:
I was just in Chicago the other day and tried goose islands Green Line, I think, whichever one is the pale ale. I really liked it.
