What are your contrarian/"unpopular" beer opinions?

[Cavpilot2000]

Contrarian? I couldn't agree more.
Except that Radeberger part. I loves me some fresh Radeberg lager!
And apparently Vladimir Putin does too. So there is that.

I'm drinking a Radeburger now as I write this.
The base flavor is pretty decent. Definitely that "German" Pils flavor.
But there is a metallic twang, kinda like when you drink from a bottle and you can taste the metal from the cap on the lip of the bottle.
It's off-putting.
(I have friends who think I'm snobbish about wanting my beer in a glass rather than a bottle, but I don't like tasting the cap on the mouth of the bottle (yes, I remove the cap before drinking... ;-)).

 

[filthyastronaut]

A GOOD pilsner is pretty much the pinnacle of brewing craft and one of the most difficult styles to brew well (along with Kolsch and Munich Helles).
As I've said before, IPAs are the Sesame Street of brewing. Nothing wrong with IPAs, but they are about the easiest style to make a decent version of.
Even NEIPAs (which I love). I don't know why there are so many threads with so many people asking advice on making them. They are actually super easy.

Not sure I agree with this. IPAs have a lot going on and it's easy to throw hops at wort, but so many breweries and homebrewers manage to make subpar IPAs all the time. It takes a good process and brewing skill to make a remarkable IPA. I don't think off-flavors are as easily masked by the hops as people think. That being said, I'd say making a passable IPA is easy.

 

[ericbw]

Subpar IPAs are made by adding too many hops. Even a bitter IPA can be balanced.

 

[schematix]

Fruit doesn't belong in beer. Not in the fermenter. Not as garnish. Especially not as garnish. Definitely not as artificial fruit flavor.

 

[daveMN]

Fruit doesn't belong in beer. Not in the fermenter. Not as garnish. Especially not as garnish. Definitely not as artificial fruit flavor.

Right on. Similarly, if I wanted a jalapeno IPA, I'll order up some jalapeno poppers and wash it down with an IPA. I see no point in making a beer taste like not a beer.

 

[oylerck]

Right on. Similarly, if I wanted a jalapeno IPA, I'll order up some jalapeno poppers and wash it down with an IPA. I see no point in making a beer taste like not a beer.

Poppers sound good

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Right on. Similarly, if I wanted a jalapeno IPA, I'll order up some jalapeno poppers and wash it down with an IPA. I see no point in making a beer taste like not a beer.

Man, I could go for some jalapeno poppers right now...

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Fruit doesn't belong in beer. Not in the fermenter. Not as garnish. Especially not as garnish. Definitely not as artificial fruit flavor.

98% of the time I would agree about fruit beer, except for citrus - lemon and orange definitely have a place in SOME styles (wit, Weissbier, etc).

And I normally dislike all other fruit beers, but I have one guilty pleasure fruit beer: Harpoon Camp Wannamango. It is the only example I know of a fruit beer well done enough that I will repeat it (again and again).

If you have an opportunity and you can do the mental gymnastics to have an open mind about it, give it a try. If it helps, just don't think of it as "beer" - think of it as boozy malt-derived fruit juice.

 

[ericbw]

Fruit doesn't belong in beer. Not in the fermenter. Not as garnish. Especially not as garnish. Definitely not as artificial fruit flavor.

Incorrect on all counts except the artificial flavor. (But to each his or her own.)

 

[bleme]

Right on. Similarly, if I wanted a jalapeno IPA, I'll order up some jalapeno poppers and wash it down with an IPA. I see no point in making a beer taste like not a beer.

Are those bacon wrapped poppers?

 

[Coathanger]

Right on. Similarly, if I wanted a jalapeno IPA, I'll order up some jalapeno poppers and wash it down with an IPA. I see no point in making a beer taste like not a beer.

Couldn't agree more. Local brewery recently made a beer using ghost peppers and coffee. It was hands down the worst beer I've ever tried (and I've tried my own infected brews). I then complained about it to my friend/fellow home brewer, who was shocked at my disgust. He and his wife absolutely loved it.

 

[bleme]

Couldn't agree more. Local brewery recently made a beer using ghost peppers and coffee. It was hands down the worst beer I've ever tried (and I've tried my own infected brews). I then complained about it to my friend/fellow home brewer, who was shocked at my disgust. He and his wife absolutely loved it.

I was at a beerfest a few weeks ago and a new brewery had some of the strangest brews I have ever seen:
Dill Gose (everyone said it tasted like pickle juice)
Smoked Gouda Porter (tried this one and you really had to imagine Gouda)
Hibiscus IPA (I hate hibiscus!)
Coffee Kolsch
Blue Cheese IPA (this one was actually pretty tasty!)

 

[Coathanger]

I was at a beerfest a few weeks ago and a new brewery had some of the strangest brews I have ever seen:

Dill Gose (everyone said it tasted like pickle juice)

Smoked Gouda Porter (tried this one and you really had to imagine Gouda)

Hibiscus IPA (I hate hibiscus!)

Coffee Kolsch

Blue Cheese IPA (this one was actually pretty tasty!)

For me, it's a fine line. I don't do well with anything spicy, so all that jalapeño ghost death circus pepper crap is automatically a no-go. Everything you listed, to me, is pushing the "boundary" a bit much...but I'm open to trying anything (hence my regrettable aforementioned consumption of the coffee pepper beer).

I guess I am more apt to agree with flavours being introduced to exaggerate or compliment the naturally imparted flavours offered by whatever hops, grain etc that was used. If that makes any sense.

Edit: Smoked Gouda Porter actually sounds pretty appetizing right about now... lol

 

[Bosh]

I'm weird in that I like going out of my way to make beers that don't fit with BJCP styles without using adjuncts. Stuff like my Munich malt-heavy Steam Ale or my strong pale Mild. You don't need to put weird **** in your beer to make something unique.

 

[RustyHorn]

You're both wrong. They're misspelled English candies.

That's not candy. It's a chocolate coated biscuit!

 

[drunkEnough4U]

1. If your beer doesn't taste good out of primary, aging is a bandaid and you just make ****ty beer.

2. Miller High Life is a well done, enjoyable american lager with clear hints of it's german origins.

 

[benco]

1. If your beer doesn't taste good out of primary, aging is a bandaid and you just make ****ty beer.

2. Miller High Life is a well done, enjoyable american lager with clear hints of it's german origins.

Yeah! Tell me about it, I had to dump a keg yesterday to make room for some good beer.

 

[r4dyce]

Fruit doesn't belong in beer. Not in the fermenter. Not as garnish. Especially not as garnish. Definitely not as artificial fruit flavor.

Eh, couldn't disagree more. Except maybe the artificial flavoring, but natural extracts are fine. Lots of old beers were flavored with all kinds of fruits and herbs. I don't really believe in "rules" for beer making. Experimenting and enhancing is the best part of homebrewing. I think the majority of your Fermentables should be from grain but otherwise put in whatever you want.

 

[MorBeer83]

I drink commercial. I drink hb and craft as I have the opportunity, but it s something really expensive here in Italy. So the classic everyday beer is always a commercial one, and when I can I drink something special like a good craft beer or a new beer that I don't know yet. Or one of mine ^^.
And, guess what? I enjoy my commercial one. Not as much as I enjoy craft, but it s a different type of joy, not necessarily worst.
Cheers buds!

 

[JonM]

I don't like sulfate in my IPAs/Pale Ales.

For years I chased after an off-flavor in my IPAs. I tried everything: Use no crystal/use a little crystal, add wheat/don't add wheat, add some munich, add some Vienna, use ALL Vienna, use all Briess Pale Ale malt, use dextrose/don't use dextrose, mash low/mash high, whirlpool/don't whirlpool, use 001, 1007, 1084, Denny's, 1272, use 300 mg/L sulfate/use 100 mg/L sulfate (I'm thorough, you see ...)

Anyway, this unpleasant off flavor was ALWAYS present and I hated it. Why don't my other beers have this same off flavor?! It was driving me crazy. Then it hit me - I don't put gypsum in anything else that I brew so maybe that's it? I brewed EdWort's Haus Pale Ale recipe with RO water and only 5 g CaCl in the mash, no gypsum or Epsom salts. Guess what? That was it. From now on, zero mg/L sulfate in my IPAs and pales.

 

[oylerck]

I don't like sulfate in my IPAs/Pale Ales.

For years I chased after an off-flavor in my IPAs. I tried everything: Use no crystal/use a little crystal, add wheat/don't add wheat, add some munich, add some Vienna, use ALL Vienna, use all Briess Pale Ale malt, use dextrose/don't use dextrose, mash low/mash high, whirlpool/don't whirlpool, use 001, 1007, 1084, Denny's, 1272, use 300 mg/L sulfate/use 100 mg/L sulfate (I'm thorough, you see ...)

Anyway, this unpleasant off flavor was ALWAYS present and I hated it. Why don't my other beers have this same off flavor?! It was driving me crazy. Then it hit me - I don't put gypsum in anything else that I brew so maybe that's it? I brewed EdWort's Haus Pale Ale recipe with RO water and only 5 g CaCl in the mash, no gypsum or Epsom salts. Guess what? That was it. From now on, zero mg/L sulfate in my IPAs and pales.

I feel like gypsum is what helped my IPAs. Just a teaspoon. I have only brewed a few styles but I've used gypsum in the last IPA and also in my tripel. The tripel seems to taste pretty good, albeit only a week old. I haven't had my water tested for sulfates but culligan tested most of the other items. If it works I'll keep doing it.

 

[rhys333]

I don't like sulfate in my IPAs/Pale Ales.

For years I chased after an off-flavor in my IPAs. I tried everything: Use no crystal/use a little crystal, add wheat/don't add wheat, add some munich, add some Vienna, use ALL Vienna, use all Briess Pale Ale malt, use dextrose/don't use dextrose, mash low/mash high, whirlpool/don't whirlpool, use 001, 1007, 1084, Denny's, 1272, use 300 mg/L sulfate/use 100 mg/L sulfate (I'm thorough, you see ...)

Anyway, this unpleasant off flavor was ALWAYS present and I hated it. Why don't my other beers have this same off flavor?! It was driving me crazy. Then it hit me - I don't put gypsum in anything else that I brew so maybe that's it? I brewed EdWort's Haus Pale Ale recipe with RO water and only 5 g CaCl in the mash, no gypsum or Epsom salts. Guess what? That was it. From now on, zero mg/L sulfate in my IPAs and pales.

Interesting. How would you describe that off-flavor from sulfate?

 

[SlitheryDee]

1. If your beer doesn't taste good out of primary, aging is a bandaid and you just make ****ty beer.

2. Miller High Life is a well done, enjoyable american lager with clear hints of it's german origins.

Well, bandaid or not, the prospect of improvement with age has kept a couple of my beers from getting dumped. Temperature control is what seemed to make the most difference in my "young" beers though. My last couple haven't really changed much from the first gravity sample to the last bottle.

 

[raysmithtx]

Instead of drinking most of the more popular IPA's, I just pour a glass of grapefruit juice and add a shot of vodka. Well that's what most of the popular IPA's taste like to me.

 

[JonM]

Interesting. How would you describe that off-flavor from sulfate?

I don't think I can describe it - it was just kinda ... off.

 

[dryboroughbrewing]

If I over sulfate I get a sort of sharp minerally quality, it's pretty readily avoidable though in my experience... Just don't bring your sulfates over 400 ppm.

 

[Mainer]

My contrarian opinion is that disliking NEIPAs is not a contrarian opinion.

 

[Rhaop]

My contrarian opinion is that disliking NEIPAs is not a contrarian opinion.

I haven't had a neipa yet but they look gross

 

[rhys333]

I don't think I can describe it - it was just kinda ... off.

I've noticed when I lean on the gypsum, my beers tend to have a little something that's just off somehow. My last APA has 2:1 SO4 to Cl ratio, and shows signs of it. I might have to test the same recipe with a reverse ratio.

 

[ProblemChild]

canned beer is actually good now......