interesting, but sad trend

OP - Sums up the current state of affairs with many, many craft beer enthusiasts.... (sadly). Next thing you know, such self-styled connoisseurs are going to proclaim beers like Duvel are not really craft.

 

I've noticed things like that, but I'm not sure I'd say it's representative of the general pop. One of my roommates likes good beer and will curtail his preferences based on ABV sometimes (in relation to cost), but my other roommate and I don't pay as much attention to ABV as long as the beer is quality. In response to your first comment, it seems that some beers are popular one year and others the next. I think it's just a cycle of people always wanting to try new beer, never wanting to accept a status quo. Anyways, those are my own observations.

 

Also, now that I think about it a bit more, it sounds to me like that may have been a watered down keg. You described the beer as pretty bland ... the beer was clear ... the feel was thin. It's possible.

 

That said. I think it's kind of an irritating trend that quite a few new breweries only just make beers that are only available as bombers and generally only make beers that are above 8%. Be kind of nice when a lot of these noob breweries get over the I'm a man with a beard so I make huge beer litmus test in every style I just learned about and get on to making quaffable beer that doesn't require a kickstand to enjoy a nights worth of.

 

NO.

what turns me off is using abv as a predictor of taste, the inability to just sit down and have a beer without it being an 'event' and the focus on only buying and drinking a few styles and styles. I see it time and time again, BAs who only drink Imperial Stouts or IPAs/ DIPAs with a subgroup who drink 'sours' whatever the hell those are.
I hate drama and hype. The idea that a huge part of the ink spilled here and elsewhere is over a handful of beers is the turn off. I just counted, 16 of the top 20 beers in the 'Top 250' list are either Imperial Stouts or IPAs. Those aren't everyday beers. Those are, spend a big chunk of cash, post a picture on 'your latest haul' and 'what beer are you drinking now?' threads. This is treating beer as an event, something to talk about, take pictures of and make posts like: "if you were stranded on a desert island with only one type of Barrel Aged Imperial Stout, what would it be?" threads.
I simply do not want to be identified with that group, which I guarantee is overwhelmingly made up of males in their 20's and early 30s. I am 50 and have been drinking beer for well over 30 years, I am not interested in being lectured to by people who were born after I graduated from college.
I am telling you that the whole KBS deal really affected me. The idea that a regular working guy can't stop in their favorite bottle shop after work and pick up a bottle or two of a beer they are curious about made me not want to buy any more Founder's beers which heretofore I had drank regularly. As I stood there in Beers of the World, disappointed that the KBS was gone hours before I got mad and said 'screw it' and put Utica Club and Genny and Naragansett in my cart, 3 locally brewed beers that are dirt cheap and get no attention. Ok, so the UC is piss but Genny and 'Ganny are both drinkable beers which made me question why I was spending so much money on beer every week. Those first 2 or 3 beers when I get home from work are to help me unwind from a stressful job. Knowing that a 24 oz can of Genny only costs me 92 cents sure makes that beer go down easily, and the fact that it is brewed right here in Rochester just means I am helping the local economy which includes brewery workers that I know personally.

I love craft beer too much to not drink it but I am now planning to work in some of these old timer beers as a way of saving money and to help me feel connected with the vast majority of beer drinkers out there so I am not 'that guy' at work who drinks the 'fancy beers'. Then when I do enjoy a fine craft beer it tastes that much better and I appreciate it that much more and I don't end up feeling like a smug, pampered, self-indulgent asshole.

 

For me it has nothing to do with ABV. If I'm off I tend to go for the bigger beers aka stouts, DIPA's, porter and barleywines. And, I usually limit myself from 1-3 bottles but no more than 4 glasses. When I get home from work, if I want a beer, it's usually a lower abv volume and only 1 bottle/glass.

 

They will need a bitch slap.

 

Haven't read all the replies here, but I bet I am not the first to suggest that those who do not buy Hell or High Watermelon this year are the exact people who bought it and tasted it last year. I bought a bottle of MD 2020 once. Key word once. I am sure there are worse beers than HOHW and worse wines than 2020, but I bet those lists are short.

Oberon is an okay beer, but that one I also have no desire to revisit.

Perhaps those who are looking for and buying the higher ABV beers as you describe are fans of large flavors.

 

Sounds like you bought into the KBS hype, got mad that bottle shops don't hold bottles specifically for "regular working guys" (hate when all those unemployed losers buy all of the $6/bottle limiteds) then dramatically stormed out of the store with your glorified AAL. Then you drink 3-4 of those AAL a day? If you hate anything it sounds like you hate yourself!

Sorry for being a dick but the tone of your post really got to me, especially the bit about being lectured by people younger than you. Obviously age=wisdom in 100% of cases.

 

People (generally) want to feel like they are getting the bang for their buck. I see it all the time at WF. Others have a strict limit on what a beer has to be under/over for them to consume. I've got this little old lady who comes in every Tuesday who is a slave to the IIPA's and DIPA's. Lately it's been 4pk's of Resin and some 90 min, but from time to time she says "it's a big bottle day- time to knit and get myself a little treat" and swoops up something like a Ruination or GF Imperial.

 

Wow a lot to chew on in your post. Let me assure you that I am not a member of the age group you spit at here, the folks younger than you who have different tastes in beer than you, or is it they have tastes in beer that appall you, you seem to say both of these things. Whatever, I am older than you, and to me craft beer of every kind is an event, an event that in my younger days I thought I would never get to attend here in this country. If I celebrate great American beers it is because I came of age when there were no great American beers, and because I recognize we are in this country's golden age of fine beer. I drink what I want, which is what I like, and I have no problem with others doing the same.

And for your comments about the know it alls come to the scene lately? Have a sense of humor about it. I remember young deadheads in the mid-eighties telling me shit about the dead, talking down to me when I'd been a fan since 1968, and seeing shows since 1971 and they had started listening to bootleg tapes two years ago. Made me smile, and sure I was thinking what pretentious assholes, but that is the humor of it.

 

I go through phases. although i typically have more high ABV stuff in my fridge because they age well. i grab a 6 or 12 pack of lower stuff once in a while. My two current favorite styles are imperial stouts and double IPAs. i like the way they taste. It just so happens they are high in ABV. A couple of years ago it would have been porters and browns. Two years from now; who knows.

Its funny when I first joined this site I thought it was ridiculous how many of the top beers were so high in ABV. Now I get it.

 

I can't say I've noticed this. I prefer beers in the 5-8% range for regular drinking. I like a delicious beer that I'm able to consume 3-4 bottles/pints/cans of without getting hammered.

Not that I have anything against higher ABV beers, since some of them are absolutely wonderful. They just aren't typically beers that I want to drink more than one or two of at any given time.

 

To add to my above post:
Me and two of my friends brew beer. They are not really into the huge beers I am into. We brew 10 gallons at a time and take turns picking the recipe. this usually gives me some lighter beers that can be tremendously good.

 

I think that people are just gravitating to what the breweries are putting out there. It seems everyone and there brother is barrel aging or imperializing something .

 

Really? Do you just not like the style or do you actually think Oberon is a poorly made wheat beer? What is it lacking or what are it's flaws?

 

I like Founders Porter, one of the best IMO. I also like Dirty Bastard and Old Curmudgeon, so it was natural to want and try KBS.

I never suggested the ones who did score KBS were unemployed but I did not have the opportunity to be there at store opening as I get to work at 6 AM and don't get a chance for a break until 11:30 at the earliest.

The KBS incident is just part of a 'Perfect Storm' in my life lately. The truth is I have had a lot of extra financial demands lately; the hot water heater went, the van needed work, our puppy needed to be neutered and my son has a school trip to Washington DC so I have had to watch every penny and the $ 300+/ month I was spending on beer had to be reined in. My choices were to drink less of the good quality beer I was drinking or replace some of that beer with cheaper alternatives. There is no way I am drinking less beer so the second alternative was the one I chose.

A 30 pack of PBR is $ 15.49 at Wegmans, which equals $ 3.10 a 6 pack. Considering the cheapest craft beers generally start at $ 8.99/ 6 pack this was a real easy way to save some money. Since I drink, on average a six pack a day, by drinking PBR or similarly priced Genny Monday thru Saturday I am saving a bare minimum of $ 165/ month. I felt like this was a choice I had to make.

Once made, that decision has first, made me look for the good aspects of these cheap beers and second made me look more critically at the craft beers I do buy. Today is Sunday and I am really looking forward to a few Honker's Ales. I also have in the cellar 2 Old Curmudgeons, a Dirty Bastard, 2 Bigfoots and a few other beers.

Hopefully by the time next Fall rolls around I will be able to take a break from the adjunct lagers and return to Honker's each day along with the Brown Ales and Porters I love.

I know this post will get the usual "I would rather not drink beer than drink bad beer" posts so let me just say, that is fine if that's what you would choose but to me beer is part of every day life. Beer is the lubricant that allows me to deal with the stresses and demands of a high paced 50+ hours a week job, 2 school aged kids with endless needs and demands and coping with Middle Age and Parkinson's Disease. If someone thinks this makes me an alcoholic so be it. I don't drive drunk, don't miss work, don't abuse my family and am home every night, helping with chores, homework and paying bills. If I didn't have a few bears each evening I would be pretty miserable. Beer is as big a part of my happiness as anything else. To me, beer is life, not some cool trendy activity to do as a change of pace from the xBox.

 

Enough with this high abv = more complexity and flavor BS.

Sit back and try some nice gueuzes and fruit lambics. You can even drop the abv some more and get berliners.

 

As I state in my review, it just reminded me of a slightly hoppy, slightly wheaty AAL. Nothing remarkable, weak flavor. I didn't expect it to blow me away with flavor, but my immediate reaction was just like really, Bell's actually made this?

 

Bam, I'm also in Marietta and I really have to think what you describe is PRIMARILY a function of our funky weather so far this year. January was warmer than March. But otherwise, yes, I agree there is shift afoot toward what I call "stunt beers."

Couple more data points that might figure in. I had one bottle shop guy tell me that folks are buying big bombers like Abita's Andygator (a great 8% ABV helles bock) and using it to make their own shandies, which I thought was interesting. And maybe this is just my luck, but I rarely pick up Oberon any more after a run of skunked 6-packs I picked up a couple years ago from several different vendors. Don't know if it is especially prone to being light struck -- or if distros were treating it like ImBev - or what, but it happened. Maybe it happened to other folks too.