Extreme Tastes and Lager

You may be right, I'm among the only craft drinkers beer geeks (my bad) living out in the boonies where I reside. I'm not exactly in on the beer culture currently booming in the nation's larger cities.

 

I don't think it necessarily has anything to do with big cities or rural countrysides as much as it has to do with those who are uber-enthusiastic about "extreme" (for lack of better terms) beers and those who are just beer enthusiasts.

Admittedly, I had my days of getting hyped over in-your-face brews because they were "new" to me -- and I still enjoy them on the right occasions, but my enthusiasm of beer is more about good flavor and quality than any fad.

 

Right on, I just feel that 'big beers' get the spotlight because Americans (and those abroad who participate in this community) tend to enjoy them the most - does that not warrant the attention? If I find that I prefer expedition stout, which is an imperial, to it's little bro Kalamazoo, is it wrong of me to give it a higher rating? Would that be against the law of 'rating to style'?

 

Hey man - I can't judge as I don't review. But I know there are plenty like you that try to keep their reviews/opinions as unbiased as possible. But for everyone like that, guaranteed there's also one of "those" types who gets way into the deep end of craft beer far too quickly. Within a year of join date, they will have amassed a cellar, completed 100 trades and have written a review like this for the semi-whale they gave up $100s of beer and their firstborn to get hold of:

Thanks assraper415 for the hook up!

Pours like liquid chocolate. Tastes so f**king amazing. So complex. Perfect 5

 

I know they're out there, but I'm not convinced there are as many of those types as you seem to believe. That being said I want to stress that I don't believe it's right to give a rating based solely on opinion - I don't review pilseners as I've only had a couple in my life and they're not my favorite. I would not be doing them justice by reviewing them poorly simply because they're not to my taste.

 

In Portland I had my first unfiltered Zwickel, Atkien.

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/16829/44415/

It was the most refreshing beer I've ever had -- A whipped cream head, yeasty to the point that you could feel the power of the B Vitamins working with every sip, and so drinkable that you didn't want to stop. That was my first unfiltered lager ever. I am constantly on the search for more. I believe that unfiltered lagers could be a seachange for extreme beer drinkers. They are extreme, just in a completely opposite way.

Unfiltered Pilsner Urquell has shown up in the states in the past, and was at select US accounts -- one of which was tapped from a wooden barrel -- during their Founder's Day week in November. They're working on making this beer more readily available. If you ever hear of it in a keg near you, you owe it to yourself to try a pint. It's very much a game-changer.

 

Yeah, they had a keg of unfiltered Pilsner Urquell in Philly last year but I found out about it too late.

I will have to make do with my homebrewed unfiltered and unpasteurized Bohemian Pilsners until Pilsner Urquell Nefiltrovaný makes another appearance.

Cheers!

 

If there aren't that many of these types, then how do you explain the scoring disparity between the top rated DIPA/RIS etc vs the top rated examples of less fashionable styles?

 

First off, there's no "law," but if you're trying to rate to style you need to be objective -- on all beers. Just because you like one Stout, but may not like another Pilsner (because of its style character or flavors) doesn't mean you need to rate the Stout higher. If the Pilsner you're tasting is a much better example of the style than the Stout, the Pilsner ought to get higher points.

If the Expedition is more to-style than the Kalamazoo, it ought to get higher points. That's why a Saison might win a beer competition over a Barley Wine. If the Saison is dead-on to style, but the Barley Wine misses a beat, you have to vote on the Saison.

Yeah, it's not easy, and there's no level playing field online, but that's really how the different beers ought to be ranked.

 

Same as I feel about Gueuze or Lambic. But I still respect the style and if I had to "judge" one I'd do it to the best of my tasting perceptions.

 

Many Czech brewers offer Nefiltrovaný, or unfiltered, versions of all their styles but none are exported on a regular basis to the US. In addition, Kvasnicové is now offered as well, and similar to kräusening, but the young beer addition happens just previous to racking kegs. Bernard Kvasnicové Pale Lager is heaven.

 

I really liked Staropramen's version (both tap and bottled) when I was recently in Prague. It is not reviewed on BA very well (by a single person). I think I'll go change that!

 

Craft beer in the US is still relatively new, with so many new "converts" on a daily basis. I believe that as many of these new craft beer drinkers become more experienced, they will naturally, albeit slowly, make their way to "simpler" styles such as pilsners. And they will end up appreciating them more than the "extreme" styles.

Color me shocked that those who are new to something are easily attracted to bigger and bolder first. Is this necessarily a bad thing? No. Not if it helps pull more and more people away from light lagers, and towards craft beer.

In fact, I see the IPA as the modern day gateway beer to styles such as pilsners.

 

I was at a bar talking to this guy. I was drinking a pilsner, and the guy said to me, "You have to admit that pilsners are lacking in flavor."

 

My thoughts exactly. And at the moment, the number of "converts" is increasing exponentally. Exhibit A: Bourbon County Brand Barleywine. 1,300 BA reviews in 2+ months? Distribution aside, a few years ago that would have been years worth of reviews. Things will even out eventually. I've already noticed quite a few BA's from my circles eventually burn out on hops/high abv.

 

The correct response to that is usually "so, how many weeks have you been into beer, now?"

 

Ha ha ha! Exactly!

 

sam adams has a pale lager. haven't tried it.

city steam brewing in hartford, ct has a double pale lager thats pretty good. not jack's abbey good but pretty good.

obviously jack's abby makes great hopped up American lagers. also i had their hopped up bock beer that was really good. lashes lager that's it.lol.

many American versions of traditional german lagers come off corny. literally corny. nebco and wormtown both have this dis-quality. try two roads old factory pills in the can. dry hopped and the best American traditional pills I've had yet.

 

Great article. Thanks for sharing.