Controversial Beer Opinions Thread

In North Carolina a business has to sell food on-premise to pour beer. A straight up tavern doesn't need to sell food. And, I think, a certain relative percentage of food to alcohol is very loosely regulated everywhere. Even within this terrible political environment here, good sense seems to prevail. I don't hate it and beer is everywhere these days.

 

Those seem to be contradictory (but not-so-much controversial, yet).
You have to sell food on-prem to pour beer, but a Tavern can pour beer without selling food?
In NC is a Tavern not classified as a business.....or maybe classified as a different type of business with it's own set of inclusions and exclusions?

 

Yeah, like Pa., laws are odd. The bars sell snack food- back in the old days pickled eggs and sausages- but generally now have some food available, or delivered from nearby. Lots of things changed around the time that liquor by the drink was legalized. All in all, the atmosphere is business friendly.

 

Budweiser sucks!


*Although this shouldn't be controversial!

 

I'd like to see a matrix showing every poster who has ever posted about how much NEIPA's bother them and every poster who's ever whined about all the posts pointing out (rightfully) how much pumpkin ales suck, and look for the intersections between the two. I'm not sure what I'd do with the information but I'd like to have it.

 

You might have to just do crowlers from breweries that crank out wc ipas.. El Segundo, Highland Park, State, Beachwood, LA Ale Works, Mumford, Firestone Walker, Three Weavers, etc. They're not advertised as much anymore but there definitely still out there in abundance.. you just have to go get them.

 

Not for nothing, but if you love Lagunitas Born Yesterday and don't think Sculpin or Stone is good these days, you may actually not like West Coast IPAs as much as you think you do anymore.

 

I'm not sure what you're trying to imply, but think there is a wide consensus in that Sculpin and Stone EB are not the same beers they once were. As for Born Yesterday, I don't see what's so non-WC about it.

 

I totally understand why people love NEIPAs, but they're too palatable for me. I know that sounds like a weird criticism, but I prefer a beer with some rough edges. Drink and let drink, but give me Hop Devil, Fresh Squeezed, Hop Stoopid, Tangerine Express, Prima Pils, Dirtwolf, Stone IPA, Alesmith, or Modus Hoperandi over any NEIPA (especially the second-rate imitators of the truly great ones that I'm limited to around here), any day of the week.

 

Also, craft AALs (not pilsners or other craft lagers) are a waste of valuable shelf space here in rural Illinois, where it's sometimes hard to find great craft beer.

 

Born Yesterday was pretty widely considered the first nationally available NEIPA-esque beer at least around these parts (meaning here on BA).

And I don't have strong feelings about Sculpin or Stone since I haven't bought either regularly for years, but I can't imagine they're not still at least basically acceptable as an everyday drinker if one wants to scratch a WCIPA itch.

 

I can help simplify this for you.

Murky beers are not hazy, nor are they actually IPAs. Because anything labeled "IPA" , regardless of, ahem *variant in style* sells via name alone, brewers don't want to call Non-IPAs by another name.

Now, pumpkin beers, by their nature, have a narrower focus. Folks that like pumpkin flavor, like certain examples, while others just like the seasonings and spice that oft accompany "pumpkin" flavored whatever (see pumpkin spice everything in October).

So the intersection of these two things is obvious: trendy folks gotta trend, and businesses gotta stay in business, so, one group sells, the other buys.

Shrug.

 

I didn't ask about acceptable, I asked about really good ones that were widely available. They once were.

As for Born Yesterday, I simply don't see anything about it that is NE style, other than the fact it is unfiltered.

 

Your palate is your palate, but that is not how most people perceived that beer. It was praised for being not very bitter and very fruity, neither of which are hallmarks of a classic WCIPA.

 

Besides maybe being bored of Torpedo, what's not to like? Vienna Lager is worth the price of entry alone, but Tumbler is one of the best American brown ales you can buy, and Ruthless Rye is a pretty damn good rye IPA. I'd go as far as to say it's better than the summer Party Pack, which was weighed down by the very underwhelming Sidecar, giving Fall a 3:2 advantage in great beers (SNPA and Torpedo are on par with one another per style and cancel each other out in this comparison in my mind).

 

You live in Ca. If I wanted to scratch my WCIPA itch I would buy Pliny whenever it got delivered and not ever think about if that other beer is not so good as it was, or that other beer is no longer avail. That is, unless Pliny also is not the same beer it once was (haven't had it in years, plenty of all kinds of IPA done great here in NY)

 

This is sort of like a Brit saying:

“I went to NYC. Lots of light lagers. FYI my favourite beer was Sam Adams Boston Lager.”

Sure there are lots of crap lagers in London (and the UK) - that is a global phenomenon, and affects Belgium, Germany and (very obviously) the US too. But if the best thing you could find was a mediocre Greene King-produced beer that makes its way stateside, then honestly you didn’t try hard enough.

And I agree with you guys - another vote for more (properly-served; suitable styles) cask ales in the US

 

I don't hate lagers, but I don't think I could distinguish a world class one from a so so one if my life depended on it. People that claim they can pick out all these tiny little flavor differences either have amazing pallets or are just lying to themselves.

I tend to think it's the latter.

 

Hmmm. Interesting. Is it that you taste nothing when you drink lagers? Or you taste some things but every lager you taste exact same flavor(s)? Or is it that you taste flavors, but can't differentiate them, or describe them? Do you really think we make up the reviews we write of lagers? Do you think you could not describe to someone why you like your favorite lager better than one you don't like?

 

What you taklkin about Willis? I like it! You are welcome.