What are your contrarian/"unpopular" beer opinions?
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flars
Well-Known Member
There is no such thing as the 1.020 curse. High FG is due to the yeast used or a fault in the brewing process.
My contrarian opinion is not so contrarian because it's backed up by decades of scientific research:
1. Abstaining from alcohol is really bad for your health (20-50% higher mortality overall compared to moderate drinkers)
2. Moderation in alcohol consumption is not just "1-2" drinks a day, but more like 2-4 drinks a day (for men) and ideally done on daily basis, with food and ingested slowly. Even people who drink 6+ drinks a day every day have lower mortality rates than abstainers. But 1-2 drinks is where the optimal lowest mortality point is, there is gradual slope of increased mortality at higher doses.
1. Abstaining from alcohol is really bad for your health (20-50% higher mortality overall compared to moderate drinkers)
2. Moderation in alcohol consumption is not just "1-2" drinks a day, but more like 2-4 drinks a day (for men) and ideally done on daily basis, with food and ingested slowly. Even people who drink 6+ drinks a day every day have lower mortality rates than abstainers. But 1-2 drinks is where the optimal lowest mortality point is, there is gradual slope of increased mortality at higher doses.
My other not-so-contrarian scientifically backed opinion (which still surprises many people): You don't taste beer (or most foods) with your mouth.
You can get basic taste - sweet/sour/salty/bitter/umami - from tongue taste buds but the real complexity of tasting something comes from retronasal aroma that is sent to olfactory bulb - receptors on top of your sinuses that sit right behind your eyes, directly below your brain.
Another amazing fact is that even though humans have far fewer taste/aroma receptors than dogs or even mice, the sheer number of receptors is not what matters in the end, and we humans are actually better at tasting and smelling most flavors/smells - primarily because of our big brains (and also proximity of olfactory receptors to the brain), we are able to catalogue, recognize and classify aromas far better than dogs, especially when it comes to complex molecules. Dogs are only better than us at recognizing small molecules and at tracing the scent - mostly because they can filter out dust and other particles and can get very low on the ground. But for most other tasks humans (primarily because of "software" of brain, not just hardware of taste/smell receptors) are actually as good if not better, and better than most chemical analytical methods (so-called "electronic noses").
You can get basic taste - sweet/sour/salty/bitter/umami - from tongue taste buds but the real complexity of tasting something comes from retronasal aroma that is sent to olfactory bulb - receptors on top of your sinuses that sit right behind your eyes, directly below your brain.
Another amazing fact is that even though humans have far fewer taste/aroma receptors than dogs or even mice, the sheer number of receptors is not what matters in the end, and we humans are actually better at tasting and smelling most flavors/smells - primarily because of our big brains (and also proximity of olfactory receptors to the brain), we are able to catalogue, recognize and classify aromas far better than dogs, especially when it comes to complex molecules. Dogs are only better than us at recognizing small molecules and at tracing the scent - mostly because they can filter out dust and other particles and can get very low on the ground. But for most other tasks humans (primarily because of "software" of brain, not just hardware of taste/smell receptors) are actually as good if not better, and better than most chemical analytical methods (so-called "electronic noses").
I don't know, I've had some weird flavors from old LME that'd be sitting in brew shop shelves for god knows how long. Good fresh DME shouldn't cause any issues though.
Like a lot of stuff a lot of techniques that are more commonly used by newbies produce bad beer not because they're bad techniques but because they're are commonly used by newbies and newbies **** up a lot.
I think that's where a lot of "I started doing X and then my beer finally got good." X probably doesn't matter at all, it's that coincidentally you got the basic of how to brew beer nailed down when you started doing X.
Certainly. I've got screwed up sinuses which hurts my sense of smell which means that I just can't taste a lot of flavors even though nothing is wrong with my tongue. That's why I like massive hop bombs, I can actually taste them.
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Well, if you agreed with me, it wouldn't be "contrarian" now, would it.
Actually I don't think I'm really disagreeing with you. Really old grains are going to make nasty beer and really old extract is doing to make nasty beer.
But it seems that really old LME gets sold a lot more than other kinds of malt so those nasty tastes crop up when they really wouldn't for all grain unless someone's beer keeping their big sack of malt in the closet for years.
mmiddleton
Active Member
Not really contrarian but most of the joy I get from homebrewing is actually because it does take a long time... spending 5 hours on Saturday cooking up 2.5 gallons of wort using grains and hops makes feel connected to history and humanity. Waiting for a few weeks and bottling it up gives me a chance to consider the value of patience and discipline. Then 2-3 weeks later I find out how things went... I've made great beers and not-so-great beers but I've completely enjoyed the process of making every single one.
I'm clearly not alone in this opinion, otherwise this forum wouldn't exist
I'm with you on this, and I think I'd take it a step further. I'm completely uninterested in adding electronics, or even electric heat, to my brew system. A little elbow grease is a good addition to beer, IMO.
Silver_Is_Money
Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
Adjusting mash water to match some world famous brewing locations perceived water profile is a total waste of time, and it gives you more chance to destroy the quality of your product then it does to improve it.
ShareBrewing
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I hate the flavor of American oak. There I said it. French oak is better and IMO tends to have a more complex range of flavors (or maybe "terroir"). I'm not really into wine, nor do I make it so that's not my bias.
American oak (and therefore whiskey/bourbon) just have way to much vanillin in the wood, making what you age it with a caramelly, cloying, vanilla bomb. French oak, depending on which of the 5 main forested regions it is from, can have delicious smokey notes, earthiness, a hint of caramel and vanilla, spicy flavors, and contributes a nice tannin structure (body) to the beer.
Right now I'm actually soaking some medium toast French oak spirals in Espolon tequila for a honey-lime tequila barrel sour. There just aren't enough Tequila infused beers out there...
American oak (and therefore whiskey/bourbon) just have way to much vanillin in the wood, making what you age it with a caramelly, cloying, vanilla bomb. French oak, depending on which of the 5 main forested regions it is from, can have delicious smokey notes, earthiness, a hint of caramel and vanilla, spicy flavors, and contributes a nice tannin structure (body) to the beer.
Right now I'm actually soaking some medium toast French oak spirals in Espolon tequila for a honey-lime tequila barrel sour. There just aren't enough Tequila infused beers out there...
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
Mmmmmmm...Tequila sour...I just got very thirsty and have a strong desire to go somewhere warm and snow free!
JediJoel
Well-Known Member
I don't think the beer category should be called "Sours". Not all beers with mixed or non-sacc fermentations are sour. They are Wild Ales!
TANSTAAFB
Well-Known Member
At the very least Brettanomyces beers that do not have any bacteria should be a separate category. Funky? Yes. Sour? No.
I disagree, to an extent. I believe water chemistry is actually a very important part of brewing, and that there are extents to which you cannot replicate a particular "terroir" of beer if you don't replicate the water.
I didn't start making water from RO until about 9 years into my brewing career. But even then, I noticed an immediate improvement. I had knocked out all the other process issues and was making very good beer before that, but water put it at a new level.
Now--where I agree with you. Trying to mimic water in a particular area does no good if the local brewers don't actually brew with that water without modification. I would expect that any large-scale brewer in the world understands their water sources, tests them for each batch, and adjusts to what *they* want. So even though we have a profile for "Burton on Trent" it doesn't necessarily mean that the profile as we understand it is what they actually brew with. Therefore you are correct that blindly trying to match some "historic" profile may not be productive, since that "historic" profile isn't necessarily correct as it relates to actually brewing with water.
Silver_Is_Money
Larry Sayre, Developer of 'Mash Made Easy'
I fully agree!
Dmlsys23
Well-Known Member
Totally agreed. I made an extract IPA that got a 30. The same all-grain IPA? 30. I've never tasted a twang. I think it's all in people's heads from hearing about it from other brewers.
Well I guess I'm bit of a weirdo as well. Eh, make that I am a proud weirdo. I don't mind bottling, and I do have a setup to dispense kegged beer for parties, the investment was better than being the bartender and less stressful than instructing every beer drinker that wanted homebrew how to pour.
+1 to bottling. I haven't got space for a kegerator in my kitchen. But I have got a nice cool cellar. Plus I like being able to go downstairs and pick from 8-10 varieties depending on my mood and what I'm eating.
mmiddleton
Active Member
If you mean at home, that's 100% correct. Outside of the home, I've pulled a few, though I'm certainly no expert.
To be clear, I'm not against other people kegging. If it works for you, that's awesome!
It's just not my jam.I could see one of those garbage can keg dispensers being useful for parties and such. Guess I'm not popular enough to need something like that
Murphys_Law
Well-Known Member
I like going to my kegerator and choosing from 5 (soon 6) beers on tap, PLUS several styles that are bottled and in my beer fridge.
Cavpilot2000
Well-Known Member
When fresh, I will agree. But when an extract beer ages (say 6 months, give or take) it definitely becomes clear it's an extract beer. It has a certain taste that is common to all extract beers after a while. In fact, when I usd to do extract, I found it hard to tell my beers apart once they got 6-9 months old (yes, some bottles hung around that long). No kidding - I once couldn't tell if a bottle was the IPA (Classic English Style) I had made or a honey brown ale.
The only beer I still brew with LME is a Baltic Porter, and it's at its best after 6 months.
Cavpilot2000
Well-Known Member
That makes sense, because the Baltic Porter is one of the strongest flavored beers out there. Those heavy dark malts will mask the extract flavor.
As with any rule, there are always exceptions, but I'm sure there is a reason you don't make your pale ales out of extract anymore.
I agree with the bottling +1 but my contrarian opinion is that alcohol and food generally taste horrible together.
Eh, I never did many pales with LME. By my fourth batch I was doing BIAB, maybe kicking up the strength on doubles with a little DME. But the Baltic has been so popular (my friends keep asking if they can buy cases from me) that I didn't want to tinker with it too much. Of course, in addition to the malts, it's a spiced Baltic Porter (anise and cardamom) so that's also masking the flavors a bit.
popsicleian
Well-Known Member
I sort of agree! I don't think they're horrible, but I'm much less interested in pairing than I am drinking and eating separately. I've had some good pairings, but I think that putting beer and food together often makes them both taste worse.
normonster
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I like going to my kegerator and choosing from 5 (soon 6) beers on tap, PLUS several styles that are bottled and in my beer fridge.
Nailed it.
The answer is clearly both. I prefer to drink my beers from bottles and I think it is worth the effort, but I also enjoy pulling pints in my man-cave. I generally put blonde and pale in the kegs and all else in bottles.
If I could only have one, I'd take bottling. But since I have a job and only one hobby, BOTH!
