Higher alcohol/high hop rate= better reviews on blogs/net media

[OldWorld]

Does anyone notice that the overwhelming majority of positive beer reviews are for high alcohol heavy hopped beers?

When was the last time a Kolsch or Pilsner won accolades among the beer reviewers of the net?

Another good example is Northwest Brew news. The tasting reviews almost always favor the higher hopped hopped,higher alcohol ales.

One great exception to this I found was Moonlight Brewing of CA. They make a Pilsner and it's a darn good one.

I was surprised to see such glowing reviews on beer advocate. For those who want to try one of the best domestic pilsners on the market come to CA...Just be sure the tap house has it. It's freaking fantastic.

 

[MisterTipsy]

It's a conspiracy.

 

[Nightshade]

Maybe it is because the buying public has been trending these brews for a while now, when the trend shifts the brew reviews will reflect this.

 

[OldWorld]

I see no conspiracy...it's just marketing. Breweries who market themselves in the NorthWest brew news often do better in the blind tasting. Perhaps it is a conspiracy

Or maybe the masses are more interested in getting drunk than tasting beer. Pliny The Younger has got to be one of the most absurdly hyped beers without justification...Basically it's Pliny with a little more alcohol and...only brewed once year...

Market the ale as a special seasonal when in fact it's nothing more than excess of the same ingredients and you get schmucks who wait hours in line for it...

I suppose I should re-invent the wheel and proclaim myself the founding father of the Quintuple Pale Ale...25LBS of hops per barrel and 1LB of hop extract per gallon with an ABV of 20 percent....it's gotta sell.

 

[Nightshade]

I find that beers at 9% level start tasting less like beer and more like liquor, though I do enjoy beers that are at the 8.7% and below mark.

 

[OldWorld]

Agreed nightshade...But it's all a preference. I mean I honestly think certain tastes enjoy more ethanol than others. I just find it highly coincidental that the North West Brew News publication nearly always favors higher alcohol/hopped beers...they also tend to rate advertised products higher.

I think the same bias exists with CA wines...lower alcohol boredeux styles often don't get the same ratings as stylistically california wines...

Industry trends often dictate reviews. I find it sad that as craft beer emerges and becomes more mainstream reviews favor only a specific genre.

 

[billf2112]

It is kinda funny, when you think of beer countries, most will say Germany, but they tend to have more malty brews. Hoppy beers were created to preserve the beer. The English made IPA's so the ale could survive the trip to India.

 

[Nightshade]

Agreed nightshade...But it's all a preference. I mean I honestly think certain tastes enjoy more ethanol than others. I just find it highly coincidental that the North West Brew News publication nearly always favors higher alcohol/hopped beers...they also tend to rate advertised products higher.

I think the same bias exists with CA wines...lower alcohol boredeux styles often don't get the same ratings as stylistically california wines...

Industry trends often dictate reviews. I find it sad that as craft beer emerges and becomes more mainstream reviews favor only a specific genre.

I have worked for a couple magazines in an unrelated field and the products advertised always got a bias due to them paying the bills for the magazine. It was never vocalized but seeing a midlevel product that was "competition rated" according to the magazines and in the ads, yet firsthand watching them fail repeatedly in competition made no difference.

I guess the long and short is to go with what you like and never alllow media or hype dictate what your personal opinions and experience show as being incorrect...this goes for everything not just beer.

 

[Gameface]

I imagine the dominance of the light lager started much the same way. It's what people like right now.

 

[david_42]

The English made IPA's so the ale could survive the trip to India.

That said, Left Coast IPAs are nothing like English IPAs. Lots of younger guys are hopheads, around 80% from my casual observations. They're young, so they can drink a lot at one sitting. Lots of sales == profits.

I was at Brew Brothers in Reno. My wife said I was a homebrewer from Oregon. The bar tender pulled a sample of their IPA. Yeah, lots of citrus. Yeah, it was bitter. BOOOOOORRRRIIIINNNGGG! I got a stout and my wife had a hefe.

 

[Devin]

I don't know. I have never been a big fan of Pilseners or "lighter"-type beers. Even the supposed "good" Pilseners that Pilsener-lovers have told me to try. Sure, some of them are "decent", but I have never tried one and thought "Holy S! This is freaking unbelievable!". Not once. I have had that reaction to higher-hopped and higher alcohol brews several times, though.

 

[BigBeer4All]

We get It, you don't like hoppy beers.

Now move on.

 

[iambeer]

Does anyone notice that the overwhelming majority of positive beer reviews are for high alcohol heavy hopped beers?

When was the last time a Kolsch or Pilsner won accolades among the beer reviewers of the net?

Another good example is Northwest Brew news. The tasting reviews almost always favor the higher hopped hopped,higher alcohol ales.

One great exception to this I found was Moonlight Brewing of CA. They make a Pilsner and it's a darn good one.

I was surprised to see such glowing reviews on beer advocate. For those who want to try one of the best domestic pilsners on the market come to CA...Just be sure the tap house has it. It's freaking fantastic.

Totally agree. Incidentally I avoid higher alcohol content in craft beer.

But higher hops when balanced with a moderate ABV beer, that I don't mind when well done.

Overall the IPA is the US way of putting its cultural footmark on beer.

 

[MisterTipsy]

More than half of the highest rated beers at ratebeer.com are Imperial Stouts.

 

[RainyDay]

Anyone else think OldWorld is really a representative of Inbev?

 

[watersr]

Perhaps he was frightened by a hop when he was younger and vowed vengeance on them all.

 

[pdxal]

Big beers (higher alcohol, higher hopping) mean more malt/hop taste, and IMO the ratings skew toward beers that have more taste. People seem to need to be hit over the head with flavor, rather than enjoying more subtle attributes.
That, and marketing/impression of being rare, as some have mentioned, seem to make people fawn.