Are Bittering Hops Over?

The use of bittering hops isn't over, but there is definitely a growing popularity of beers without a lot of bitterness. The trend has been growing fairly rapidly the last few years amongst brewers since that appears to be what many of their customers want/prefer.

 

One of my local beers that is regarded as the top NE IPA in the area has literally no bitterness. So yes, many people like it. I prefer some bitterness or else the drinking experience gets boring fast. Luckily, beer is a huge market so we find all of the above.

 

No. There are more styles out there than NEIPA.

 

A lot of the best NEIPAs are quite bitter. And West Coast IPAs aren't going anywhere either.

If we want to talk lack of bitterness, how's about some of these flavored imperial stouts that are so popular these days?

 

The NYC variants seem to feature bitterness, so it's actually rare for me to come across the non bitter variety. Good thing for me, too, because that was totally not my thing.

There's always other styles, too. Thank God for Pilsners!

 

When I first switched to beer from wine, the NEIPA probably would have been right up my alley, couldn't take the IPA bitterness, and really found blondes overly bitter. Now I find drinking the NEIPA style with super low bitterness kinda one and done. I look forward to the bite at the end that resets the palette.

 

When I drink a NEIPA I don't want the bitterness because it tastes like I'm drinking pure orange peel, and I don't want that.

 

Yes.

 

Interesting. We have a fairly long-standing thread going in the Midwest forum about MN-brewed NEIPAs, where several of the beers are criticized as not being NEIPAs due to having bittering present.

 

I agree with this. Caveat: my exposure to "NEIPAs" is limited to the MN-brewed wannabes, not the "real" one from, you know, New England!...

However, the beers here that get a lot of raves I find to be one and done, at least for the evening. It is not exactly lack of bittering, more like a citrus acidity that becomes just unpleasant well before the second beer is finished. For me, anyway. YMMV.

Maybe that is what @Mothergoose03 was calling "pure orange peel"...

 

What got me into Craft was the bitter west coast IPA, and yes, I had a fling for NEIPA (who didn't?) but them I got sick of them and now i consider a16oz can impossible to finish. But sadly it became equally hard for me to find new West-coast-triple-digit-IBU beer.
So with time I abandoned the IPA path more and more, and I'm glad I did, because I know way better all the other styles of beer that before were just a one off from my IPA/Stout diet.

so, to answer the question, bittering hops are not completely over, they are not as cool as they were years ago, so they show up less and less in beer

 

If they're not making a balanced end product, I would consider them to be poorly made.

As you are referencing IPAs, then, yes, huge bittering/boil additions are a thing of the past and that's not necessarily a bad thing as IBUs aren't the only thing that imparts bitterness to a beer. I, personally, don't use any hops during the boil and my IPAs are plenty bitter from whirlpool and dry hop additions.

 

Hudson Valley Brewery is balancing all late addition hops with sour in some of their very popular beers, and it works amazingly well.

I like all IPA variations, though, and no problem finding all the variations one's heart desires, bitter to not bitter, around here.

 

I don't think that's a deal breaker; they seem to be all about the mouthfeel and substantial dry hopping more than anything else.

They are one and done for me, too, but it's more the total absence of complexity. I think of them as a half-pint joy ride, and that's about it.

 

I hope not. I happen to like the taste of at least two bittering hops . Chinook and willamette off the top of my head.

 

Yes. To both.

 

I need more bitterness in my life. Really. Not a fan of the really soft, oj, ipas. At all. I drink a fair amount of Sierra Nevada.

 

I don't think the demand for variety went anywhere. Educated beer consumers have always wanted variety. It's the new breed of obsessed beer geek that only wants hazy IPAs and pastry stouts.