When did malt get a bad rep?

Well if folks think the beer is supposed to be hop forward and all they can taste is malt, then that's not what they expected and so makes many folks unhappy.

I don't hear folks making the same kinds of complaint about beers where the flavor profile is expected to have a lot of malt.

 

Exactly.

So it seems to me use of the term "malt bomb" has increased with the increase in popularity of IPAs as folks find out what happens with age.

I'd also guess that its related to at least some folks not really paying attention to the difference between hop flavors and hop bitterness so if its not full of bitterness its a "malt bomb."

 

Malt is good.

"Malty" when supposed to be "hoppy" not so good.

Those who appreciate an Ayinger Octoberfest LOVE malt.

 

I think you need an ipa. Preferably a malty one.

Can't say I've noticed what you're talking about, unless the ipa/DIPA is unbalanced in a way they weren't expecting.

 

"malty mess" and similar terms are usually used for what was expected to be a hoppy beer and isn't, either due to age or perhaps a poor attempt to brew a hoppy beer. In those cases, it is appropriate to criticize the beer as too malty.

OTOH, I have also read reviews of traditionally malty beers where similar terms were used. Oh, well...

Face it, Americans like their hops, by and large. That is why "American" versions of traditional styles tend to be hoppier, in either flavor/aroma, bittering, or both.

 

Malt is all I ever wanted. My personal belief is that more people in the beer community are IPA-obsessed than not. I think that is from lack of experience. Sure there are plenty of super pros who still prefer IPAs. But I think every beer lover goes through an IPA phase early on, and very many of them move on to other preferences. So, early on, when they don't taste that super bitter hop, they don't know how to feel.

 

Those who cannot appreciate the flavor of malt in beer-even an IPA- are as one dimensional as some of those beers they crave.

To each their own.

 

Just remembered, there's another effect potentially at play here. If you drink lots and lots of bitter hoppy beers, your taste buds adapt to being continuously beaten up by strong flavors and lose some of their sensitivity, so when you drink a less bitter beer you may hardly notice any effect at all from the bitterness that is there. So now you're suffering from what Cilurzo at Russian River once called "The Lupulin Threshold Shift" and only the most bitter beers have enough bitterness to taste and everything else tastes like a "malt bomb."

 

I love Beer... With that said, I love a Balanced IPA/DIPA. Depends on the Style for me really. If I'm drinking an English Style Barleywine and it has a Huge dose of American Hops...I'm not going to dig it..same thing goes for Imperial Stouts. I'm a Hop and Malt Head, just not a fan of over-usage of Malts in a Hoppy beer and over-usage of Hops in a Malty beer.

Edit: Unless it's an American Strong Ale....then Huge Malt and Hops are appreciated.

 

A "malty mess" is one where there is an imbalance of malt in relation to hops, or where there is a ton of unwarranted malty sweetness with just enough hop character to make it weird. There are certainly good and great IPAs with a hefty malt presence, but complaining about a beer's maltiness implies an imbalanced product, at least to me.

 

Balance is passe.

 

Ooooh, Racer X is a damn good one.

I like both hop bombs with little malt and the more malt forward ones as well. I do, however, draw a fine line if I'm told "this is a hop bomb" and all I taste is biscuit. It's old at best, or misleading marketing nonsense at worst. I want to know what I'm drinking, and I'll get a bit pissed if I get something different. Seasons and moods and all.

 

I like you, and this post. Spot on.

 

He was being so nice and 'balanced' about it, too. I just say "your baseline is fucked".