What takes more skill?

Specialization is for insects.

 

I would go gay for Heinlein.

 

One aspect that I like about US craft breweries is that they make both traditional style beers and they also make ‘innovative’ beers.

Let’s take Bells Brewery for example.

Two Hearted Ale is an excellent American style IPA. I am not sure whether American style IPA is considered traditional or ‘innovative’ but Bell hits a homerun with this beer.

Bells Porter is a very tasty American Porter. I suppose that American Porter is ‘innovative’.

They make a whole series of Stouts that are all very good to excellent (e.g., Expedition, Cherry Stout, Kalamazoo, etc.). Some of these stouts are traditional and some are ‘innovative’.

Bell's Quinannan Falls Lager is an excellent American Pale Lager. This is an ‘innovative’ beer that is a homerun too.

Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock is a very tasty Doppelbock (a traditional beer style)

So, I am of the opinion that US craft breweries are fully capable of making quality traditional beer styles and excellent ‘innovative’ beers as well.

We are truly blessed to be living in the US craft brewery ‘revolution’ timeframe.
Cheers!

 

I'd say a lot of European brewers certainly do excel at producing consistent, quality renditions of classic beers. And a lot of American breweries fail regularly at their renditions of classics or attempts at new experiments.

That said, the standout brews from American brewers doing new things blow away the classic styles, for me anyway. American IPAs, big stouts, interpretations of Belgian styles... I'll take the 1 out of 10 American successes anyday.

Offer me a Weinstephaner Hefe or a Blind Pig, I'll take the pig every day.

 

My most successful homebrews are IPAs. I believe the rich, strong flavors hide slight flaws in my process.
My attempts at brewing pale ales reveal a lack of fine control on my part.
Every time I retreat back to doing an 1.06 IPA, the "problems" magically go away.
I'm no where near ready to try doing a light German style lager. There would need to be far more attention to detail than what I'm prepared to give.

 

I would say more skill is to do more beers well vs 1 beer really well. Its easy to keep perfecting one recipe IMO.

Cheers!

 

I share your love for Bell's wholeheartedly, but most of those that are styles prefaced with American... (fill in blank) is most likely a new, "innovative" style. The majority of their beers fit this characterization (the top rated & distributed ones especially), and even if they have a traditional name they often have a skew of that style so it is innovative at heart and not squarely within traditional boundaries. Again, I love them too - but I think they're best known as making world-class innovative beers.

 

Same with my homebrewing experiences. It's easier to hide flaws with big, bold flavors. Same with styles in general, and there's little doubt why some (many?) American brewers avoid styles that wear flaws on their sleeves, so to speak.

 

Homebrewers: make a world-class Pilsner or Helles, and get back to me.

 

“I think they're best known as making world-class innovative beers.” I do not disagree with that. Within my post I listed a number of their ‘innovative’ beers.

I do disagree with the statement of “a traditional name they often have a skew of that style so it is innovative at heart.”

In my opinion Expedition Stout is a traditional Russian Imperial Stout with no ‘skews’.

I also think that the Bell's Consecrator Doppelbock is a traditional Doppelbock with no ‘skews’.

I am also of the opinion that Bell's Best Brown is a traditional English Brown Ale.

I have also had a few Bell’s beers on draft (Biere de Garde, etc.) that are traditional without ‘skews’.

Cheers!

 

I homebrew a Bohemian Pilsner which is far superior to any commercial Bohemian Pilsner that I have ever tasted.

Cheers!

 

Trade me a growler for some Okie stuff, and I'll be the judge of that!

 

I don’t trade.

But I will think of you as a drink my ‘world class’ Bohemian Pilsner.

Cheers!

 

Ingredient selection is a major factor. One reason why the regions in Europe have evolved their own styles is because they had to make the best use of what they had and learned to do this well.Most UK breweries stick to ales and porters because just down the road the farmers are growing arguably the finest malting barley that exists for these styles.There seems little point in using it to brew unsuitable types of beer, it makes more sense to let say the Germans or Czechs to do this as they do it so well.Also it brews for an existing market which is well established.
By the way, mere tweaking of recipes is not innovation.It's all been done before.

 

Spoken like a true Brit BA- beer culture started and ended with milds and porters.

But seeing as how innovation is defined as "something new or different introduced, introduction of new things or new methods", the simple use of new hop varietals, DFH using various ingredients in innovative brews, Belgian brewers using American hop varietals, brewers using new yeast strains, and so on... all qualify as innovative.

Plenty of innovation happens every day in the craft beer industry. Refusal to acknowledge it only speaks to a single minded, parochial view of said industry.

And I'd venture to say the majority of that innovation comes from American brewers.

 

I'm not sure if any American brewer is truly "innovative". Adding more hops isn't reinventing the IPA. Using various ingredients in styles they haven't been used in before isn't new. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a single thing we do that hasn't been done before. Our ancestors came here from all over and brought their various cultures with them. Over time, things have mutated, but I don't really see anything new. We make lots of tasty beer, much of it the equal of beer produced anywhere else. To answer the original question, it's much more difficult to perfect something, than to get a lot of things "close enough".

 

"There is nothing new under the Sun".

-ancient text

 

SCREW the rest of the world! The "old world" gets waaay too caught up in tradition and such. You have made the same, identical, exact beer for 400 years. Good for you. Cheers. But, I'm not impressed. I LOVE the way American brewers take something, and make it "new". Some are really bad at it, true. But, tradition be damned, give me something new and exciting. For hundreds of years, the world has has near perfect wits, weiss beers, bocks, so on and so forth. Granted taste is subjective, but I'm one of those people that likes to be dazzled with food and drink, not just stuck on something that has been done millions of times over and over. Do you eat nothing but food from 300 year old cook books every day? Then why should beer be the same?

Saying that, there ARE a few traditional things I do enjoy, but nearly all of those come from Belgium, which to the rest of the brewing world is on the same level as America. As in "how dare you do THAT to a beer?!?!"

 

New hop , malt and yeast varieties don't make for innovation; these have been introduced from Day 1 of brewing.Innovation is doing something that hasn't been done before and every possible permutation and combination from using wild yeasts to adding dead dogs has been done before.Look at the record books of years gone by and you'll find black IPA, DIPA, hop bombs, barrel aged beers and so on.
By the way, UK brewers have been using US hops since Victoria was in her prime. Not to mention Continental and other hops.Changing a hop variety is hardly ground breaking.
I never said that beer culture began and ended with milds and porters (don't forget pale ales) , simply that the reason why we concentrate on these is simply that we are best placed to do so.It ties in with our climate, agriculture and drinking habits.Other regions are better placed to brew the best examples of other styles.German and Czech malt make better lagers than does ours , our malt is better suited to ales than is theirs.Horses for courses that's all.

 

This sums it up very well.