Controversial Beer Opinions (Round Two)

Most of the time, what I really want is an IPA like you used to be able to get in the late 90s/early 2000s: US 2row, 5-10% mid-range crystal, 60IBUs, C hops, well-attenuating yeast with subdued esters.

OH! Two Hearted, you're still around and awesome??? Thanks.

 

I think the craft scene has a lot of regional variation right now. In my area, I agree that the craft scene was better 5-7 years ago. There was more national/regional craft distribution versus local and imports (focusing on "better" beer versus "craft") were more readily available.

 

I've had a few saisons turn into yeasty, cheesy messes after a while, but for the most part, they seem to age fairly well - particularly if it's fermented/aged in oak.

Now, I'll only buy fresh IPAs, but I did a little experiment, and kept 3 IPAs in the fridge for a year, and 3 warm for a year. The warm NEIPA was trash, the cold NEIPA was drinkable, but suffered, the warm WCIPA was drinkable, but muted, the cold WCIPAS were surprisingly good - one was even great.

 

Just a quick plug for Two Hearted. I picked up a six pack yesterday, about 3 weeks old. Still my mental ideal of the perfect IPA after all these years.

 

In particular I was talking about saison DuPont or most bottle conditioned beers as long as the bottle isn’t dusty I don’t mind taking that chance. I will check ipa dates. Under 6 months is good for me

 

Controversy! Stroh's is the best, followed by High Life.

 

^^ this is a good point. The two "yeasty/cheesy" saisons I had were both from a can - which alone is sacrilige. Bottle conditioning definitely makes a huge difference. In fact, I recently had a 6 year old Saison DuPont (dry-hopped, no less), and it was magic - dust and all!

6 months on IPAs... You're definitely in the minority too. I'd break out the bulletproof vest before the hazeboiz see that!

 

Riding on the backs of other things has become ingrained (and celebrated) in the branding of the current craft beer culture. Litigiousness has been absolutely vilified by the consumer and some companies, but I sometimes think that more of it wouldn't be a bad thing. It's saying something about our relationship to a product when embracing beer that's packaged as a parody isn't out of the ordinary.

 

Citra and Mosaic hops are overused to the point that I don't drink beers that I know use them.

 

Hill Farmstead makes good sour saisons, but even then, they're overrated, completely based on scarcity.

 

I've never had any of the beers you mentioned because none of them will ever see distribution around here. When too many people come to the party those at the "TOP" inevitably start to dumb it down a bit (see: Mercedes-Bens A-Class), so that they're not so far out of the price range for the majority of consumers in any given market.

 

About the only Mosaic only beer that I still buy without a second thought is LP Yellow Rose. Everything else is either a Hazy IPA (which are all garbage), it's mixed with a hop that doesn't seem to play well with Mosaic, or it's unbalanced as hell if it's a SMaSH.

 

I bought a stone go to that was a year out of date. It wasn’t aggressive but the hops stay in tact. But that’s an exception. I’ve heard the brewer of evil genius in philly doesn’t date his shit because he doesn’t believe in it. If kept proper ipas are still good

 

Hauenstein is way better than any other AAL mentioned on this thread so far.

 

i don't even like beer.

 

Do you happen to know who brews this beer?

Cheers!

@Chaz

 

He never mentioned adjuncts. Yep, I said it. Our language is nuanced, but this is not an example of nuance...just meaning

 

Here's mine. You guys have allowed the silver 16 ounce paper label scam to fester and grow and now you have ruined the perception of value. It's not just the haze...local brewers are asking 20 bucks for 4 cans of pilsner.

You let it happen and its killing independent George

 

Are coffee, chocolate, and pumpkin not adjuncts?