More Alcohol = Better?

Cantillon 5% abs hugely rated here

 

yes it is a bias, in my opinion at least. Seems like a minority opinion to have in recent years but I think it is nonetheless true.

 

Absolutely not. Booze can make or break a beer. It all just depends on how much it wants to show its ugly face, and how much a part of the final blend it wants to be.

 

Nope...90 Minute sucks. 60 Minute rules.

 

What impresses me most about a high ABV beer is when the alcohol is well-masked. You can have tons of malt and tons of hops, but if the balance is off the booze is going to make itself known, and not in a good way. I think it takes a good deal of brewing skill to completely hide the taste of alcohol in a +10% beer.

But to answer your question, no. There are delicious beers across the ABV spectrum.

 

Not at all.

 

There's plenty of lower ABV beers that have 90+ ratings here, they just aren't as numerous as the higher alcohol beers because there isn't as many quality 4-5% alcohol beers out there. Gumballhead is one my favorite beers and it's only 5.6%

 

Higher ABV is a result of a higher concentration of fermentable sugars. These are typically provided by the malts (or sprouted grains) that are added to the boil. What really makes a great beer in my opinion is a balance between the many aspects of the beers "flavor". I like a beer with a bitter finish. This is typically found in IPA's that use generous amounts of hops that provide that bittering affect to the flavor profile.
At the same time, I prefer a robust overall flavor profile. That is typically achieved by boosting the percent of additives by volume vs. the water used in the boil. More ingredients added to the base volume of water in the boil results in that added flavor profile and additional achohol. Because of this, I find myself drawn to higher alchohol beers, not for the sake of the alchohol content, but because I like the more robust flavor profile that the more concentrated boil, or "wort", results in.
The balance is the key though. Threre are some exceptional beers that are not high in alchohol, because they have achieved excellent balance of malt sweetness and hop bitterness.
DRINK WHAT YOU LIKE .

 

Perception and/or refinement is not your problem. Thinking 90 Minute is indicative of any style is your problem. This is a terrible beer IMO. You can find well crafted, high ABV beers that are very good. DFH 90 Minute is not one of them.

 

Lost Abbey Red Barn is one of the best and most rare beers on the planet, and its ABV isn't too high. Wish I were at the release party this weekend!

 

I'm not sure its depended on a sophisticate palate in order to appreciate the strong flavors of high gravity beers, in fact I think that the opposite is true. It takes a more sophisticated taste in order to find the more delicate complexities in lighter beers.

But here's what happens: In order for a beer to be high in alcohol, it takes a lot more barley malt. Not all of this malt is attenuated- and since yeast has a harder job in converting malt sugars to alcohol at higher concentrations, then there's generally more residual sweetness in high gravity beers. Now, because there's more malt, there's a bigger propensity for brewers to add more hops to compensate in balance, so there's more hop aroma, flavor and/or bitterness. Not only is the yeast less efficient at higher ranges, they also get stressed out and become erratic by producing alcohol with more fusal, bitter, rosy, spicy or sweeter notes. Before you know it, you've build a story for a highly complex taste. As people dive deeper into craft beer, it makes sense that they become more comfortable not only accepting these complexities, but they begin to crave them!

 

takes time to refine your palate and find out what you like.i enjoy big abv with the flavor to match.strangely enough with that said i reqlly enjoy half arce's daisy cutter so you just gotta get out there and drink

 

I recently had a 'dropping off a cliff' experience with 90Min. This past May I saw some very fresh, 2-week old bottles on display, and figured I'd give it a whirl and see if it had gone downhill or lost its hop bite (like many people 'round here seem to complain about)- and it was fantastic, with a very aggressive hop nose and pleasing amounts of bitterness supported by the malt base. Fast forward to July, and the same exact beer (only 2 months old at that point!) had already lost most of its charms. I wound up blending the last two with some Lagunitas New Dogtown.

Bottom line is- the next time I get that beer I will be very selective about the date on the bottle. I think that a lot of complaints could be from those not getting it fresh enough. It kind of surprises me that 90Min falls into 'that' category, but that's what I have found.

 

My favorite are the bullshitters on this site who claim they don't drink beer for the alcohol.

 

Actually I've been seeking out more and more beers with as low alcohol and high flavor as possible. Like take for instance Hottenroth. I love the hell out of it and am so glad it is low abv. Also as a ticker there are many times I don't drink for the alcohol.

That said, sure we all have a time and place where we use beer for the alcohol.

 

You might not drink to get intoxicated but most definitely drink it for the alcohol. If they didn't you would see a lot of people dropping hop cones into Malta Goya.

 

There's a brewery/restaurant in Durham who specializes in British style ales, he brews a terrific English Mild that has tremendous flavor , nicely bitter and under 4%. I still like a little buzz after work though,

 

Come to the UK! We've got loads of great beers under 5%. American craft beer is strong in comparison - something like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale seems to be perceived as a standard strength beer, whereas here it would be considered strong. Maybe it's because we drink bigger measures?

 

It's all about the flavor. I love a 13% RIS just as much as a 4% Berliner Weisse.

 

See my change above.