Enough with the hops already!

Do you get bummed in the fall with all the Oktoberfests, Pumpkin Ales, and Stouts that dominate? Spring/Summer is hot weather PA/IPA time.

The beer store I go to has Belgian and German styles available year round, you could walk right past the hoppy brews altogether.

 

Ha ha same here! Flower Power, Victory Hop Devil, etc, etc., I can enjoy often.

 

To me, pale ale/IPA time is all year round. Spring/summer is maibock, hefeweizen, berliner weisse time...etc.

Belgian and German styles made by American breweries? If not, what are the dates on those German imports?

 

Big hopped beers are fantastic. Hopslam and Heady Topper and Pliny the Elder are easily some of, if not the best beers I have ever had. And when you taste Heady Topper you realize that it pushes the boundaries of what you thought were even possible in a DIPA and really beer in general for that matter. If beers like Heady Topper and Hopslam are the standard bearers now, then I can't wait to see how they can be topped. Long live hops

 

No. I'm not HUGE on pumpkin beers, but I can enjoy just about any style.

 

The way the OP feels about hoppy beers is how I feel about wild, sour, funky, barnyard, farmhouse, ranch-hand, wet horse blanket, and Brett beers.. But guess what? I just don't drink them!

 

Not a clue, there's always a big selection of English brews too. I Iike
English Bitters, not so much on German beers. If I was tired of PAs and Ipa's I'd go for English brews.

 

Enough with the hops? There are plenty of non-hoppy beers out there.

I see more beers being whiskey/bourbon "barrel aged" nowadays which I personal don't have the palate for.

 

Judging by the complaints (enough with the [hops/barrel aged beers/funky,etc.]) it seems like there's a decent balance and variety of beers available out there... so maybe a little less hate, and a little more celebrate (with a beer, preferably)?

 

Here's an example. I went to the bar Sunday night, and literally half the draft list were hop-forward beers. It was hot out, so I was looking for a nice hefeweizen or maybe a pilsner. It's also Oktoberfest season, so I was craving one of those. This is a place with about 40 taps, my choices for the above were Weihenstephaner Hefeweizen, Victory Festbier, or Radeberger Pilsner....that's it.

And I'm not against hoppy beers, I was at the same bar the day before and had a Stone Enjoy By. But having more variety would certainly be refreshing.

 

Pennsylvania only gets IPAs sent to them or something ? I'm not even from that large of a city and we get all kinds of imports and beers from around the US, plenty of which are not that hoppy.

 

It may not be that they were not selling but, rather, that most stores have a limited amount of space on their shelves and they think, "Why should I sell a six pack of Spaten Lager and make $2 profit when I could use the same space for (Inserted the latest limited release of your choice) and make $12 profit!

 

That, kind sir, is because you are an addict!

 

And your state sells beer freely in grocery and convenience stores, correct? Point being you are comparing apples to oranges and it is a much tighter market here in PA. Like GeddyLeeRocks correctly states, it boils down to economics and in PA craft beer, an already niche market, gets even tighter because of our laws. Add this in to the fact that IPAs/hoppy beers have been the in thing for some time now, and there you have it.

Am I saying that you can't find anything but IPAs here and we have no other choices at all? Of course not. But from what I see regularly our scales in many craft beer bars are tipped in favor of the hops and I have walked into bars and have seen their ENTIRE tap list being nothing but IPAs and overly hopped beers. This seems to be changing, though, and I say thankfully.

 

How about American breweries using Hefeweizen and Belgian Witbier yeast strains in thier wheat beers instead of making hoppy wheat beers?

Using a proper yeast and tuning the fermentation temperatures can do much for flavor.

 

Eh, fine by me. The hop heads can scoop that stuff up, leaves more of the rest for me.

 

Hops are more and more prevalent because people are diggin' it and buying it. I'm sure you can find less hoppy beers to enjoy. Come on, man, you can do it! I have faith in you.

 

Thanks for that. I've been using their American II 1272 for most of my home-brews but this gives me some alternatives to consider.

 

Yes, and damned proud of it!

 

I am so sick of IPA's! I now drink double IPA's....so much better!