What are your contrarian/"unpopular" beer opinions?

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Turkeyshot said:
My contrarian/unpopular opinion, is that there is to much worrying about boil times and DMS. Short or long boils never had an issue.
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Usually I boil for an hour (or more when I want the Kettle carmalization), but I occasionally will cheat by 15 mins or so and haven't noticed anything off. Of course I usually cheat on the third batch of the day and this is usually a party gayle and I have no idea what it is supposed to taste like anyway.

By the way, what does DMS taste like? :rockin:
 
NoIguanaForZ said:
That IS a contrarian opinion; even the BJCP doesn't agree with you. (See, like, all of page "v")
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"Specialty IPA isn’t a distinct style, but is more appropriately
thought of as a competition entry category. Beers entered as
this style are not experimental beers; they are a collection of
currently produced types of beer that may or may not have
any market longevity. This category also allows for
expansion, so potential future IPA variants (St. Patrick’s Day
Green IPA, Romulan Blue IPA, Zima Clear IPA, etc.) have a
place to be entered without redoing the style guidelines. The
only common element is that they have the balance and
overall impression of an IPA (typically, an American IPA) but
with some minor tweak.
The term ‘IPA’ is used as a singular descriptor of a type of
hoppy, bitter beer. It is not meant to be spelled out as ‘India
Pale Ale’ when used in the context of a Specialty IPA. None of
these beers ever historically went to India, and many aren’t
pale. But the craft beer market knows what to expect in
balance when a beer is described as an ‘IPA’ – so the modifiers
used to differentiate them are based on that concept alone."

This is quoted from the BJCP IPA entry. So, as I read it, NEIPA is a thing if enough people say it is. I would get at this time NEIPA is officially a "thing" So there!! :ban::rockin:
 
Turkeyshot said:
My contrarian/unpopular opinion, is that there is to much worrying about boil times and DMS. Short or long boils never had an issue.
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Just so long as you get enough boil off, the time doesn't matter. And the amount of boil off required (>7-8%) is smaller than almost everyone uses.
 
I believe sours will become the next big fad in beer (if they haven't already). Just within the past year they've really made presence on store shelves and in taprooms.

I'm not talking about crazy mixed-fermentation sours aged over god-knows-what for eons. I can mock them because I make them and mine certainly lie on the "that's interesting" side of things.

I'm more so talking about Berliner Weiss beers, gose beers, 100% Brett-fermented beers, and other abnormal beer styles being kettle-soured. The tart beers allow brewers to use virtually any specialty ingredient and compliment them well. And this allows them a different avenue with which to experiment, rather than "hey let's just add more hops..."

A year ago you couldn't find a tart or sour beer on tap most places you went, but now a lot of places have 1-3 of em on! I think it'll be more about tartness than sour/funky flavors. Now sour IPAs are making an entrance. I mean cmon... hops AND sour? It's only a matter of time before they try everything else in-between the two flavor spectrums.
 
ShareBrewing said:
I believe sours will become the next big fad in beer (if they haven't already). Just within the past year they've really made presence on store shelves and in taprooms.
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A friend of mine does kettle soured IPA's pretty regularly and I like all those. I like Lagunitas Aunt Sally now and then. I had 5 different sours at Barrelhouse a few weeks ago and uggGhhHh... Lemon juice has more appeal...
 
I've recently joined this board, and I haven't read this entire thread, so some of this ground may have been previously plowed. So I'll post my contrarian opinion: 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.

I understand that craft brewers have to make a buck to stay in business, and if there is a demand for hops, hops, and more hops, the customer has to be kept satisfied. But, is it really necessary for a brewpub or gastropub with 20 taps to have 17 of them dedicated to brews which are north of 50 IBUs?

Should we, as homebrewers, stay in our basements or garages, cranking out the brown ales, kolschs, Scottish ales, Dunkelweizens, Altbiers, Saisons, etc., that we enjoy, and let the unwashed masses march, lemming-like and unimpeded, to their ultimate, hop-filled destiny? Or, should we try, one hop head at a time, to convert the newcomers to craft brewing to an appreciation of the many fine, traditional beer styles which are available?

Discuss.

Mark
 
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grampamark said:
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.
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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
 
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
 
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.
 
doug293cz said:
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
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Doug, I must have missed something. Anyway thanks for the reminders :mug: Cheers
 
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.
 
yourlastchance89 said:
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.
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I like cider!...
 
Tiber_Brew said:
Most Apple products are just fine if they're properly fermented.
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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.
 
Silver_Is_Money said:
So called "water profiles" are mainly built upon decades of hearsay and have little foundation in actual science.
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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.
 
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.
 
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?
 
Bosh said:
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.
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I back sweeten mine with fireball :mug:
 
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
 
Nomofett said:
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
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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. >.>
 
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)
 
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.
 
Nomofett said:
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
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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.
 
InkBird 300

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