What are your contrarian/"unpopular" beer opinions?

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I am kind of in the middle of you two

first I think trained and expereinced are 2 different things

a trained palate will compare a beer according to that style, after all if you do not think a Light American beer is worth drinking a trained palate will still tell you if it is a good example of that style.
I think to many of the guys doing those reviews are trying to rate according to the beers they want to drink.

That is a problem to many of the rating systems on the internet today, no matter what the item being rated. There are very loose standards to why it is rated that way.

So either way both of your opinions has merit
 
r4dyce said:
Not sure I agree with a "vast majority." I actually think most people on there drink a lot of beer and have experienced palates. And I don't think brewing knowledge is requisite to appreciating beer. I do agree lots of beers are overrated/underrated based on reputation though. I.e. I happen to think Heady Topper is wildly overrated because people think they are supposed to like it and scarcity creates a mythology of demand. Similarly I think if you put a different label on something like Sam Summer it would be rated much higher.

On a side note, there's lots of interesting studies with wine judging that shows people favor more expenses wines, but that preference goes away when you hide the prices and label from them. Similarly, even trained wine judges will rate the same wine wildly differently in a blind tasting if they have the same wine even a few hours apart. Basically all reviews should be taken with a grain of salt ha.
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I find the comments on these sites useful, but I find the ratings far less useful. When you're applying a 1-100 score, I think people give undue consideration to the scarcity of the beer. People buy into the mythology, the obsession with having the latest "White Whale" IPA that you have to go on a heroic quest to obtain, and as a result they're less concerned with the actual quality of that beer.

So yeah, reviews where people actually enter thoughtful tasting notes? I read those and value them. But where it's just a 1-100 score and like "THIS BEER WAS GOOD" or "THE BEER WAS BAD AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD" I tend to be far more skeptical. Individual reviews are almost always smarter than aggregate scores.
 
Mainer said:
(snip)
So yeah, reviews where people actually enter thoughtful tasting notes? I read those and value them. But where it's just a 1-100 score and like "THIS BEER WAS GOOD" or "THE BEER WAS BAD AND YOU SHOULD FEEL BAD" I tend to be far more skeptical. Individual reviews are almost always smarter than aggregate scores.
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Yeah, I like when people will put on a review WHY they liked or disliked a beer. When I review a beer on Untapped, I try to put in what I liked or disliked so that anyone reading my review will at least understand what it was that made me review it that way.
Just because Hoplanta is a hop bomb doesn't mean someone else won't love it. I just don't like hop bombs. :)
 
Sometimes I'll google a brewing issue. If I can't find the answer on HBT, then the AHA forum or Northern Brewer forum may have the answer. BA's forum pops up in the search results and they always seem to have bad advice.
 
SlitheryDee said:
Serious question: When did you realize you liked really hoppy beers? Did you have to build up to it or was it just love at first taste? I'm definitely going to be trying some higher IBU beers, but I find that I have a very low tolerance for hop bitterness. The few ipas I've had were all downright unpleasant because of it. Because of their undeniable popularity, I'm convinced I must be missing something though.
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When I did the Stone tour the guide said something that made sense, Drink it till you like it. I know my palate has changed significantly since I started drinking craft beers. The first time I tried Arrogant Bastard I thought it was gross. Now I can enjoy it when in the right mood. Lagunitas Sucks is one of the best tasting hopped beers I have ever tried.
 
Durian Hefeweizen? I have never tried durian, but from what I have heard you may want to brew fewer than 5 gallons. And I thought my rosemary, sage and lavender gruit was out there.
 
cmac62 said:
Durian Hefeweizen? I have never tried durian, but from what I have heard you may want to brew fewer than 5 gallons. And I thought my rosemary, sage and lavender gruit was out there.
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It's still just an idea - I need to figure out if durian will ferment well or if it's not going to work at all. However, I love a good, fresh durian and the flavor would meld well with a yeasty hefeweizen, so I'm trying to figure out how to make it happen.
 
FatDragon said:
It's still just an idea - I need to figure out if durian will ferment well or if it's not going to work at all. However, I love a good, fresh durian and the flavor would meld well with a yeasty hefeweizen, so I'm trying to figure out how to make it happen.
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My wife has really been trying to get me to make a durian beer... Please post your attempt when you do it.
 
cmac62 said:
When I did the Stone tour the guide said something that made sense, Drink it till you like it.
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Jeffry Stiengarten (not sure of the spelling) wrote in one of his books, "The Man Who Ate Everything", I think. That if you eat something you don't like at least three times you'll start to like it.
 
I think the entire IPA field of craft beers has been muddied and beat to death by substandard IPAs released by every mothers son trying to cash in on the market, and most are really bad
 
Steveruch said:
Jeffry Stiengarten (not sure of the spelling) wrote in one of his books, "The Man Who Ate Everything", I think. That if you eat something you don't like at least three times you'll start to like it.
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I gave sea urchin three goes and I still don't like it.
 
roadkizzle said:
My wife has really been trying to get me to make a durian beer... Please post your attempt when you do it.
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If and when...

JonM said:
Someone here in Brewtown tried durian beer a while back:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=369320
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That provides some good information and encouragement - glad to know it didn't destroy the beer as I've been afraid it might. I'll probably add the durian in secondary and maybe split the batch so I don't lose an entire brewday if it turns out awful. If and when I make this happen, I'll be sure to share it with the peanut gallery.
 
bajaedition said:
I think the entire IPA field of craft beers has been muddied and beat to death by substandard IPAs released by every mothers son trying to cash in on the market, and most are really bad
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I like this statement. However in my unpopular opinion, would expand it to read:

I think the entire field of craft beers has been muddied and beat to death by substandard beers released by every mothers son trying to cash in on the market, and most are really bad!
 
I would echo this sentiment.
Out of every ten new craft beers I try, I consider myself lucky if I find one that I would ever seek out to buy again.
Most are just nothing special/noteworthy, but many are downright bad.
 
ShareBrewing said:
Agree and disagree. Fruit can be stellar in some beer styles but some breweries will go way overboard trying to add exotic fruits that add virtually no flavor. Like a beer I tried with Buddha's hand fruit. Whole bunch of expensive imported fruit added to a simple blonde ale and you couldn't tell they added fruit at all. Total waste.
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Same goes for Pineapple Sculpin. Adds nothing to the beer at all.
 
bajaedition said:
I think the entire IPA field of craft beers has been muddied and beat to death by substandard IPAs released by every mothers son trying to cash in on the market, and most are really bad
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Totally agree, I've been seeing some really poor ones hitting the Pittsburgh market, it's definitely gotten out of contrl
 
I think that NE IPA is the latest annoying fad and I don't get why people put oats in their beer to show how hazy it is

Don't hurt me...
 
Bilsch said:
I like this statement. However in my unpopular opinion, would expand it to read:

I think the entire field of craft beers has been muddied and beat to death by substandard beers released by every mothers son trying to cash in on the market, and most are really bad!
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Yes, this
 
HopGobbler said:
I think that NE IPA is the latest annoying fad and I don't get why people put oats in their beer to show how hazy it is

Don't hurt me...
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This won't hurt...much...
I think the NEIPA is here to stay. Many of us prefer them over West Coast IPAs, which (here is a not-so-contrarian opinion) we are tired of, because we are burnt out on the trend of jamming more and more bittering hops to see just how extreme breweries can push the envelope of bitterness. NEIPAs are great for hopheads burnt out on ridiculous and excessive bitterness, and who like the other contributions of hops besides bitterness.

Also, while some add oats to their NEIPAs mistakenly thinking that's the thing that makes them hazy, most of us who brew them a fair amount know it isn't the oats that gives them persistent haze (oat haze is temporary), but oats may contribute to body and mouthfeel.

But while I do love a good NEIPA, I am a German lager guy at heart, and my contrarian opinion is that the proliferation of IPAs in the last 10 years is due in part to demand, but also in part to the fact that decent IPAs are super easy to brew. In fact they're almost impossible to screw up (but yes, some people still manage to). IPAs are the Sesame Street of brewing. Want to see if a brewer is any good at the craft? Try his Pilsner/Kolsh/Helles.

Flame on!
 
Cavpilot2000 said:
This won't hurt...much...
I think the NEIPA is here to stay. Many of us prefer them over West Coast IPAs, which (here is a not-so-contrarian opinion) we are tired of, because we are burnt out on the trend of jamming more and more bittering hops to see just how extreme breweries can push the envelope of bitterness. NEIPAs are great for hopheads burnt out on ridiculous and excessive bitterness, and who like the other contributions of hops besides bitterness.

Also, while some add oats to their NEIPAs mistakenly thinking that's the thing that makes them hazy, most of us who brew them a fair amount know it isn't the oats that gives them persistent haze (oat haze is temporary), but oats may contribute to body and mouthfeel.

But while I do love a good NEIPA, I am a German lager guy at heart, and my contrarian opinion is that the proliferation of IPAs in the last 10 years is due in part to demand, but also in part to the fact that decent IPAs are super easy to brew. In fact they're almost impossible to screw up (but yes, some people still manage to). IPAs are the Sesame Street of brewing. Want to see if a brewer is any good at the craft? Try his Pilsner/Kolsh/Helles.

Flame on!
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I think the NEIPA trend is less demand-driven and more supply-driven. There are so many small breweries popping up now that they don't have tons of space to age. Also, they're often really in debt on their high-startup-cost equipment, so they need to start making money ASAP. So what's an excuse to rush a beer to market? An artificial obsession with freshness. If you can cram it full of hops and haze and convince people they need to drink it within 2 weeks of brewing, you can start paying off your debt sooner.

Edit: That said, I enjoy a nice hazy IPA every now and again. I think they're here to stay, but I also think they're overrepresented in the market right now.
 
Mainer said:
I think the NEIPA trend is less demand-driven and more supply-driven. There are so many small breweries popping up now that they don't have tons of space to age. Also, they're often really in debt on their high-startup-cost equipment, so they need to start making money ASAP. So what's an excuse to rush a beer to market? An artificial obsession with freshness. If you can cram it full of hops and haze and convince people they need to drink it within 2 weeks of brewing, you can start paying off your debt sooner.

Edit: That said, I enjoy a nice hazy IPA every now and again. I think they're here to stay, but I also think they're overrepresented in the market right now.
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I think there's a lot of truth to that.
And yes, they are overrepresented. And they are definitely not all created equal. There is a reason the "classics" (Alchemist, Treehouse, Hill Farmstead, Trillium) are the examples everyone points to - many of the imitators just aren't as special.
 
Cavpilot2000 said:
But while I do love a good NEIPA, I am a German lager guy at heart, and my contrarian opinion is that the proliferation of IPAs in the last 10 years is due in part to demand, but also in part to the fact that decent IPAs are super easy to brew. In fact they're almost impossible to screw up (but yes, some people still manage to). IPAs are the Sesame Street of brewing. Want to see if a brewer is any good at the craft? Try his Pilsner/Kolsh/Helles.
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Well said !
 
I have not read this monster of a thread completely, so this has already been said I am sure: a beer's popularity is directly proportional to its rarity. Pliney The Elder is hard to get on the east coast, so it is highly desired there. Heady is hard to get even in VT so it is greatly desired. Bomb was, until recently hard to get anywhere but OK. All of these are GOOD beers made GREAT by their rarity. Interesting fact, I have been part of several blind taste tests where we picked a style, say IPA, and then had a bunch of brew nerds together to rate the beers in order. Before we revealed the results, folks talked about which beers they loved the most, some of which were in the tasting and they did not know it. People were shocked when they were told the results. Mostly, there was a correlation between rare beers and lower than expected ratings. I found that interesting. From this I gather that a beer's rarity is more important in the mind of a drinker that the actual taste they perceive! Have you had Westy? I have, many times. It was fantastic, delicious, orgasmic even. ABT 12? Really good but no Westy! Well, in a blind taste test, people found they liked the ABT better than the Westy! Your tastes, as a beer nerd, are affected more by your inability to purchase a beer that is highly rated by others than your taste buds dictate.
 
stonebrewer said:
Have you had Westy? I have, many times. It was fantastic, delicious, orgasmic even. ABT 12? Really good but no Westy! Well, in a blind taste test, people found they liked the ABT better than the Westy! Your tastes, as a beer nerd, are affected more by your inability to purchase a beer that is highly rated by others than your taste buds dictate.
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This always makes me wonder if I would even like Westvleteren 12 that much. I have had St. Bernardus ABT 12 and it fell pretty low on my list of Belgian Quads and their non-Trappist equivalents (Belgian dark strong ales).
 
stonebrewer said:
I have not read this monster of a thread completely, so this has already been said I am sure: a beer's popularity is directly proportional to its rarity. Pliney The Elder is hard to get on the east coast, so it is highly desired there. Heady is hard to get even in VT so it is greatly desired. Bomb was, until recently hard to get anywhere but OK. All of these are GOOD beers made GREAT by their rarity. Interesting fact, I have been part of several blind taste tests where we picked a style, say IPA, and then had a bunch of brew nerds together to rate the beers in order. Before we revealed the results, folks talked about which beers they loved the most, some of which were in the tasting and they did not know it. People were shocked when they were told the results. Mostly, there was a correlation between rare beers and lower than expected ratings. I found that interesting. From this I gather that a beer's rarity is more important in the mind of a drinker that the actual taste they perceive! Have you had Westy? I have, many times. It was fantastic, delicious, orgasmic even. ABT 12? Really good but no Westy! Well, in a blind taste test, people found they liked the ABT better than the Westy! Your tastes, as a beer nerd, are affected more by your inability to purchase a beer that is highly rated by others than your taste buds dictate.
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Crawl out through the fallout, baby.
 
stonebrewer said:
Your tastes, as a beer nerd, are affected more by your inability to purchase a beer that is highly rated by others than your taste buds dictate.
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There is probably a lot of truth in that however personally when I'm in Munich, where there is enough helles to fill an Olympic swimming pool, I think it tastes even better.

I also don't get why people will cue up in rediculous long lines to get in certain night clubs where there isn't anything happening except perceived exclusivity. Humans.
 
Bilsch said:
There is probably a lot of truth in that however personally when I'm in Munich, where there is enough helles to fill an Olympic swimming pool, I think it tastes even better.

I also don't get why people will cue up in rediculous long lines to get in certain night clubs where there isn't anything happening except perceived exclusivity. Humans.
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Ah, but going to Munich to get fresh Helles is already much higher-effort for most people than sourcing a can of Heady Topper or a bottle of Westy 12. Hell, I can easily get both of those IN CHINA (albeit in the $40-$100/each price range). Getting fresh Helles in Munich still requires traveling a third of the way around the world.

That said, a Helles in Munich is also eminently fresh and lacks all of the deterioration that occurs to beers when they travel, so it's actually a better beer. Scarcity bias, on the other hand, is only related to quality insofar as the quality of the beer leads to the scarcity, which isn't always the case.

Also, nightclubs are cesspits.
 
Coincidentally the one nightclub in the world I would line up for is in Germany. Berlin to be exact. ;)
 
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