Beer styles more breweries should consider making

I'm not sure if their distribution goes as far as NJ, but in case you ever see their stuff where you are, they're about to send this to distro:

 

I think I read his comment in a different manner than did you!

 

A big yes. Rauchbiers would top my list and I generally think brewers have not fully explored the creative potential of smoke.

Then in no particular order...
Schwarzbier (I'll accept Dark Euro Lagers too)
English milds (dark or light)
English Bitter or ESB
Old or Stock Ales
Dunkelweizen
California Common

Yes, on low ABV, but a beer that favors drinking more than one in a sitting, I prefer whatever container size that keeps the price down.

Are smoked hops a thing? or did you mean malts? If the former I'm interested in examples. My first impression is the smoke process likely to damage the delicate hop oils, but I'm not an expert in these things.

 

Smoked hops are totally a thing. The first time I heard of them was in this weirdly awesome beer from shorts https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/9629/101070/
I also think they are used in certain lambix styles.
Definitely not about featuring the delicate hop flavors but the smoke flavor it imparts has been less aggressive than imparted by smoked malts. I'd like to see more of any kind of smoked beers but I think the smoked hop is massively under used

 

English milds
ESBs
Rauchbier (yes)
also, and maybe you knew this was coming:
GODDAMN BLACK IPAs, dammit.
sorry for yelling. but I'm tired of waiting.

 

Ha, you know you CAN go and just have a handful of 3 oz. samples.

Do you REALLY see a love for stouts though? Or is it the adjuncts and barrel-aging people love, and stouts are just the vehicle?

 

Mostly the latter. But maybe slightly more stout love than brown ale love.

I love hops, but beer can be more than hazy-hop-bombs

 

The BA database lists over 1000, but Weihenstephaner is the only one I see on a regular basis, even then you have to be careful of the date. I could buy some Ayinger Ur-Weiss, but as best as I can tell, they're from 2018

 

Forgot about Rye beers - second that emotion!

 

It appears that your beer retailers are not too dissimilar from mine - a lot of old German beers on the shelves (and floor).

Cheers!

 

Something people need to keep in mind is that many of these specialized styles require specialized equipment and materials, plus perhaps years of trial and error. Many of these hyper-local American breweries just don't have the footprint nor business capability to take this on. Reality is a check on this.

Gueuzes, lambics, rauchbiers - these can't just be slapped together with existing equipment and materials. Breweries are manufacturing facilities with dedicated equipment. It's not a stretch to say your local IPA-centric nano could produce a rauchbier any easier than they could produce a solera sherry.

 

OK, the first two take a little more to do, but Rauchbiers? One can buy Rauchmalz, it is made by Weyermann, or Best Malz. Then it is like making your typical lager.

I have a very nice Rauchbier I made at home. The extra step of smoking my own malt over Beechwood was taken to assure freshness. I don't think I'm missing anything.

 

Yikes. Sad. I used to see Franziskaner's Dunkel around here, but it's been probably two years since I've seen that. All I can get anymore is Schneider Weisse Aventinus, (which is a great beer) but that's a Weizenbock, not really a Dunkelweizen at all.

 

I'm not sure I agree with either of those statements. The haze craze seems to be as powerful as ever; not slowing down in the slightest. I would agree that Brut IPAs have mostly died off, although both Founders and Victory have just released Brut IPAs.

 

Your in NY, my local craft appears to be dying a bit. My favorite beers store is slipping away, it’s sad to see beers canned in Aug on the shelf. Depends on where you live, the distribution network and the clientele.

 

Old beer? Well, dang, that's a problem here, too. We get tons of new hype beers (read: NEIPAs in pint cans) on the shelf every single week, but sadly, most of the other beers sit and collect dust, or disappear from the shelves altogether. Even Two Hearted Ale I can rarely find fresher than two months. Heck, even once-hype breweries like Collective Arts are often 3-4 months old. Now, styles like Dunkelweizen are virtually nonexistent, hence the point of the thread. It's sad.

 

I’m sure I couldn’t find an IPL here, I’d pretty much say the same thing about Brut. Now there’s still hazy beers on the shelf, a few labeled as NE style, but that is definitely trending down. But that’s from my store, what’s available say in any big beer store in Charlotte might be a 180 from what I can get locally. Location plays a big part in what’s available, if I can’t find it locally it doesn’t exist. But the age of te beers on the shelf is alarming and it’s getting worse.

 

Dale, I can find plenty (too much) old beers like this at my local Retail Beer Distributors. I have no expectation these stores will be closing any time soon and I have zero expectation these old beers will be removed from those store's shelves/floor.

It seems like status quo (unfortunately) to me.

My 'local' Total Wine & More is the same.

Cheers!

 

And guys new to craft wonder why some highly rated beer they’re trying suck. They don’t know to flip the can upside down and look at the canning date,,,, or no date you don't buy it. This particular beer store used to be BUSY, now not so much, guys always browsing, but now not so much, and it’s in a college neighborhood. So college kids don’t but $12 sixers of beer, they buy PBR. When they lose the craft beer buyers I’d guess their done. Imo it’s a terrible time to be a beer retailer here in NC, at least in the Triad.

 

I'm inclined not to be on the side of more styles for their own sake; I'd much rather have fewer if they're all well done. But I sure would like it if there were more "niche" brewers, particularly in the realm of British styles and focusing on cask dispensing. Just no more Pugsley systems this time, please .