Can an IPA be TOO balanced?

No a "balanced" IPA is hop forward and can be a hop bomb. The balance means that the bitterness did not strip away all the flavor that you would have seen as the IPA finishes. It should be bitter and there are IPA's that have touched the ceiling of bitter and others that were unconsionabe . The IPA does not have to be sweet like the DIPA. That's why the west coast style malt. It's the malt in the west coast style not really the hops. OK so I m rambling. The most charismatic flavor in the IPA is the dry light caramel that comes from this pale beer to show you a complex hop character that includes floral, pepper, fruit and herbal. The finish is important and has to have balance. It has to have malt but the hops finish the beer. That is a balanced IPA.

 

In broad terms, we actually need more of the latter and less of the former. Get back to the roots, man. This thing was founded on the principle of making what you enjoy and hopefully attracting enough of an audience to get you to next year; what will be will be. The overt trendiness lately is not a good sign.

To get back to the thread- yes, IPAs with a lack of hop kick are out there and they aren't good ones. Some of the ones mentioned in this thread are far from that, though. Two Hearted's aroma and flavor are driven by hops in a very obvious way, and it sure as hell isn't too balanced.

 

Hmm, to me the market is driven by the consumer. I think we get what we need and we vote with out dollars.

Brewers obviously can come up with new styles or bring back old/different ones, but those pesky bills...

 

I like more hop forward beers too, and they are still balanced for me.

 

They have bills? I had no idea...

It's not really the dichotomy that you seem to be portraying. And the sliding scale has definitely gone too far in one direction when you start to see brewers saying "I'd like to do X, Y and Z, but I can't because of the market..." The easy path can be very tempting for sure, especially when there's so much money on the line, but if one's business plan is sound from the start then that doesn't have to be the only way to go about it.

A healthy market has all sorts of niches, so I just think we need more of the attitude of finding one's own place these days.

 

Each style has its particular point of balance between malts and hops I believe. That balance is loaded to the hops side in IPAs, but the malt has to be there to provide a counterpoint (and alcohol). IMO good IPAs achieve that balance.

 

The evolution of our palates is a funny thing. In my opinion, many BA's will go through a phase where bigger, hoppier, juicier, fruitier is better. Or the perception that unless it pushes the limits, it falls short. I was there 2 years ago. I remember drinking nugget nectar 2 years ago and thought it tasted bland and I didn't understand the allure. As I expanded the styles I consume regularly, I learned to appreciate the subtleties, and this concept of "balance". What's amazing is that when I go back and drink the "classics" that I previously thought I outgrew (60Min, TwoHearted, Stone IPA, Torpedo, Neslon, Centenial) I have a new appreciation for them. It's obvious why they have stood the test of time. I drank a Nugget Nectar last night and thought it was incredible. So to answer OPs Q, IMO, no such thing as too much balance.

 

I feel the same way about anti-hero as an example, 4 years ago my brother handed me one and I said that was super bitter!
I wasn't used to that. but now I think it is an awesome beer with great hop balance.

 

I think you, the OP, might be confusing low flavor intensity with balance. We tend to like BIG flavor and tend to call the lack of it as "bland". Balance is just leveling the playing field for competing and/or complimentary flavors (think sweet and bitter). You can have balanced beer with either high or low flavor intensities and they usually get called WOW or bland, respectively.

 

Depends on what kind of balance we are talking about. If a DIPA has a heavy malt profile and is fairly sweet, I think it's bordering on an American style Barleywine (Bigfoot). Especially those that are oak aged, etc. If we are talking a 6%-7% IPA that isn't super in-your-face and has a good malt backbone... it's still an IPA, just maltier than average. A pale isn't just defined by balance, it's also defined by gravity (no pale ale should be above 6%, ever).

I like the varieties of IPAs/DIPAs out there. I definitely gravitate towards my juicy NE IPAs, but I still appreciate other hop-bombs that are filtered, more bitter, more "west coast".

 

I don't think so, I just think beer geeks are expecting or wanting a beer with character...hop slap to the face, citrus splash, piney or a perfect touch of bitter, etc. Balanced IPAs are still great but people need to remember every beer has its time and place.

 

Two, two, that to me are tops in balance AND intensity. Love the malt base in these IPAs.

 

After having SoS and Jai Alai, my answer is no. I thought I'd had balanced IPAs before, but those two changed the game for me. Balance is what makes an IPA great, at leat in my opinion.

 

An example of an IPA that is balanced (i.e.., a balance of hops and malt flavors) to my palate is Victory Hop Devil. I enjoy drinking this beer from time to time (when I am in in the mood for a balanced IPA). Is Victory "too balanced"? For me it is most of the time but every once in a while it is not "too balanced".

I enjoy the fact that there are a variety of beer styles available for sale and a variety of IPA sub-styles as well.

Cheers!

 

Yes. And no. Clear as mud??? I prefer mine totally unbalanced in favour of hops, but yet at times I'm in the mood for a more malty IPA. Sometimes you feel like a burger, or a steak, sometimes fish. It's just what you feel like that particular day. If our palates didn't change, there would only be 1 aisle in the grocery store.

 

To me, this is why Two Hearted is so good.

People tend to expect more from it because so many people love it, but so many people love it because of its well-rounded attributes. As others have stated earlier, beers don't have to be palate changing to be great.

 

Yes, of course. Considering balance and tastes are an extremely personal thing of course. Some might think an average english IPA is too hoppy (I'm sure at one time I did too). Some might think a DFH 60min is over the top. And some people might think a Devil Dancer is too malty (well, that's another whole story). It's all a matter of perspective.

Dope

 

IMO this a potential downside to 'hype'. People hear so much about a particular beer (Two Hearted in this case) that they expect that they will hear fireworks and the songs of Celestial Angels and when it is just a very pleasant beer to drink they sometimes feel disappointed. IMO Two Hearted is an extremely well made IPA and it is indeed a beer I could drink every day. I have a Centennial IPA fermenting right now which is my homebrewed version of Two Hearted Ale.

Cheers!

 

Somehow I just cannot picture a big hop bomb fan traveling through southern England, saying upon sipping the favorite local ale at any one place, "this is an out of balance malt bomb"! When the grain is so fresh with skilled hopping using Fuggles, Goldings, and others, these ales are delicious and easy to drink more than a few. I would still rather have these ales than the plethora of uni-dimensional US IPAs. Problem is, I love very hoppy IPAs as well.

 

The good/bad news is that Hoppy IPAs using American aroma hops are being produced in Great Britain in ever increasing numbers by British breweries (Brew Dog, Kernal, etc.).

Here is a dated blog (three years old) that details one British person’s opinion on the ‘best’ British brewed IPAs: http://thebeercast.com/2013/04/the-best-ipa-in-britain.html

Maybe some of the British BAs could express their views on this topic?

Cheers!

@Hanglow @CwrwAmByth @Hoppsbabo @Ruds @WhatANicePub