Classic craft beer?

There is no commonality to your opinions, no historical or citable references for your opinions, so I am gonna go with the idea that if a beer brewer makes it with ingredients that have been used for beer during any period in the last 2500 years, and the brewer calls it beer, than it tastes like beer. I think the distinctions you make are ones without difference.

 

Had one today on a trip to Florida - Jai Alai. So good.

 

I'm reminded of pamphlets published by the London Brewer's Guild back in the 1400s admonishing the public to avoid beer using those new fangled hops warning against it's wholesomeness, that it was a "pernicious foreign influence" and "didn't taste like real beer".

 

In 2010 there were 1800 breweries in the U.S. Today there are nearly (or over?) 6000. Unless us old timers have tripled our beer consumption in the past half decade then most of every kind of beer is being consumed by relatively recent entrants to the hobby.

 

There's a very important difference: Many brewers today are going well out of their way to brew beers with the express purpose of them tasting like specific, familiar other foodstuffs, either through the direct use of flavorings, such as in pastry stouts and fruited kettle sours, or through the intentional evocation of distinct external flavors, such as fruit juice in NEIPAs (or both in the case of milkshake IPAs). Many of these beers are designed to be remarkably sweet to further evoke dessert or fruit, and they eschew the dryness and bitterness present in most beers in order to appeal to people who aren't big fans of other beers. They are, for the most part, designed for and consumed by people who think that beer would be better if it tasted more like something else. Dan Carey knows that Belgian Red tastes like cherry pie and that it's beloved by many people who otherwise avoid beer. That's in fact the point.

 

That is truly a very nice testimonial. I've been watching beer evolution for all of my life, and now I have multiple breweries making excellent beer very close by. This would have been unimaginable not so long ago This development has helped energize the city on its own, but the variations between breweries is remarkable, and all are well regarded. I cannot stress too much how great the modern local beer scene impacts this entire region. This is really fun....

 

Couldn't agree more about this being fun.

It's also threads like this one that make me more than glad to be living in SE PA, even with the unusual beer laws we have in PA. As do you we have lots of breweries that are different from each other and well regarded. In addition the wide variety of beers from local, regional, national and international sources to be found in the bars and stores in this area makes me feel very sad on behalf of those who only see around them beers that don't "taste like beer" and who only see beer drinkers who are inexperienced and only seek out beers that don't "taste like beer."

 

Yeah- to me it's not that added ingredients are being used, but how they're used and impact the end product that I am less than enthused about. There's just too much of an emphasis on cartoonish and superficial beers these days; and it just seems to be a case of screwed up priorities. Sure, it's fun to do the beer equivalent of squirting Bosco and Redi-whip directly into your mouth every once in a while, but it also gets real old real quick.

 

Yes, I love that craft breweries have proliferated, and the spread of these gimmick beers and beers-for-people-who-don't-like-beer is both an inevitable consequence of and contributing factor to that spread. They often afford breweries the ability also to brew beer-for-people-who-do-like-beer. Consequently, I view them as the new gateway / beginner beers: Come for the juice; stay for the beer. It might be nice if they didn't dominate the top of the ratings boards and the discussions on sites like this, where those new to the hobby confuse them for literally the greatest beers ever created by mankind and the apex of brewing achievement. I'd also like to see breweries push the boundaries more in a variety of directions (while still respecting the classics and reviving moribund styles) instead of mostly striving ever sweeter and more familiar en bloc.

 

I haven't had a London pride in a while. I will have to re-visit it. And I remember buying Anchor Steam in 1981 here in Chicago. Those are my classic types from back when.

 

Not to worry then. The membership on this site is a small subset of those who consume flavorful beers and the folks who post on this site are a small subset of that membership. And those who do their posting about the new beers some don't think "taste like beer" are a still smaller subset. Similarly certain beers that "don't taste like beer" do not dominate the lists that are indicators of more than transient popularity. Compare the Top 250 list on there with the Beers of Fame list on here. Some things will endure to be classics others will fall by the wayside.

 

If I ever get back into home brewing I may try my hand at the real stuff. You know, original beer like the Sumerians brewed 5000 years ago, with dates, almonds, grape must, honey certainly, hand harvested barley and local river water with that special extra something, yeah, real beer.

 

Fixed that for you.

 

Well sir, Dr. Patrick McGovern has just the book you are looking for! He is a genuinely great person.
https://www.amazon.com/Ancient-Brews-Rediscovered-Patrick-McGovern/dp/0393253805

I have this book, and have considered brewing some of the homebrew recipes.

 

While not a homebrewer myself I'll second this recommendation for anyone who is. I've heard McGovern give a talk about some of his work and he is, as you say, genuinely great at what he does.

Those recipes should be solidly based in historical evidence, as well as being well thought out and documented, so I'd expect them to produce resonably accurate recreations of those Ancient Brews.

Edit: He's also a very nice guy if you get to meet him in person.

 

That edit you made is absolutely true.

If you want to brew an ancient ale - buy his book.

If you want to lear the history of fermented beverages around the world - buy his book.

If you want to learn how an academic uses science and research tools in the laboratory to identify the ingredients used in the ancient beers - buy his book.

Or just argue about NEIPA.

 

It is a solid AAL for sure.

 

All three of those things sound really boring and lame. Back to the NEIPA argument...

 

Remember when this was special?
Grabbed a sixer of it the other day and super happy I did. When in doubt, I always opt for the known classic.

 

Despite the fallacious "beer should taste like beer" argument, I do agree with your overall sentiment. I prefer WC IPAs to NE most of the time. I actually want my IPA to taste piney, bitter, citrusy, and resinous.

Also, lately I've gravitated back into Belgian styles. Give me a quad, tripel, saison, strong dark or strong golden ale any day.