Most Overrated Brewery

Also, do you just not like hops? Cuz thats not really a fair assessment then....

 

Rogue, for sure, can't believe they have such a large distribution. I haven't been impressed by any of their offerings

 

Bruery and DFH are very similar to me. Solid across the board, overpriced yet not much that is in the best of the best categories.

 

One seemingly consistnat thing I have noticed in this thread, and over the past year on this site, is that the answers you see to this question tend to be either on the larger end of the scale as far as distribution/availabilty (Founders, Stone, Dogfish Head) or smaller end (Three Floyds, Hill Farmstead, Russian River). I think that both expectations based on sterling reputations and hard to aquire beers can skew everyones perception. It is naturally easier to enjoy a beer that you have worked very hard to find, and conversly, easy to dog on something you had on a pedestal before ever trying. I am not saying this is true for everyone, but probably more often than we like to admit.

All of that being said, stating that a beer or brewery is "overrated" does not necessarily mean that you dont care for it at all. I fell that way about a few. I think Bell's fits here for me. I love Black Note. I think that Expedition is excellent, and many other beers are very good. I just dont think they are anywhere close to Founders. Food for thought. I talked to a brewer at New Belgium that left Bell's. Lateral move? Upgrade? Downgrade?

As far as anyone thinking Founders is overrated, of course you are not going to get shit from me for your opinion, but I would ask if you have had just big releases, or several year rounds. Imperial Stout is hands down one of the best straight up RIS in the world and the porter is top 3 or 4 for me. Dirty Bastard is an excellent Scotch Ale, and Centenial and Double Trouble can hold their own against any IPAs. Old Curmudgeon, while a little harsh fresh and not talked about due to North Coast, is an excellent Old Ale too.

 

He probably left because of money. New Belgium is riding a wave right now with all this Lips of Faith and Fat Tire nonsense. Bell's is being Bell's, the same stuff every year for the most part, excluding the Planet Series. Solid distribution blood lines like Founders.

 

Three Floyds. I've had several of their offerings on numerous occasions and have been consistently disappointed. ZD is average at best

 

back in 1998-1999, I felt Stone absolutely WAS transcendent. AB, Ruination and the regular IPA were simply phenomenal compared with the other beers of the day. Rogue was the same story. Today, the landscape has changed. Stone is still solid but the cooler's a lot more crowded these days.

 

What do you think of their pale ale?

 

back in the day, when 90 Minute was in 750ml bottles with a crown and a cork, it was peerless.

 

Rogue is a brewery that, to me, hasnt held up. Where I menitoned that Stone is still solid and very drinkable, Rogue just isnt worth taking a risk on. In the late 90's, their beers used to be so thick, earthy, murky, chewy, delicious (and fresh!). Now, not so much.

 

Wow....just....wow..

 

Definitely Bells

 

Actually, it has been over a year since I had it. There are many pale ales that I never rated, or revisited before rating because I did not care much for the style. Centenial was one of the handfull of beers, along with 90 min, Dale's Pale, Deschutes Red Chair to name a few, that helped me to explore/enjoy some more hoppy beers. I still dont care a lot for All Day though. For years I was a very malt based drinker, so the evolution process is slow.

 

If I were to start drinking Rogue today, having never experienced their beginnings, I would seriously wonder why they have the distro & depth of offerings they enjoy. They would definitely seem overrated....but then again, we dont usually hear people on these boards raving about Rogue.

The Hazlenut Brown Nectar used to have such a wonderfully nutty, fresh flavor. It was a fave. Now it tastes to me like they use some chemical syrup Hazlenut extract. Shakespeare Stout was the beer that came to mind when I said Rogue beers used to be thick (unfiltered) and chewy and deep with flavor. Their Special Bitter and Dead Guy were the same. Now they seem watery and thin by comparison.

 

I have a few that will certainly be divisive, but please keep in mind that I'm not saying up don't like them, I just don't think they are the transcendent, life-affirming brews some people seem to think they are.

Founders to me is not that great. Dirty Bastard and Porter are superb from their year-rounds; Backwoods Bastard, FBS, Curmudgeon, and FIS are also awesome, but most of their Backstage series post-CBS have been very bland, none of their hoppy beers but Red's Rye are worth buying again (and even that's a stretch), Rubaeus is and Cerise are terrible, and KBS is probably the most overrated beer around.

De Garde is incredibly over-hyped. This may be slightly unfair, but all the Bus taste the same (they are the same base I assume), with only slight variation based on the adjuncts. They have no depth at all, either, just lactic bombs. The two wilds I had (Connak and Poppy Ambre) literally tasted like stomach acid and vomit, and again had no depth. The Bus are good, don't get me wrong, and Hose is a great gose, but they aren't worth nearly what they trade for. The lack of depth is my biggest gripe with American wilds, so I really was unimpressed with their stuff. Also De Garde being I think the third brewery on the site based on beer average is absurd.

Maine Beer Company is overpriced and overrated. I haven't had Dinner (and would still like to), but Lunch, MO, Peeper, King Titus, and Mean Old Tom were all extremely average. I have had better examples of the style of each of those beers for less money and less hassle to acquire.

FiftyFifty's Eclipse series is a serviceable group of BA stouts, but their true value lies not in their quality but drinking the liquor of the barrels each was aged in in a side-by-side. The beer itself isn't really that great, and the prices are not even close to reasonable.

Pipeworks is, to me, the most overrated of the bunch. Their stouts are more guilty of "diabeetus" than the Bruery and Three Floyds combined. The(I)IPAs are average to good with few actually being truly great, but again are very sweet. If ever there was a brewery that needed a lesson in balance, it is Pipeworks. Australian Summer Ninja is also the only beer I've ever drain-poured. Literally all the other major Chicago breweries are better: Revolution, Half Acre (also mildly overrated, I think), Goose Island, Two Brothers, and Haymarket.

As a side note, I have to assume anyone saying New Glarus is overrated is not a fan of balance, attenuation, stylistic accuracy, subtlety, and most of all, German beers. Spotted Cow is pretty bland, no doubt, but everything else is absurdly good. They're one of the most consistent breweries out there across the board, I think. I also don't see why anyone would say DFH is overrated. Rogue isn't overrated either; everyone knows they're nothing special. They aren't that highly rated on this site, and you should know going in what you're in for. To each their own, though!

 

Yeah, it's highly unlikely AL will see FFF or RR at anytime in the foreseeable future. They're both extremely local, and are certainly not big in the sense of distribution footprint.

 

The only thing truly overrated on this site is the esteem some BAs put on their own opinions.

 

This thread sounds like a whole bunch of beer hipsters pulling out measuring tapes....