Extreme Tastes and Lager

I agree with that line of thinking in that ratings do influence what I purchase (I'm not talking Top beers list, just BA ratings). However if people purchase solely on ratings, and only certain beers are getting the high ratings, then it could turn into a cycle where eventually ratings would dictate our palates because beer drinkers are only drinking what is rated high.

I also agree with you though, that we rate based on our tastes. I know I've given higher and lower scores depending on what I'm drinking. I think that as long as people continue to explore then we won't get stuck. Trends happen, but there area always other options.

Another point made in the article was:

"ABV may continue to drop, but this may have less to do with an embrace of sessionability than it does with the recent rise in popularity of sours and saisons (usually of lower ABV) in North America."

I found it interesting in that I believe it is actually a combination of the three, rather than splitting into two viewpoints.


Nice article, thanks for posting

 

“A lager named Rauchbier is too extreme for many, which I find amusing.” Jeff, this may indeed be amusing to you but I am confident that you appreciate that smoky flavors can be very polarizing. Some people are going to like a beer that tastes like bacon, ham, smoke phenols, etc. and some people are not going to like those flavors. I have no statistics to offer here but I highly suspect that the majority of BA drinkers would state that the flavors in a Rauchbier are unpleasant to them.

While not everybody is going to like the flavors in a Vanilla Imperial Stout that has been aged in Bourbon Barrels, those flavors are not quite so polarizing.

Cheers!

 

I'm not sure if the title of the blog post, "Drinking Lager in an Age of Extreme Taste," does the author any favors.
Although she briefly mentions the notion that lagers can be "big and intense," the implication is that lagers aren't - and this only perpetuates many peoples' preconceived ideas. Ales can be quiet and lagers can be loud.

 

True Jack, but if one does not like Bourbon due to a misspent youth (me), then the beer you talk of is more objectionable. No accounting for individual taste.

I was pointing to the fact that some lagers can be extreme. Doppelbocks can be fairly extreme in their own way.

 

“I was pointing to the fact that some lagers can be extreme.” Yes you did but you also specifically made mention of Rauchbier. The ‘issue’ with Rauchbier is that it is both extreme and very polarizing.

“ …if one does not like Bourbon due to a misspent youth (me), then the beer you talk of is more objectionable.” No doubt.

I have no statistics to back up my assertion but I would be willing to bet that more folks would use the word “hate” with respect to a Rauchbier than for a Bourbon Barrel aged beer.

While we are discussing extreme lagers, one of my favorite extreme lagers of the past was Sam Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner, boy I miss that beer.

Cheers!

 

There are many in America that say they don't like Rauchbier, but if they go to Bamberg or I bring back a fresh bottle, their opinion does a 180. Nothing like having it fresh at the home office. I didn't like the one I had until the wife talked me into going there when we lived in Germany, and I did a 180.

 

"It is a reflection not on the beer but on timorous palates that some drinkers never learn to like Rauchbier" --Michael Jackson.

 

Jeff, I am probably a ‘weirdo’ in that I like some Rauchbiers but I do not like other Rauchbiers (even when fresh).

Yards Brewing (Philadelphia) has a Smoke’em if Yous Got’em beer event every year where fresh smoke beer is featured. My wife and I attended last year’s event (September 2013)

I was a HUGE fan of fresh Schlenkerla Fastenbier but I really did not like the fresh Schlenkerla Oak Smoked Doppelbock since it had a heavy phenol aroma (reminiscent of a medicinal smell).

I do not for a minute doubt that freshness has importance when it comes to smoked beer but there are other factors as well (at least for me).

Cheers!

 

"It is a reflection not on the beer but on timorous palates that some drinkers never learn to like Rauchbier".

Woo-Hoo! I am not timorous since I like some Rauchbiers!

I can’t get enough of fresh Schlenkerla Fastenbier!!

Cheers!

 

Keep buying lottery tickets Jack.

 

Sometimes the only beer I want to drink is a cold, crisp lager.

 

Killing time on a Monday afternoon digging deep into the BA forums ... Interesting points in this article and in this thread. I've had a similar experience judging at homebrew competitions to the one that @utopiajane mentions. Hard to fill up a sheet with descriptors when these beers nail it.

 

Despite my love for big, bold flavors I don't think anything beats a well-made Helles Lager. Refreshing and with just enough going on.
I think most drinkers eventually come around and learn to appreciate a beer for what it is, not how many different flavors they can emulate. Time and a place for everything

 

Thanks for posting. "Extreme" seems to be geared towards the inexperienced and/or unsophisticated.

 

For me, this says it all.

"More often than not, though, these amped-up offerings are overrated reflections of a palate bias for particular styles and intensities. And if you’ll allow the generalization, it is a palate that sometimes confuses boldness and intensity with quality."

http://tempestinatankard.com/2014/01/08/drinking-lager-in-an-age-of-extreme-taste/

 

Maybe there is something wrong with my brain, but I find that the more lightly-flavored are less and less interesting to me. When I started drinking beer I was all about lagers, Wits, and brown ales - IPAs and stouts were too much for me. Even Heffs were too flavorful, as I was not used to Belgian yeast flavors. Eventually I started liking IPAs, stouts, and Heffs, but DIPAs, strong ales, barleywines, etc. were still too much.

Now all of those stronger styles are my go to. I still occasionally try a lager or brown ale. 9 out of 10 times I get bored of them by the end of the glass, and I regret not getting a DIPA. My point is this: the more experience I have with beers, the more I want intense flavors.

 

This is pretty much my opinion on Czech Pils. Not much room for innovation, but a clean and crisp Pils can be the only possible correct answer at times.

 

With me, it's kind of the opposite. The more experience, the more I can recognize subtle flavors that don't whack me over the head. Not that I don't like a DIPA from time to time, but the whole intensity thing sometimes seems more about crossing thresholds than appreciation.

 

I think this was really well said. I largely agree with you- when I have big beers, it tends to not be in quick succession or in high volume. I'll have a DIPA or a barleywine or a massive imperial stout periodically, but when I have these things they really push the sensory experience to the limits. Now, when I drink an every-day beer, I find myself much more appreciative of the subtle nuances in flavor.

I think something that many people stress here that constantly gets drowned out in the collective circle jerk over extreme beers is that it's easy to throw more hops or more coffee or whatever else into a beer and make it 'rich' and 'flavorful', but it's so much harder not to be controlled by these powerful ingredients and in turn control them and make a beer that's subtle, but still flavorful and complex.