What are your contrarian/"unpopular" beer opinions?

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IPAs are over-rated. I've tried one or two, didn't like them. Also it seems like regular Pale Ales are almost that hoppy. And then I hear people describing those kinds of beers with the words "cat piss"... why? are you actively trying to discourage me from trying them again?

I believe that brewers need to use varieties of yeast that correspond to the style they're making. I've been in some microbreweries/nanobreweries for tastings where all the beers taste the same despite their being labeled as different styles and it is the only reason I can think of for this phenomenon. Even though I've done experiments where I've split wort and used what should have been very different yeast and didn't get a noticeable flavor difference.

Aeration is important, but I think pure oxygen is overkill, and I base this on the brulosophy experiments in aeration. It took pure oxygen vs no aeration before they finally got results in that department.
 
* I really don't like brewing/drinking beers over 6% ABV. I just can't really stand Belgian beers and I am not much of a fan of sours - even though I have "tried" to like both.

* I think an awful lot of brewers spend too much time blaming problems on abstract brewing process when the real problem is the fact that they don't do a good enough job with sanitation.

* Water matters - a lot. It should be something a brewer pays attention to right from the first batch (as simple as just using RO water). Too many people tell beginners that adjusting water is "hard" and they should worry about it later.... no - they should do it right from the very beginning. Tap water with chlorine will ruin beer. Very hard water can ruin beer. It just is not hard to make sure that component is correct, or in the ball park. It is a disservice to convince so many people it is "difficult" when it isn't.

*The purpose of home brewing, as a hobby, is not to save money. It is a hobby.... like other hobbies. I have always found it odd that home brewing is one of the few hobbies where a fair number of people almost look down on those who spend money on nice things for the enjoyment of their hobby. No one bashes on golfers for getting a nice set of clubs, or a hunter for getting a great new gun...... but, it seems that often (not always) when someone gets something nice, lots of people can be quick to point out "that isn't going to make better beer" or "my 30 year old cooler is just as good." I love seeing people go overboard on their brew set up and enjoy building something really nice.
 
It irks me that many people simply don't recognize the validity of others views because X view isn't reflective of their experience. My taste buds are different from yours, my brew house is different, my yeast management is different, results may vary and that's okay.
 
MVKTR2 said:
It irks me that many people simply don't recognize the validity of others views because X view isn't reflective of their experience. My taste buds are different from yours, my brew house is different, my yeast management is different, results may vary and that's okay.
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Bingo. And our minds can easily affect what our taste buds tell us. I think it was Charlie Danforth who pulled a label swap on a group respected for their palette - demonstrating that even the most discerning and experienced palettes aren't reliable.
 
Homebrew Sanitation is overrated. The only time i worry about sanitizing is when making yeast starters, and i ususally accomplish that by boiling in the flask.
Got a seperate fermenter for sours. Good enough.
 
DIPA's do not need to be crazy bitter. An IBU of about 60 - 65 is perfect

(but a ton of hops at sub-isomerizing temps and dry hops are what a double should be part of that equation)
 
I think pine should stay in Pine-sol and out of beer, particularly high IBU IPA's. If I taste a beer and it seems like I just finished chewing on a pine tree air freshener and rinsed it out with Pine-sol, I will pour it out in front of you for having tortured me this way. If I ask if it is piney before I taste it and you say no and it is purely resinous, I may pour it on you.

I hate Belgian yeast because it usually imparts a Coriander flavor which is highly offensive to me just like Cilantro. A whiff is all I need to tell you if it is a present. If you can dry it down or malt it up to where it is very faint, you get a pass. It can be done.

Bourbon barrel beers should have a hint of wood and bourbon. I don't want a shot of bourbon with a hint of beer while feeling like I just ate a #2 pencil. Very few seem to get that.

I love hot peppers. I love beer. I love eating hot peppers while drinking beer. I hate drinking hot pepper beer. Keep them seperate in the bottle.

Most beers need not be over 7% ABV (preferably 6%) except some bold stouts. They can stop at 10% ABV at the most. If I want to get drunk fast and not enjoy what I'm drinking, I'll get some harsh shine and be done with it.
 
Oxygen is detrimental to beer.. over time.. but on the homebrew scale, with basic precautions such as purging your keg a few times, it's a bogeyman that's not worth the extra effort of liquid purges and CO2 filled ballons etc.

Also, I really think most bad beers are from bad recipes not process issues or off-flavors.
 
Redlantern said:
DIPA's do not need to be crazy bitter. An IBU of about 60 - 65 is perfect

(but a ton of hops at sub-isomerizing temps and dry hops are what a double should be part of that equation)
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I wonder if a significant part of the population confuses hop flavor from late hops with bitterness.
 
I hate fruit beers.

Orange is good for me, but I hate seeing so many freaking toasted coconuct buttersquash strawberry basil beer.

I knew a guy that made a bourbon barrel smoked chocolate cinnamon vanilla bean milk stout....that's not even beer anymore
 
making a 5 L starter for a Lager is stupid.....

You are making a 1 gallon batch, to pitch into a 5 gallon batch ???

I make 1 L starters, no bigger than that

Seem real stupid to me, to risk changing the flavor of your lager with a gallon of DME.....
or worse, risk the infection of such a large starter

my 2 cents

S
 
steveoatley said:
making a 5 L starter for a Lager is stupid.....

You are making a 1 gallon batch, to pitch into a 5 gallon batch ???

I make 1 L starters, no bigger than that

Seem real stupid to me, to risk changing the flavor of your lager with a gallon of DME.....
or worse, risk the infection of such a large starter

my 2 cents

S
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FWIW, you're supposed to decant off the starter wort and only pitch the yeast cells, but yes a 5L starter is excessive... that being said I just pitched about 4 cups of pure yeast cake into a doppelbock...
 
steveoatley said:
making a 5 L starter for a Lager is stupid.....

You are making a 1 gallon batch, to pitch into a 5 gallon batch ???

I make 1 L starters, no bigger than that

Seem real stupid to me, to risk changing the flavor of your lager with a gallon of DME.....
or worse, risk the infection of such a large starter

my 2 cents

S
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I agree.

I make 1L starters also, and concentrate more on pitching yeast that is actively fermenting, and I pitch the entire 1L starter. (Now, If I am starting with a new pack of yeast, I make a 1L starter for 5 gallons of 1.040 kind of lager). I will harvest that yeast and use much more yeast in a 1L starter for bigger lagers.

There is a lot of really good information in the thread linked below about the value of pitching active yeast 12-18 hours after starter is made as opposed to building up a big starter, fermenting it out, crashing, decanting, etc..... Basically, if you are pitching active yeast in the exponential phase of growth, the doubling time of yeast is so short that it is not a significant player (provided you are starting with a reasonable amount of yeast).

https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=20692.0
 
My "unpopular" opinion (based on responses here): IPAs are NOT overrated.

IBUs are overrated. Too many DIPA push the boundaries of high ABV and IBU without achieving a good tasting beer.

But we are living through an amazing renaissance of Hops - new varieties are being bred every day, and IPA/APA is a fantastic vehicle for displaying hop aromas, flavors and their combinations. Much of innovation in craft brewing (especially in US) industry came from various types of IPA, let's not forget this.

Having said all this, I do enjoy a good IPA, but I also wish bars and restaurants and stores had more of less traditional styles. Variety is good.
 
My contrarian (or maybe not so contrarian) views - many informed by brulosophy, experimental brewing and my own experiments:

vorlaufing is not needed.
hot side aeration is overrated.
decoction is overly complicated and mostly not necessary with modern malts
viability starter for ~12 hrs works as well as 2-3-day starter, cold-crash, decanting
many small mid-boil hop additions are unneccessary, you can re-design recipe with early bittering and late aroma additions
you can store yeast for a lot longer than calculators say and still achieve a decent viability
boiling and cooling DME is not necessary for making a starter
DMS in covered pots is much more rare than in commercial systems
you don't need airlock the first few days of fermentation - just cover fermentor neck with foil
trub in the fermentor is fine
we (I am guilty of this myself) do too many weird flavor additions to beer recipe - fruit, peppers, spices, pumpkin, coffee, vanilla, etc. - this makes us lose track of what a well formulated and executed "beer flavored beer" with just hops, malts and water (plus yeast) can taste like.
we don't experiment with malt varieties (and traditional adjuncts - oats, wheat, rye, and even rice/corn that got a bad rap) as much as we do with hop varieties and crazy additions
making as good "small" or session beer, say at 4% is a lot more difficult than making an 8-10% ABV beer
the word "balance" is overused and need to be defined
session IPA is just american pale ale
just because one can make an imperial/double version of beer X doesn't mean one should
drinking a few beers a day, every day, slowly, with food is actually good for your health - way better than not drinking any alcohol at all and better than almost any other, higher ABV alcoholic drink, including wine, for identical alcohol intake
most of what we think as "traditional" styles are not traditional at all, and are re-invented or plain invented in the last 30-50 years - saisons, bocks, porters, trappist ales, IPA - looked and tasted in 19th century (or even early 20th century) nothing like they do now (or they didn't exist at all).
 
55x11 said:
My contrarian (or maybe not so contrarian) views - many informed by brulosophy, experimental brewing and my own experiments:

drinking a few beers a day, every day, slowly, with food is actually good for your health - way better than not drinking any alcohol at all and better than almost any other, higher ABV alcoholic drink, including wine, for identical alcohol intake
most of what we think as "traditional" styles are not traditional at all, and are re-invented or plain invented in the last 30-50 years - saisons, bocks, porters, trappist ales, IPA - looked and tasted in 19th century (or even early 20th century) nothing like they do now (or they didn't exist at all).
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Agreed with everything until these two.. beer consumption and health is rocky ground at best. And most of those styles you listed are very old, especially bocks and trappist ales which have been around since the 1300's and 1600's respectively, and we HAVE the original recipes so we know they are similar.

Agreed that an american porter or saison is probably not the same as the english and french originals, but examples certainly exist of the originals for comparison.
 
"most of what we think as "traditional" styles are not traditional at all, and are re-invented or plain invented in the last 30-50 years - saisons, bocks, porters, trappist ales, IPA - looked and tasted in 19th century (or even early 20th century) nothing like they do now (or they didn't exist at all)."

I'm gonna have to agree here. While beer history and culture is just a hobby of mine it seems that todays process and ingredients are vastly different than they were even 100 years ago. This leads me to believe that the beer is also very different and comparing traditianal styles to our modern interpereatations of them is useless
 
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