American Beers = Overly Hopped

Yeah, the availability of Vienna Lagers is a regional thing. I have a local chain of brewpubs (Iron Hill) that makes a very good Vienna Lager. Also Neshaminy Creek makes a well respected Vienna Lager of Churchville Lager. I have had a number of draft pints of Devils Backbone Vienna Lager and that is an excellent beer.

Maybe some of your local breweries/brewpubs will make more Vienna Lagers for you?

Cheers!

 

Just so you know, that Celebration Ale is pretty old at this point. IPAs are best consumed very fresh.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the heads up and I'll keep that in mind as it was bottled in October it said. And while you are giving input, please tell me there are better Vienna's than Samuel Adams? That was one of my least favorite beers. I'm glad I tried it, but it just didn't do anything for me. I know you mentioned some above, but are they better than Samuel Adams Boston Lager?

 

American styles are generally more hop forward. There's tons of styles out there that aren't. Look back to Europe. America has a history of being bigger and bolder and the craft beer movement in this country follows. I think your tone is a little inflammatory, thus many of the rough responses. But yea, there's other stuff out there, and there are American brewers who aren't hop forward.

 

Right now it seems hops are the way brewers are taking things. There are those that'll buck the trend, both successfully and unsuccessfully but hop forward beers are en vogue for sure.

 

I have posted in a number of past threads that in my opinion Boston Lager is an American Amber Lager.

In addition to the beers I have mentioned previously I am also a fan of the Sierra Nevada Vienna Lager. Unfortunately this is only a seasonal beer (part of the past fall variety pack).

Hopefully more craft breweries will make quality Vienna Lagers in the neat future? Maybe Sierra Nevada will decide to make their Vienna Lager a year round beer?

Cheers!

 

I think that they're probably addressing their market appropriately, though. I think that lots of APAs and IPAs is actually what most people want. I love IPAs and APAs, but I'd like to see a little more balance.

 

And.... This is a bad thing??? MeeeeriKA!!!!!

 

"In matters of taste, there can be no disputes"

They said there'd be no Latin on the test

 

I can't speak for all of the Virnna Lagers that were mentioned, but Devil's Backbone's Vienna Lager is infinitely better than Sam Adams Boston Lager! Infinitely better!

 

I must live in a better part of Illinois. If I want a Porter, a Stout, a Saison, a Hefeweizen, a Lager, a Wheat Ale, a Golden Ale, a Belgian Ale, a Sour,(can go on and on), all I have to do is go down the street to HyVee and make my choice. I love Pale Ales and IPA's and drink more of those than any other style, but when I'm in the mood for something different, I have no problem finding it.

 

Actually it does. Tastes like a Belgian IPA, not a Saison.

 

American beers ≠ overly hoppy. American styled beers can be perceived as over hopped but they are also balanced by higher ABV. A higher ABV usually brings a sweetness of alcohol and allows for an often more rounded beer while maintaining the bitterness as the highlight of the product.
Do all american beers do this? No
Do all american styled beers do this? No

If you feel they are all starting to taste the same, maybe take a break from the Pale ale side of life, drink some lagers, drink some wit or hefe; then comeback to the IPA, the DIPAs, and the sessions, your taste buds will thank you.

 

Had dinner at Little Creatures. The Pale Ale was good, as was the IPA, but they were the rare exception in a sea of sameness. And maybe it's just preference, but there's so much more back home that I would drink before I ever bought those two again.

 

Glad you enjoyed the Little Creatures. The whole beer scene there in OZ is going to work against you finding many more exceptions but tastes are changing, and a few years back you might not have found even those exceptions. BTW, if you want to drink some Cantillon, 18 mos to two years ago it was easier to find in a few bottle shops there than in much of the U.S.

 

The only thing I can figure is those who don't like IPAs are jealous the style they prefer isn't more popular. I wish I didin't like IPAs, not!

 

If you read the first post, you'd notice the OP loves IPAs.

 

Yeah, you're in some foreign area of Illinois, no HyVees near me.

I'm not saying they aren't there if you want to dig thru old stock, but the balance of the above list (really, you see a lot of Golden Ales around you?) is outdone by the number of IPAs, Session IPAs, White IPAs, Red IPAs, Black IPAs, DIPAs, and "Hoppy Lagers" that are IPAs in disguise.

I've even talked about this with retailers and they agree with me. I told one guy I was looking for something new to try and he says, "We just got this new blah-blah-IPA in that's supposed to be great." I just looked at him out of the side of my eyes and he says, "Yeah, I know. Like we need another IPA."

Honestly look at the number of IPAs (or other Pale Ale derivatives) at the HyVee and compare to the other styles you see. I look all the time and it's bordering on crazy.

 

No one said anything about not liking IPAs. I love one when I get a taste, but it's not the only choice I want to see on the shelf.

I have 2 very good beer stores near me and the number of IPA derivatives to other styles is ridiculous. It's fast becoming the macro lager of today in sheer number -- and sameness is following close behind.

Here's an example (to use Muddy's example a little), there are 11,604 IPAs listed here at BA. There are 762 Golden Ales. Interpolate that to the retailer shelves and you'll start to get my argument.

 

Or 11604 beers described as IPA!
I'm not sure about Golden Ales , these have always been around but as descriptive terms , no pretence of being a style.
They belong in the Pale Ale style.Even the guy who writes for CAMRA can't get his head round this.
https://zythophile.wordpress.com/20...ill-getting-beer-history-so-very-badly-wrong/