Most Underrated Beer Style

Ipas. And in the eye of the general public NOT the beer enthusiasts

 

ok

 

Another vote for brown ales here, although I'd say they're starting to catch on as a safe style.

For me, a good brown ale mixes the best parts of a hoppier and maltier beer style, while having it's own unique character. My favorite go to browns like DFH india brown ale and Bell's best brown remind me of a strange fusion of a pale ale and a stout, but distinctly different. Definitely underrated.

Amber ales are another style that don't get enough love. Of course I am leaving out the truly obscure styles few breweries touch, such as Sah'ti and what not.

 

ESB... I love a good ESB. They are hard to find. It seems very few breweries make one.

 

Brown Ales for sure. However, I don't like them barrel aged. Funny, because I like everything thing else barrel aged. Dogfish Indian Brown Ale was one of my first loves. Hmm, I may have to go pick some up.

 

Bitter is of course an alias for Pale Ale. The brewers brewed Pale Ale and the customers quaffed bitter.But it was the same stuff.
Strangely there are few examples of PAs from Burton being termed Bitter. Bass was always termed a Pale Ale.

Having tried all manner of the new beers coming out they are to me simply curiosities.I vastly prefer a decent pub mild or bitter to any of them.Sitting at home drinking tiny 12 ounce samples seems very sad to me

 

Just out of curiosity, ignoring the back and forth, are saisons poorly represented in your area? Relative to something like, a pilsner, which has been mentioned in this thread, they're highly regarded in terms of ratings. I feel brewer's, at least here in Mass, brew quite a few saisons. I believe one or two almost exclusively brew that "style".

I put style in quotes simply because I feel it's a versatile one, with no true bench mark that would represent the saison.

 

Wait... what? There isn't a kolsch in the top 250? That's just totally wrong!

 

JA's Maibock Hurts Like Helles... stupid name, terrific beer.

 

So here's my question / challenge: for everyone that's saying "pilsner / brown / amber / esb / etc" is under-rated and it's criminal that they're not in the top 250 ... have you actually REVIEWED all of your favorites of said style and given it the rating you feel it deserves?

How about everyone in this thread plans to review 5 - 10 of their favorite under-appreciated styles over the coming week? Put your money where your mouth is. ;-)

 

Awww, gee, thats no fun.

 

How about anyone that does five reviews of unappreciated styles in the next week can PM me and I'll randomly select one to send a BIF to (winner provides label)? I'll include mostly unappreciated styles ...

 

That might get you some takers.

Personally I think this whole thread is "much ado about nothing" since the way the topic is posed assumes that the average ratings for one style can be meaningfully compared to the average ratings for other styles. Now if the OP had asked why are some styles more popular than others.... (Picky but important distinction.)

 

Obviously Pilsners. Not only are they not represented , but even the best most popular Pils struggle to break a 90 rating. There's lots of IPAs and stouts at 100. I love a great Pils, I'm going to grab some Old Mecklenburg Capt. Jack for the weekend, great beer.

 

I'd also be curious to know how many of these pilsner fans even have a pilsner in their own top 25-50 ratings on here.

 

I would agree with the folks that mentioned Ambers and Hefes, but since the rules were to pick something not in the top 250 I will go with Brown Ale. Even though Pilsners are a good pick, I have a feeling they will show up soon. However, if you expanded to the top 500, you still may not come across a Brown Ale (Palo Santo being an exception - in more than one way)

 

I'm just gonna point out ... you haven't reviewed a single Kolsch. ;-) Get on it.

 

I HAVE! Three of them. Well, OK, I only actually reviewed one of them. And I don't seem to have thought much of any of them.

Still, point taken. I shall seek some out, forthwith.

 

I've just submitted a column about Dutch Oud Bruin to BA magazine should you want to learn more about the style.

 

English hops not hoppy? Not like US or New Zealand hops. But calling them not hoppy is going a bit far. You should try a beer hopped like crazy with Goldings. Truly magical. Sadly almost no-one ever brews commercial beers like that. Most of the ones I've had were home-brewed.