Onion bombs

Yep, Grunion tastes like pure shallots and scallions to me. It's funny - I don't get it at all from the Southern Hemisphere varietals (Thunderstruck was like heaven in a glass to my palate) nor from Summit, although I don't particular like the flavor of Summit.

 

That is indeed the case and we should all review beers as we perceive them.

There may be some folks who would say that you palate is 'defective' but I personally do not see it that way. There may also be beer business people who would like to say the same but the reality it that people who use their hard earned money to purchase products (beer) should be permitted to say whatever they want to say about the beers they buy.

Well, that is the way I see it.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for participating, Jack. I did say I thought it was an interesting question in the beginning, and that's because I can see both sides making a good case, even if I do come down on the other side of the line.

I wouldn't go so far as to use the word 'defective', although I do ultimately think the main thing that's going on is in essence a distortion which goes beyond the normal perception issues.

 

Michael, how do you (or anybody else) 'define' "normal perception" when it comes to hoppy beer?

Cheers!

 

That's why I have related it to the cilantro issue, which has been proven to be genetic in nature and is found in a minority of individuals; it's genuine and can be pinpointed to certain markers. Greg Koch did the same thing, but as of now all we can do is speculate in terms of hoppy beer. But if he is relating things accurately the onion issue also happens in a minority of individuals, regardless of whether we can accurately determine the source at this point.

 

Non-refrigerated (and perhaps "aged") bomber of AleSmith IPA that just went down was definitely on the allium side... eek.

 

What statistical analysis is a brewery owner (Greg Koch) utilizing here? I would pay attention to this if I had some scientific information (that is peer reviewed) that I can read.

Cheers!

 

Waaaaay too soon at this point, unfortunately. We happen to be on the cutting edge, which is kinda neat in its own way.

 

I will certainly stay tuned. Until there is true scientific information I will continue to advocate that all beer drinkers should be permitted to express their perception of beers.

Cheers!

 

Fair enough.

 

@TongoRad , I saw Greg's post as little more than speculative conversation, but you've already used such words to describe it yourself, so I know I'm not stating anything new. If it is actually the case, who's to say that it's not also the tip of the iceberg? Maybe some people have a "genetic commonality" to get more grapefruit from a beer than others... and so on.

 

Ruination 2.0 was like biting into a raw onion. I dumped it after choking down half the bottle trying to convince myself it wasn't as bad as I thought...

 

I'd have to agree with the several posts of Gubna

 

I don't think in the case of oniony flavor from hops is it necessarily genetic. Thunderstruck really did taste like onion. =)

 

This one seems to be different in that it's a different flavor, rather than a variation or intensity of flavor. But, yeah, it's speculative conversation the same way that the cilantro thing was amongst culinary people for years and years until it was studied. Who in the heck is going to fund a study into something like this, though? It probably comes across as being really esoteric to the world outside of the beer community. There is a definite phenomenon, however it's eventually categorized.

This is the kind of thing that I'm talking about, though. Sorry for picking on your post, man, but I see this a lot. It's not a bad beer. There's a world of difference between saying "I'm getting too much onion for it to be enjoyable to me" and "it's so poorly made that I had to dump it".

 

Tastes are so subjective.
Several beers mentioned here as "onion bombs", I find to be pine bombs: Gubna, Ruination
Yet, many beers mentioned by others as "tropical" or "citrus heaven", I find to be unpalatably onion-y: Sucks, VictoryHarvest

I think we all need to agree that taste notes from super-hopped ales are entirely subjective, and can be at the least hard to predict, and at the worst impossible to attribute to specific hops. I used tasting notes and reviewers comments for years to tell me that "citra/simcoe" was a combination that I should avoid (according to my palate, not the reviewers'), yet have since thoroughly enjoyed different beers that had citra, or simcoe, in large quantities ...... and have given up trying to pin it down. I love dank beers (no, not a newbie), love citric beers, love pine-bombs ..... yet still find certain combinations to be close to un-drinkable, definitely un-enjoyable. You never know. And good luck trying to convince your compatriots of your experience with specific beers -- won't happen. Ever hear of "super-tasters"? Some people are, some people aren't.

 

Focal Banger and Hop Ranch

 

I wish I got the huge citrus notes people get from Citra and Mosaic. Both of those are straight-up 'licking a sweaty armpit' BO bombs to me.

And sometimes they are still delicious regardless, hah.

 

I agree with you. I get a lot of onion taste and aroma from beers with Galaxy hops, and generally don't care for them as a result.