Controversial Beer Opinions (Round Two)

But this sounds like something my grandparents had to endure during the depression...

...and this sounds like something I got as a treat when I visited my grandparents!

 

I've had Murkbombs that were Babyshit Beige. I can envision one being brown.

 

I like the mental image of you sitting at a bar going:

"Okay, I'm going to give these cursed things another try."

and then being served a glass of babyshit beige liquid.

 

It was a can from a highly respected , East coast, brewer of the style. I looked at a couple of other reviews, and one dude said basically the same thing as me, but still gave like a 4.25 for appearance. Can't risk lowering the score and lowering the trade value, can we now?

 

Only style that regularly gets sub-4 ratings on appearance from me. I accept the opacity as part of the style but when it starts lookin like dirty dishwater I can't accept it. I should probably start being even harsher on that front

 

I think we have to make peace with the understanding that great appearance in a beer is a factor of how anxious for a sip that look makes us feel, how excited are we to enjoy the flavors promised by the look of the beer.

We need to make peace with the fact that to the people who love the flavors of a well done turbid IPA, a turbid look is an amazing look of promise. If the beer ends up not to live up to its style due to taste or smell or mouthfeel, that isn't a factor of the look. Many beers that are tops in the style have the same look.

I used to wonder if some folks had similar visceral reactions to murky Hefeweizen when it came onto scene many years ago. From reading I've done, turns out some did.

 

Definitely weirded me out the first time I saw it. Turns out I don't like much about the hefes (although maybe I should revisit, its been some years). I wonder if that played into my trepidation around the hazy IPA style?

 

It can’t be THAT difficult to make it NOT look like baby shit or adult shit. What the hell is going wrong from point A to B to C? Any pro brewers gonna weigh in?

 

Haha, could be you just don't like them.

Me? I wonder things like how much did people care what a beer looked like for the 1,000+ years we drank it from vessels made of opaque materials?

 

In the last few years craft beer has jumped the shark. Milkshake IPAs, pastry stouts, virtual hopless super sweet DIPAs etc. So much catering to palates weaned on Sunny Delight and OreoOs.

 

I guess some light research pointed to the glaring problem of oxidization within the style. Specifically the oxidization of the hop oils/compounds. It seems like almost everyone has suffered from it, pro brewer or homebrewer.

It’s an understandable situation for a homebrewer having more rudimentary equipment. But for a brewery that has proper pumps and lines to transfer from whirlpool to tank, to brite to keg with virtually no introduction to oxygen, it seems there’s only one step that can be problematic: the dry hopping.

Dry hopping SO MANY times, even during active fermentation. Opening up that fermenter or brite and disrupting the headspace, especially during such a volatile time like fermentation has to be the answer.

I guess I would like to know if there are any specific techniques for dumping in dry hops that brewers use (purging the tank or re-setting the CO2 cap afterward, using bags for hops, etc) or if it’s all about the quality equipment. Just wondering if there’s anything other than chance that guarantees a beautifully bright NEIPA and not a babyshit one.

 

Yes, the ‘NEIPA’ beer style is extremely sensitive to oxidation.

The steps that the brewer can take to mitigate expose during the dry hopping process is:

· Adding hops ‘early’ while some fermentation is occurring (e.g., 3 – 5 days of fermentation)

· Continually purging the headspace with CO2 while adding dry hops (especially important when fermentation is complete)

In addition achieving extremely low TPO during packaging (e.g., canning) is extremely important. Those breweries that can achieve here will have beers with increased shelf-life. Also, continual cold storage will extend shelf-life. I noticed the last time I purchased Heady Topper it was in my local beer retailer’s refrigerator and on top of the can holder was a sticker stating this beer must be stored cold (and my retailer observed this).

Cheers!

 

I think technically it’s tongue on cheek.

What do you mean by “New Bissell Brothers”? As in their newer IPAs?

 

As in they changed all their existing ipas to NE ipas.

 

double post , quote incompetence...

I though a lot of the murk comes from not filtering the final product?

 

This! I was just reading a review for a Rauchbier the other day and a review gave like 1.75 across the board and in their tasting notes stated I'm not a smoked beer fan.....face palm.

 

Slushees/ heavily fruited sours are an embarrassment to craft beer. 450 North in particular is the most overhyped bullshit of a brewery in the country. The OG jooses from the Answer and Jreams from Burley Oak are the only exceptions I’ll name. You won’t change my mind.

 

Is there a reason those breweries get a pass? The only experience I’ve had with one is a friend brought back veil beer and I tried some grape one, tasted like Welch grape juice, it was definitely not beer IMO.

 

you can have an unfiltered beer that is perfectly clear. Most of it comes from the use of things like flaked oats, insane amounts of late and dry hopping resulting in suspended hop particulate in combination with adjuncts like oats, and yeast strains with very low flocculation.

 

That is a misnomer. The yeast strains commonly used to brew Juicy/Hazy IPAs are English yeast strains which are highly flocculant. For example the London Ale III yeast strain (Wyeast 1318) is commonly used to brew these beers and this strain has high flocculation.

The permahaze that is formed is a aggregate of protein-polyphenol complexes.

Cheers!