Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjavanish
I can tolerate hops in balance with everything else... a beer with no hop flavor isn't worth drinking... (ie. Birra Moretti Doppio Malto) And a beer with no malt flavor is akin to the smell of horse piss and I can only imagine not too far off in flavor (ie. Dogfishhead 120 Minute IPA).
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DFH 120 isn't really an IPA. It's more like a big Barley Wine. Any hop presence has been almost unnoticeable.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ninjavanish
Many of the American MicroBrews tend to overhop their beers in my opinion. (Sierra Nevada comes to mind)
The other thing I find ruins a lot of the American MicroBrews for me is the tendency to have overly sweet beers. I assume from adding sugar during fermentation to keep the yeast happy. (This actually ruins quite a few of the high ABV Belgians for me as well... and I love Belgian Beer.)
The one thing I hate most is buying a nice expensive liter of something special from an American Micro Brew only to find an overly-sweet, unbalanced, hop syrup inside. I can't remember which of the members here has the tagline "What the matter, afraid you'll taste something?" But in this case... Yes... something awful. You can keep your Hop-syrup and pour me a nice, balanced Stella.
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Adding sugar dries the beer out. The sweetness is from different malts. IPAs are drier beers, which gives the illusion of a more bitter beer as well. More malty sweetness will help balance out the bitterness.
Hops add bitterness, flavor, and aroma, but no sweetness. Many American hops have a citrusy flavor and aroma, while many European hops have a more earthy, grassy flavor and aroma.
Stella is like the Budweiser of Belgium. Please don't say you love Belgian Beer because you like that. Stella even tastes like Budweiser with a very very slight hint of Belgian yeast characteristics.
There are too many beer styles to list. It's sounds like you are throwing beer into 2 categories, IPAs and Pilsners.
I'll say I like anything done right, except "fizzy yellow beer". I like to enjoy my beer. I like it to have flavor. Light lagers tastes like piss to me.
Everyone has different opinions and tastes, this is mine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaisersozei
I am starting to get a little annoyed with a lot of the craft brewers who are trying to push the edge of the envelope in hop usage. To me, a lot of it seems like a big waste. Some of these Imperial IPAs are clocking in at 100 IBUs, and that's just crazy. Lagunitas has a beer out now that boasts something like "43 different hops were used." That's just plain stupid, and a waste of good hops coming out of a worldwide shortage.  |
Imperials require more malt (and many times sugar to keep it from being overly sweet - remember sugar keeps the beer drier, lower final gravity than malt would) - so more hops are required. Now more varieties of hops just means more complexity in the hop flavor and aroma profiles. That doesn't translate into 43x MORE hops used. It all depends on the amounts of the hops used.
It's a shame so many people think light lagers is how beer is supposed to taste. I'm not saying hoppy beers (IPAs) are the best thing ever and everyone should drink them. I enjoy them but many people don't. However there are hundreds of other beer styles out there to enjoy. Hell try a good amber ale. Simple, sessionable, still with nice flavor, and most are not "hoppy".