Describing IPAs/DIPAs as balanced

Balance for an IPA is different from balance for a brown ale is different from balance for an imperial stout, etc.

Have you ever had a Two Hearted?

Balance.

 

Incorrect statement. DFH 90 Minute is the poster boy for balance. Huge malt, huge hops, neither of which seems to dominate the other.

 

Its kind of a pointless term when reviewing beers in general, since the "balance" is always arbitrary depending on the reviewer. Where do you set the balance point?

 

Most of ya'll don't even know what youre talking about. Any beer style, especially ipas and dipas can definitely be balanced. If its hop-forward, you call it hoppy, if its more malt-forward, you call it malty, if its neither, then you call it balanced. Its beer, people, not rocket science.

 

you sound bitter.


haha, see what i did there?

 

*facepalm* you are a bad, bad person

 

I think each beer style has it's own way of regarding "balance".

 

I think that you are looking at this as if the word "balanced" is always a reference to maltiness to hoppiness. Balanced usually means that you are not getting just one thing dominating everything else. I agree that most American IPAs are not balanced and Pliny has more batch variances than most beers, so sometimes it is balanced and sometimes it is not, but I think that people have just gotten so used to hearing that it is balanced, that they puppet the term in most reviews or references to the beer, even if the batch or batches that they had were not particularly balanced. Because of the over-hopping of most American IPA's, the imbalanced Pliny is probably the more liked Pliny, although I am more of a fan of the balanced where the hops and malt harmonize.

But as far as Browns, yes they can be balanced, unless maybe it is a nut brown that has an oddly dominant earthy quality. If you are getting hit in the face by too much roast on a stout or too much of anything on any beer, that is an imbalanced beer. It doesn't always have to be just a see-saw balancing act between hops and malt.

 

It's just another adjective that has different meanings for different people. And it could also be that calling an IPA or DIPA balanced is just another way of saying that it's not a hop bomb.

 

I think it's a term stupid people use so they can come up with a reason for liking a beer just because everyone else does.

 

Well I use the term and I don’t think that I am stupid.

Cheers!
“Within the context of the IPA style, I think a balanced beer is one where neither the hops or malts dominate the flavor profile. I do not know how you could characterize 50/50 for an IPA. Below are IPAs which are balanced for my palate:

· Victory HopDevil

· Southampton Burton IPA

· Sam Adams Latitude 48

· Deschutes Inversion IPA

· Deschutes Fresh Squeezed”

 

Pliny is a benchmark for perfect IPA execution.

 

Don't get me started on people who say "extremely balanced".