Classic craft beer?

I like pretty much all of it. Been drinking a lot of Pivo lately. I think it's a classic.

 

I am at a point in my life and in my professional career, where I am earning a pretty decent living. Far from rich, but my wife & I do enjoy a so-called "disposable income". I could easily afford to drop $15.99 or more on a 4-pack, just to try something new, in addition to purchasing a case of my usual favorites, and it would not dent my budget one bit. However, I do not and I refuse to. And my reason is purely out of protest. I am annoyed and insulted by this trend of over-priced beer; no transparency, no proof that super-costly ingredients were used; reliance on the presumption that if it sells for that much, it has to be so much better. It's a trend that I will not support.

I do not buy fruit beers (or peanut butter, or marshmallow, etc.) either, but for a very different reason: I simply don't care for them. My wife likes the lemon shandy in the summer, so I will buy her the Kugelheimers or whatever... but none for me. I have no philosophical disagreement with the existence of these beers. If people them, that's fine. I do find it funny, though, how not that long ago, craft brewers were extolling on the virtues of the German Purity Law; and then a few years later, they're falling all over each other to see how much other foodstuff they can dump into their mash !

I can enjoy a wince-inducing IPA with a meal, but it's not my favorite version of IPA. If I am considering trying a new brand of IPA and I see that the label proudly announces citrus and/or tropical notes, I am more likely to shy away from it. I prefer the old-school IPA, like the original Ballantine's, that I was able to get in bottles at some of the Albany bars that I used to frequent in the 80's. In fact, for several years, I was under the assumption that "India Pale Ale" was a trademarked name owned by Ballantine !

Victory HopDevil is one that I have been enjoying and regularly purchasing for 15 years or so.
Saranac's original IPA with the lime-green label (no longer made) was another that had the taste that I prefer.

So here's a question for the experts... what is the proper adjective to describe "my kind of IPA" ???

Dry ? Bitter ? Earthy ?

The word that I like to use is "deciduous". I have never seen that term used as a beer descriptor, perhaps I am the first to coin it. It works for me. A great-tasting IPA transports me back to my youth, jumping in piles of dead lives. (It also reminds me of the taste of those psychedelic mushrooms we used to eat in college, but that's another story).

Either way, I enjoy being transported back to eras of my carefree youth. The transportational effect of great food & great drink, can be amazing.

Bottoms up.

 

Boulevard Unfiltered Wheat is still one of my favorites, even 25 years after cracking my first one.

 

Well, a few of those aren't really "doing fine" - UK imports are way down the last few years (based on DoC/Beer Inst. figures) and without Stella Artois, Belgian import totals would be pretty small.

Sierra Nevada's Porter and Stout have such poor sales/spotty distribution that many people think they've been discontinued. Yuengling, Boston Beer and Sierra Nevada - the #1-3 "craft brewers" - all lost share of the craft segment in 2015 and 2016 ('17 barrelages haven't been announced).

 

I mix it up, I love the NEIPAs, and buy whatever I find fresh, but as the weather warms up here in the SE, I’ll reach for Helles Lagers and Kolsch’s more and more

 

Always amazed by the super niche hobbies you hear about on the internet

 

OMG, I meant to say leaves, of course. Can't type for crap... have another beer, Joe.

 

Not that I don't drink NEIPAs and the like, I've found myself gravitating towards more classic German and British styles lately. Would do the same with Belgian styles, but there just aren't as many good/great representations on draught here in Western PA.

 

Did you happen to try the Pabst revival Ballantine IPA, by any chance? I thought it was a great thing while it lasted.

How about any oak aged IPAs? They seem like they could be your kind of thing, too.

 

Well said, just because we can afford something is no justification for paying more than it's worth.

 

I think classics have their place and can be mixed in with good consistency depending on how much beer you consume per week but the excitement of beer for me is trying new styles and releases. Just so happens that most new releases are either NEIPA or pastry stouts. I will always seek out older classics that I haven't tried yet but buying a sixer of sierra nevada pale ale every week goes against the main reason I got into craft beer- trying new stuff.

 

Once a week, I reach for a "classic" (if I understand the original intent of the OP), like yesterday: after two hoppy thangs, I found an Orval. Felt like being re-born. In a good way. Cheers!

 

For me, the definition of a true classic craft can be summed up in one word...Duvel. That label is always looking at me when I open the 'fridge.

 

I think pilsners are a good style to take a break from all the heavier stuff out there. I'm enjoying them more and more, especially as my meal beer.

 

I will try any beer that is supposed to be good, but I guess I'm not really into these styles mentioned.

If Trillium ever finds my way I won't turn that down, but I've had way too many NEIPA style IPAs that just aren't exciting to me. Never been that into overpowered sours(prefer sours 5.5% or less), and I guess somehow I haven't had a lot of "pastry" stouts.

I had KBS at an event recently, that was great. I do like west coast IPAs(I think more people should have Stone Tangerine Express now that it is on their regular list of production beers), and don't mind pilsners, hefeweizens, browns. I do miss the days when I got into craft beer and there was a higher style variance across brands.

To each their own, I guess my tastes don't match what is currently hip for beer.

 

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a sixer of SNPA for the first time in years and surprise surprise,* it was tasty and satisfying.

I like cycling back to old reliables sometimes just to remind myself that if the local boutique beer store or brewery taproom closes down, I'll still be able to enjoy something I picked up at a gas station.

*No actual surprise was experienced; I've been digging SNPA since the early 1980s, back when it seemed outrageously over the top in its hoppiness.

 

Nicely said.

The fact that a west coast IPA of all things is now considered a standard bearer of "what beer tastes like" so soon (in a historical sense) after it was introduced as a fairly extreme and radical departure shows just how quickly the notion of "what beer is supposed to taste like" can change.

Also, ISO: Reginald Squigglebottom's Barrel Aged Ale

 

Yes I was a big fan of the Ballantine India Pale Ale revival, and really bummed that they stopped making it. I read that the recipe had been lost and had to be retro-engineered from peoples' verbal descriptions of how they remembered the taste. Well they didn't interview me, but I though he got it down. The bottles were elegant with the famous rings with the green foil label.

I can appreciate a wide range of beer flavors.. but I like the taste of beer to be in that overall realm of dry, grainy and deciduous. Not fruity or sweet. Maybe I like other food or drink in the fruity/sweet realm, (fruit, for instance), but not beer.

 

Grabbed a 6 pack of Rogue Dead Guy Ale cans last week and that sh*t was fantastic. I do enjoy a good NEIPA and coffee stout as well, so I try to balance it out.

 

I find it interesting that you feel "insulted" by "over-priced" beer. Do you feel entitled to it at a lower price? If so, why? Additionally, why should a high cost beer require "super-costly ingredients" to justify the price?

To the main topic, definitely on the same boat. I'm generally a fan of the classic styles... 95% of the time I gravitate towards the more basic styles. My fridge is generally full of solid made classic styles by the more established regional brewers. Although good points in the thread that today's "basics" like SNPA were big shifts not so long ago. Give me some biscuity malts and/or good noble or piney, resiny (and maybe a little citrus) hops. I appreciate the ongoing experimentation, and I give them a try here and there, but the general current fads aren't for me.