Does anyone else like lopsided beers?

I'm actually the opposite, but I still fit in with your thread title, technically. I love malty, sweet IPAs. Great Divide Hercules and Dogfish 120 are two of my faves - definitely not pine bombs, but not lacking in intensity either.

 

I am definitely with you. Fat Head's Head Hunter IPA, SN Torpedo, Flower Power, etc. I love the drying, off balanced IPAs!

 

I could say the same about Scotch. Give it to me peaty and charred. Forget nuance.

 

I didn't really think this was that imbalanced of an IPA.

 

I'm all for a bottle of Islay (Ardbeg) or something from the West Highlands (Oban). Of course, The Macallan 18 or 21yr Fine Oak has some of that peat flavor as well with just toned down a bit by the sweetness.

 

Auchentoshan 3 wood. That's what will hit you with flavor

 

So.... You're saying you like West Coast Style IPA's?

After your setup about unbalanced hop-forwardness, if you told me to guess which Surly IPA you were drinking, I would have said Abrasive.

Cheers!

 

one of the reasons i hate IPAs these days is because they're all a bunch of lame two-row pale malt platforms for bitterness. talk about lame and undrinkable. balanced beers FTW.

 

IPAs as a whole are really treanding towards less bitter now. Lots of dry hopping, less bittering. There are some that are bitter for bitters sake, but it's not the trend "these days".

Totally aside from that...American beer lovers are not the authority on balance. It's not something most drinkers here like, or what brewers do well. I find most 'balanced' descriptors here somewhat laughable IMO.

 

dry hopping doesn't suddenly make a lame malt profile taste better. see session IPAs as a great example. sure less IBUs but just more of the same lame pale as can be malt with no imagination used simply as a vehicle for delivering hop flavor. sure brewing a beer to meet consumer demand is where the $$$ is at but is certainly is not where the best beer is at.

 

I'm not backing session IPAs. They are more imbalanced than most. There is a trending away from bitter IPAs not including sessions. Your comment that super bitter IPAs is "now" is just not matching up with the trending IPAs. Bitter is going away, fruity and sweet is trending. I'm not sure what newer IPAs you are drinking. Your description sounds like a gripe totally relevant 5 or more years ago.

 

Maybe Im wrong but it seems the "lopsided IPA's" get better reviews than the balanced IPA's. Thats what it seems like to me.

 

I think that in an IPA the balance between malt and hops should be favorable toward the hops , to the point of absurdity even as long as the they deliver enough flavor, enough malt body and sweetness to carry a bitter that keeps you in the glass. Flower Power! If it get's too malty it's a DIPA. If it gets too hoppy it's what?

 

If it's an IPA/DIPA it should be all about the hops first. Malt second.
Whether it's the earthy dank hoppiness from east coast IPA's, pine bitterness/grapefruit bomb from the west or the tropical fruits from the mid-west it's gotta be about that flavor up front and first.
What comes second should just lighten that with a little sweetness, imo.

 

I agree. The "balanced" beers seem to be more "well made" by textbook definition, but I'm partial to extremely hop-forward IPAs over anything else. Not that I don't enjoy balanced IPAs- I just like to sensation of a hop overload.

 

I don’t like imbalanced beers. If I enjoy the beer, then it is not out of balance, rather it is a “unique combination of flavors.”

Got it…?