Controversial Beer Opinions Thread

I've done enough beer touristing to have loved drinking locally around the US. (Not yet TX). NEIPAs at the source really are all that. BUT--What I am not seeing is enough inter-regional blind tests. One recent one was in Paste mag, and lots of other regions shone. I think Grimm's (bklyn) especially.
We really shouldn't score beers when we know the brand we're drinking.

 

You are correct, they want to own it.

 

They aren't wealthy enough to own it all.

 

My controversial opinions:

Pilsners are one of the greatest beers on the goddamn planet

Too many breweries are pumping out shitty hazy beers now that it's the hot ticket, just like they used to pump out shit west coast IPAs

People who pour hazy beers into unusable glasses just to post pictures are stupid

If you don't think money is important in craft circles, ask yourself why so few make lagers.

I won't pay $30/bottle for the first sour your brewery ever produces unless you have some kind of a goddamn track record

 

Don't know how controversial this is or whether it should have gone in the pet peeves thread, but there are too damn many styles based on an out-of-control set of criteria. So - coming out with a 10% ABV pumpkin pie RIS stout? Is that a stout, a RIS stout, a pumpkin ale, a fruit/vegetable, an herbed/spiced, or an imperial stout? The criteria include color, ABV, brewing method, adjuncts, additives (add-junk), flavor (bitterness, sourness), region where it is brewed, region it was brewed for, who brewed it (trappist), etc.

Some people encounter a new oddity of a beer and they recommend a new style for it. What we really need is fewer styles. Why do we need imperial and non-imperial versions of a beer? Why can't a milk stout or oatmeal stout be just a stout? Same for foreign/export, russian imperial, etc. They are all stouts. Sure they vary, who cares? Call them whatever you want on the label but when assigned a style for reviews, etc - they're a stout. Or let's just do away with styles, let brewers call them what they want, and not worry about it.

 

No, but I'd like to see them die trying

 

A long habit of always keeping multiple types of beer on hand has resulted in my rarely ever settling down with several of the same brew over the course of an evening, and instead drinking a different brand or style each time. Thus I'm cultivating the lamentable habit of anticipating what I'll be drinking next rather than focusing on my enjoyment of the beer in my glass.

The flesh is weak but the mind is weaker.

 

This is an extremely foreign notion for those that define, quantify, and categorize.

 

Do you, perhaps, have a newsletter or blog to which I can subscribe?

 

If I ever start the beer podcast I've been planning to start for the last three years I'll let you know.

 

I didn't know this was controversial until a couple of pages ago, but there are a plethora of beers that go amazingly well with pizza...pilsner, bock, helles, octoberfest, pale wheat (specifically Oberon), or an ice cold Narragansett are normally my weapons of choice.

Source: I eat a lot of pizza and drink a lot of beer.

Also for anyone who doesn't think beer pairs well with food, try a can of DFH Seaquench and some smoked salmon. That was the first time for me where a beer really enhanced the flavor of my food and vice versa.

 

No need to put "beer" in quotations. According to @cavedave Not Your Father's Root Beer is beer.

 

It'd be hard to gauge whether any are fanboy reviews or not, and you can't punish someone just for being local. I used 10 as a baseline, but I could see making it 15 or 20. Better?

 

Controversy!

Ha, I don't know if I entirely agree with this, but that's awesome.

You really do respond to nearly everything don't you? But I think I've liked more than half of your posts, so keep going.

I read my post again and realized I should have added "no pun intended". But it's cool, your response was worth it.

 

I thought these were supposed to be controversial opinions. I just found myself applauding throughout reading your post.

 

Preach!

 

Who’s we and and at what point in their craft “journey” are you comparing to?

If smarter = really trying to understand/appreciate all styles, and the brewing methods behind them, then I disagree.

If smarter = the ability to sniff out what’s hot and focus exclusively on that, and to be willing to line up for hours* to buy it, then I agree wholeheartedly.

*including but not limited to, the associated chair placing / line drinking / muling etc

 

I call them black n tans, and the time of year is near.

 

cannabis and hops have similar components, so you out there who consume a lot of beers are drugs addicts...

 

I do what I can.