Driest Beer You've Had

A lot of the milder beers from River North (in Denver) have been bone dry to a fault. It feels like drinking chalk at times.

 

When I think of dry I think Tripel usually. Not drank a gueuze in so long I can only remember the sour factor. so disregard my gueuze comment. I have to go buy one to revisit it.

 

After trying Cigar City Marshall Zhukov for the first time last week, I though it had a pretty dry finish

 

I remember one bottle of Duvel in particular that was quite dry. Like if you eat a spoonful of cinnamon and it coats your entire tongue, back of throat and roof of your mouth - that kind of dry. I normally enjoy that beer, but that one bottle must have been off (or my palate was wrecked for the evening). Most of the other beers I've considered to be drier were all Belgians (Orval, Leffe Blond) or Belgian-style beers (La Fin du Monde, Maudite). Still enjoyed all of those beers, however. Never really got much into sours or saisons

 

Rayon Vert from Green Flash.

 

Bob's Discount Brewery and Small Engine Repair Dehydrated IPA. Just add water.

 

Yin from Evil Twin
Asahi Super Dry

 

Live Oak HefeWeizen is extremely dry for the style, and delicious.

 

How has no-one mentioned dupont saison

 

I always notice a direct correlation between ABV and dryness, and I want to say DFH 120min, but fresh Stone OG gives 120 a run for its money. Cheers!

 

I had a bottle of Mother Funker I had sat on for a while. That beer was so acidic it felt like I was drinking a sponge. My mouth and throat felt raw afterwards from having all the moisture sucked out. Probably had acid burns, too.

 

There is indeed a correlation between dryness and ABV, but it is inverted. Assuming the beer is all-malt, a higher ABV means more malt had to be used to attain the higher ABV; more malt means more residual sugar; more residual sugar means less dry. I'll grant you Old Guardian (for its style it is rather dry) but 120 Minute is sweeter than some brandies I've had. It almost tastes like Hop Schnapps.

The only high-ABV beers that are routinely on the drier side are Belgian beers, most of which are not all-malt (meaning there is less residual sugar). Everything else---barleywines, doppelbocks, imperial stouts---at least err on the sweeter side. When they don't err on it, they warmly embrace it.

 

I just meant because alcohol is an astringent. I agree with you entirely about residual sugars (though I'm not sure how anyone could argue it ). I thought 120 was cloyingly sweet, but the alcohol astringency overpowered it for me. I believe you that there are 15%+ quads that come across as drier than 120, but I haven't had too many in that ballpark. Cheers!

 

Smutty Finest Kind is dry and quite good.

 

I think there might be a confusion in lingo here, as dry could mean one of two very different things. It could mean:

A: The absence of any sweet tastes in the beer; also a common wine term. Dry taste.
B: A beer that leaves a dry mouthfeel; often attributed to tannins. Dry finish.

I think when one says juicy in describing hop flavor, it means reminiscent of fresh fruit. And not every IPA or DIPA produces that drying mouthfeel. Pliny and Brooklyn BLAST finish really clean to me, but Stone Ruination might as well be a bitter desert in a bottle.

 

Cantillon Iris - it had this very dry woody taste covered in funk. Wasn't gross or anything (but not my favorite). The dryness got more intense after the swallow too.

 

Second on Daisy Cutter, I'd add Gumballhead too.

 

Modern Times Lomaland Saison is described as having a dry, cracker-like body and I wouldn't argue with them.

 

I had my first Cantillon last night. Their Geuze - that was very dry. and so good

 

This beer was pretty dry.