What are your contrarian/"unpopular" beer opinions?

[TheHairyHop]

IPAs. They have become to craft brewing what fizzy yellow beers are to BMC brewing.

IPAs are ubiquitous, they're everywhere, and most of them aren't in any way remarkable. Newcomers to craft beer, most of whom are younger Millenials, seem to equate craft beer with hops. As most of the members of this board are aware, there are a multitude of beer styles out there, most of which don't require extrapolating the IBU scale to somewhere north of 120.

There is not exactly a lack of choice, nor has it been decreasing. I also don't care what other people drink. So, I think that it's totally fine. Hell, I now know what basically every hop tastes like

 

[doug293cz]

Ok people, things got a little argumentative in here today. That is not allowed outside of the "Debate" forum on HBT. You can disagree with an idea, but don't get personal.

Please make sure you are familiar with the relevant HBT rules:

"Rules and Regulations Please remember, all memberships to HomeBrewTalk are voluntary memberships.

When you sign up for an account with, and use the HomebrewTalk Forums, you agree to the following:

1. No posting of inappropriate/immoral/illegal material (if you are unsure of exactly what this means, PM a moderator for clarity), please post in a mature/sensible/respectful manner.<emphasis added>

...

5. Flamers* and Trolls* will be subject to immediate punishment up to and including being banned from the forum. Please choose your words carefully. We encourage debate but we also require you to behave and conduct yourself in a respectful manner at all times.

...

Warnings may be given in a thread or via PM for infringements but moderators may/can/will ban a user without warning at their discretion depending on the infraction. This is not something we enjoy doing (ok, except for Spammers. They’re fun to ban…), but we want this forum to be a welcome place for people of all experience levels to share, learn, and grow. Dissidents will not be tolerated and will be removed.

Please note, no refunds will be made to individuals who have become “Supporting Members” if they are banned for violation of the rules.

Note:
For clarification, the following definitions will be used:

Flamer: A person who deliberately makes inflammatory, derogatory, or slanderous posts or statements on the forums for the sole purpose of starting or feeding an argument.

Troll: A person who posts a deliberately provocative message to the forum with the intention of causing disruption and/or argument with or without contributing to the content of the thread."

doug293cz
HBT Moderator

 

[ShareBrewing]

What hooked me about beer was the great people in the community. Well... the delicious drink helps, but the amazing people I see on a daily basis, the beertenders I work with, and fellow homebrewers are what made me so passionate about beer. They are often so grateful and happy to do what they for a living, or share and enjoy their creations and fruits of knowledge and labor with one another. There's no competition, no animosity. Only collaboration and comradery.

Maybe that's not a contrarian opinion, but it's an opinion held by the grand majority of us.

 

[cmac62]

Ok people, things got a little argumentative in here today. That is not allowed outside of the "Debate" forum on HBT. You can disagree with an idea, but don't get personal.

Please make sure you are familiar with the relevant HBT rules:

"Rules and Regulations Please remember, all memberships to HomeBrewTalk are voluntary memberships.

When you sign up for an account with, and use the HomebrewTalk Forums, you agree to the following:

1. No posting of inappropriate/immoral/illegal material (if you are unsure of exactly what this means, PM a moderator for clarity), please post in a mature/sensible/respectful manner.<emphasis added>

...

5. Flamers* and Trolls* will be subject to immediate punishment up to and including being banned from the forum. Please choose your words carefully. We encourage debate but we also require you to behave and conduct yourself in a respectful manner at all times.

...

Warnings may be given in a thread or via PM for infringements but moderators may/can/will ban a user without warning at their discretion depending on the infraction. This is not something we enjoy doing (ok, except for Spammers. They’re fun to ban…), but we want this forum to be a welcome place for people of all experience levels to share, learn, and grow. Dissidents will not be tolerated and will be removed.

Please note, no refunds will be made to individuals who have become “Supporting Members” if they are banned for violation of the rules.

Note:
For clarification, the following definitions will be used:

Flamer: A person who deliberately makes inflammatory, derogatory, or slanderous posts or statements on the forums for the sole purpose of starting or feeding an argument.

Troll: A person who posts a deliberately provocative message to the forum with the intention of causing disruption and/or argument with or without contributing to the content of the thread."

doug293cz
HBT Moderator

Doug, I must have missed something. Anyway thanks for the reminders Cheers

 

[yourlastchance89]

Not related to beer, but probably a popular and pretty unpopular opinion inspired by another thread.
Apple products blow. They're overpriced and wind up being janky down the road at best. Most people like their products out of the herd mentality associated with them, they look pretty, or because they generally don't know any better.

 

[RustyHorn]

Not related to beer, but probably a popular and pretty unpopular opinion inspired by another thread.
Apple products blow. They're overpriced and wind up being janky down the road at best. Most people like their products out of the herd mentality associated with them, they look pretty, or because they generally don't know any better.

I like cider!...

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Most of the commercial stuff sucks. Get something from an independent cidery and it's a different story!

 

[Tiber_Brew]

Most Apple products are just fine if they're properly fermented.

 

[alphaomega]

Most Apple products are just fine if they're properly fermented.

I just had to quote. Were can I get this shirt? (Full disclosure, Linux user since the late 90's)

 

[Bosh]

Most Apple products are just fine if they're properly fermented.

Yeah but drinking stuff that tastes more like white wine than the heavily backsweetened commercial stuff messes with a lot of people's expectations.

This is also why I'm moving more and more into malt-driven beers (love my new stout with 20% brown malt), they're not necessarily my favorite to drink (am a sucker for IPAs) but I find malt flavor so much easier to dial in and control than flavors dependent on fermentation and hops.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

A year is too long to wait to drink your homebrew.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

So called "water profiles" are mainly built upon decades of hearsay and have little foundation in actual science.

 

[broncobob71]

I don't use secondaries.

Always stay at least 30 days in primary.

This is my rule of thumb.
I could say it's because I have done extensive comparative studies, but really it's because I am lazy and it works.

 

[Stealthcruiser]

This is my rule of thumb.
I could say it's because I have done extensive comparative studies, but really it's because I am lazy and it works.

"I am lazy and it works" is extensive and comparative.......Don't short change yourself!

 

[Bosh]

So called "water profiles" are mainly built upon decades of hearsay and have little foundation in actual science.

So many things in the beer world are based on inertia. There's so many things that can be shaken up without adding a bunch of adjuncts.

 

[ShareBrewing]

I know quite a few guys who just use straight RO water, no added salts/minerals. And a lot of them have won awards. You don't need a specific water profile for any style of beer.

 

[DarthBrewer1]

I hate Homebrew competitions. Awards and results are subjective and aren't a true evaluation of your beer. Also, style guidlines are over rated

 

[broncobob71]

I have never liked Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.

It's perfectly acceptable to put ice in warm beer.

If the last half of a double surgeons knot half monks blood IIPA squared gets to be too much, I 'Blend' it with a coors light.

When whoever I'm brewing with gets too technical I stick something in what we are working on, flick it at them and say "they used to do this in caves".
You know it's not easy to flick an 18" spoon at yourself?

 

[TheHairyHop]

A year is too long to wait to drink your homebrew.

man, we're on the same page. I haven't waited more than a month for the last 6 brews

 

[MaxStout]

I just had to quote. Were can I get this shirt? (Full disclosure, Linux user since the late 90's)

Opportunity for someone to make up some shirts with that. Be sure to include "iBrew" in the design.

 

[Bilsch]

There's so many things that can be shaken up without adding a bunch of adjuncts.

Yes but you can't cover up faults without them.

 

[cmac62]

Yeah but drinking stuff that tastes more like white wine than the heavily backsweetened commercial stuff messes with a lot of people's expectations.

This is also why I'm moving more and more into malt-driven beers (love my new stout with 20% brown malt), they're not necessarily my favorite to drink (am a sucker for IPAs) but I find malt flavor so much easier to dial in and control than flavors dependent on fermentation and hops.

I back sweeten mine with fireball

 

[Nomofett]

I'm totally for NEIPA's but I don't think they should be called IPAs, it doesn't fit for many reasons. Just cause you have a lot of hops doesn't mean your an IPA. The American Pale Ale needs revitalized, I think it belongs in a variation of that style more.

I also think Black IPAs were better named as Cascadian Ales. Not everything has to be an IPA. And I don't say this as an IPA hater, I love that they are everywhere. Almost 1/2 my beers on Untappd are IPAs and I was born and raised in the Portland area. But the naming of new styles should mean something

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

I also think Black IPAs were better named as Cascadian Ales. Not everything has to be an IPA. And I don't say this as an IPA hater, I love that they are everywhere. Almost 1/2 my beers on Untappd are IPAs and I was born and raised in the Portland area. But the naming of new styles should mean something

See, I think "IPA" is really useful as a label though, insofar as it's so many fewer keystrokes than "alcoholic hop tea with the faintest hint of malt character" (compare "St. Louis, MO, water with the faintest hint of beer flavor").

Um...oops.

Um...AHTWTFHOMC...yeah, no. >.>

 

[Nomofett]

Soon we'll change American lagers to Yellow Low Hopped IPAs (I don't think the other names of alcoholic corn water, or sex in a canoe will catch on)

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

I'd drink "sex in a canoe", sounds delicious

 

[DromJohn]

I was a beer snob before Monty Python at the Hollywood Bowl. Fosters Lager put a blanket at the bottom of that canoe, but it still is like making love in a canoe.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I'm totally for NEIPA's but I don't think they should be called IPAs, it doesn't fit for many reasons. Just cause you have a lot of hops doesn't mean your an IPA. The American Pale Ale needs revitalized, I think it belongs in a variation of that style more.

I also think Black IPAs were better named as Cascadian Ales. Not everything has to be an IPA. And I don't say this as an IPA hater, I love that they are everywhere. Almost 1/2 my beers on Untappd are IPAs and I was born and raised in the Portland area. But the naming of new styles should mean something

Hear hear! I grew up in Oregon and think Cascadian Dark Ale should be the official designation. I hate Black IPA, irritates me every time I see it! CDA is way better than BIPA...
And I agree that it should be a NEPA, fits better with the pale ale category.

 

[Bilsch]

I'd drink "sex in a canoe", sounds delicious

Just ask the bartender to pour you the contents of the bar mat at the end of the night. Voila'.. sex in a canoe.

 

[AZCoolerBrewer]

Thanks for warning me, but I'd take it over a Gilpin Family Whiskey.