Hop Butcher (2022)

I feel like there's a big difference between "I could do a 4-pack of their hazies every week or two" and "let's go to HB and spend 2 hours drinking through 8-10 similar IPAs."

Not that there isn't a market for that, but I *have* to think palate fatigue alone would imply that's a bad idea. I'm personally much more willing to try a weird (or atypical) beer in a taproom versus at a beer shop.

 

“Do you come here often?” Is only getting me weird looks.

You are drinking 4-5 beers an hour?!

 

I meant flights in that case, lol, I save that level of bac for hard alcohol.

 

Taproom list:
https://twitter.com/HopButcher/status/1590724503436394496?s=20&t=y_Zq_7_2fpxqlUisJhTmDQ

I haven't had Hop Butcher in years, do they still brew Galaxy Bowl? I thought that was a staple beer for them.

 

A legitimate question as a non-hop head:

What exactly does a "hazy IPA" mean to most people? If I knew nothing about Hop Butcher, I'd assume this is supposed to mean more NE style, but knowing Hop Butcher, seems like this just means more about the turbidity, rather than about the bitterness level. Also, NE style don't typically have that hop bite or onion notes *shrug*.

Seems like "hazy" has been slowly pushing out the term "NE style", which is only muddying up the clarity of descriptions (to me). Or, maybe Hazy, as a general term, really is better if so few are actually aiming for that much lower bitterness.

 

I found it humorous that this word appears SIX TIMES on Hop Butcher's draft board!!

Also, absolutely no dark beers? A single brown ale, porter, stout, quad, dunkel or ANYTHING would have been nice.

 

I agree but does this surprise you?

 

That menu board won’t last a year before it is replaced with something easier to change beers names on.

They’ve brewed it many times however it seems to have gone from a Galaxy flavored beer in its infancy to an onion flavored beer in its later years. I would imagine they would make it again unless they determine the quality of Galaxy hops they have access to is insufficiently poor.

I don’t believe HB is aiming for these beers to have the hop bite or onion notes. They are just releasing the cans when they are green to get them out the door rather than when they are mellowed at peak flavor. Will be very interesting to see what they do at the taproom in terms of putting beers on when they are green or waiting until the bite has died down.

 

That's what prompted me to ask. I was like, "uhh....I know these aren't all NE style soft, pillowy, super juicy low-bitter IPAs..."

 

The Supreme Court ruled that affirmative action does not apply to beer styles.

 

I think people confuse hop bite bitterness with true bitterness from Alpha Acids. Hop bite is a side-effect from having too much hop matter, adding polyphenols to the beer. This usually subsides in a few weeks and is not the intent of any brewer since it's an astringent flavor. Hop bitterness is much smoother when utilized correctly.

To me, Hazy and NEIPA are the same thing:
- low bitterness due to little or no bittering hops
- high whirlpool and dry hop loads
- ester-forward yeast
- full mouthfeel

Yes, there are some OG brewers in NE that brew bitter beers, but majority brew something similar to HB, a la Trillium, Root + Branch, Hill Farmstead etc.

 

Saw this in a Reddit thread yesterday - there was a 20 min wait earlier in the day and 40min - 1 hour later in the afternoon if anyone's thinking of going.

 

So, basically the same as when Half Acre had it.

 

Maybe once the things settle down at the taproom they'll offer some traditional brews.

 

Agreed, I hope they offer some crazy stuff in the taproom. I also agree that their releases tend to all meld into the same brew after a while. I did enjoy a lot of their "clear" IPA releases over the summer. How Giant is Giant was a great release and Sport Pep was good as well. I do think they're stouts are pretty underrated so I'm hoping they have some BA offerings as well.

Will definitely be taking a trip there at some point, but I'll wait for the hype to die down.

 

This is exactly why I stopped going to HA's taproom, even though I loved the place. It's too damn small for the amount of traffic they see. And before they opened up some of the warehouse/brewing space for their Benthic releases, those days were completely out of control.

 

For any kegerator owners, HB doing 1/6 barrels

 

Does Hop Butcher distro to Michigan? I looked on their website but couldn't find any info.

 

Picked up HBs Minted brew(missed it the last time around). Was curious to see if they could pull off a Frango inspired stout. For the most part it was good, imo it tasted more like a Andes Creme De Menthe then a Frango. Only issue was that it had a slight chemical aftertaste. Not sure if it was just the peppermint oil or something else. Probably wouldn't have it again but it was worth trying.

 

I was grateful to have tried this last year due to @galos11 , but it was one of the worst beers I have ever had. Usually with a beer that I do not enjoy, I can see what others do enjoy in that beer. Not this one. It was chemically (as you mentioned) and astringent. It was like synthetic liquid mint extract. I tried it several times over 2 hours and I couldn’t get more than a sip each time. It was a drain pour. I don’t know how many beers I have drank that little of.

Glad your experience was better, but I don’t know how anyone enjoys this.