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Craft breweries over-hopping every style of beer…

Donn Chambers
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Anyone else hate the way craft breweries are destroying perfectly good beer styles by adding so many hops they taste no different than an IPA? I’m talking brown ales, red ales, amber ales, bocks, lagers, etc. These beer recipes are hundreds of years old and there’s a reason for it - they’ve always had a perfect balance of hops and malt to give the perfect taste profile. Adding more of either doesn’t make it better - kinda like adding more salt to something because a little makes it taste great.

Just tried an Octoberfest Marzen from a local craft brewery. Lots of advertisements on social media talking about how they did it in the traditional way - brewed in March, aged through the summer, then released on Sept. 1. I was hoping for the best, even though all their other beers are over-hopped. Shouldn’t have bothered - tasted like an IPA with just a little more malt thrown in in deference to the Marzen recipe.

luckily I bought a 6-pack of Sam Adams Octoberfest at the same time. At least they follow the tradional recipe and it tastes like a Marzen.

and don’t get me started on craft whiskey distillers that sell a 2-year-old single “small barrel” bourbon for 2 to 3 times the price of a bottle of Wild Turkey 101. Yeah, Wild Turkey isn’t “craft”, it uses a blend of barrels, but they’ve used the same recipe for nearly 100 years and those barrels are aged in Kentucky for 6-8 years and even longer.

rant over

😀
 
abrod520
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It’s an unfortunate trend. Some breweries don’t seem to know how to make anything other than IPA. Nothing more disappointing than to go out for a nice beer with friends only to find the place only offers 18 different IPAs and one “stout” that’s as hoppy as the rest.
This was particularly bad when I lived in the Bay Area, but now that I’m back in New York it’s not too hard to find German or Belgian stuff.
 
blufinz52
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I'm not a big beer drinker, but I'll take a double IPA very time.
 
connieseamaster
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There's one brewery near me that limits IPAs to 1/3 of it's taps. I'm eternally grateful.
 
arturo7
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I prefer hoppy session beers. Wish there were more of them.
 
Archer
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Yes, very tired of this myself. I don't mind an IPA or a hoppy beer at all, but when virtually everything is so hoppy it drinks like an IPA, I find it boring as hell.

The last craft brew festival I went to (in Australia in 2019) every beer was loaded with hops, so it seems to be the case everywhere. I gravitated to the ciders there because of this, and also the ginger beers, which were my favourite.
 
sonicosa
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I like hoppy beers and mostly drink IPAs, but a well rounded beer menu is as important as a well rounded watch collection.

Currently tossing a few back in the sunshine. Cheers OF.
Edited:
 
jsducote
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Isn't it cheaper, faster, easier to produce ales than lagers? That must factor into it.
To me it just seems like that's what the hipsters (and a few OFers) think is groovy, so the brewers go where the bucks are, no matter how awful it tastes.

Make mine a non-vegan Guinness.
 
Waltesefalcon
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I gave up on most micro brews a long time ago because of the obsession with adding too much hops and will now only occasionally try one.
 
nzshadow
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ABSOLUTELY.

Drives me nuts. And don't get me started on the artificial colouring, the addition of flavour syrups plus the infinite 'limited releases'.

Sprits are headed the same way. Just follow the formula:

Buy cheap grain alcohol
Add 'local' flavourings
talk about heritage, craftsmanship & attention to detail
certainly don't age anything
add corn syrup
buy a trendy bottle & pay a designer on fiverr to 'design' a label
???
$$$

The market is flooded with inferior products, age statements seem to be becoming rarer by the year & if I see one more bottle of limited release coffee-infused anybloodything I'm going postal.
 
SkunkPrince
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Hm my post disappeared.

I agree; Wisconsin breweries that have been here for a while, for example Point Brewery from 1857, might have other beers like good Pilsners. But it does seem like every brewery is pushing their IPA. Must be easy to make?
 
sonicosa
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SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
Hm my post disappeared.

I agree; Wisconsin breweries that have been here for a while, for example Point Brewery from 1857, might have other beers like good Pilsners. But it does seem like every brewery is pushing their IPA. Must be easy to make?

I remember drinking quite a few Spotted Cow ales when I was in Wisconsin for work a 5 or 6 years ago. Those were a real treat.
 
STANDY
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nzshadow nzshadow
ABSOLUTELY.

Drives me nuts. And don't get me started on the artificial colouring, the addition of flavour syrups plus the infinite 'limited releases'.

Sprits are headed the same way. Just follow the formula:

Buy cheap grain alcohol
Add 'local' flavourings
talk about heritage, craftsmanship & attention to detail
certainly don't age anything
add corn syrup
buy a trendy bottle & pay a designer on fiverr to 'design' a label
???
$$$

The market is flooded with inferior products, age statements seem to be becoming rarer by the year & if I see one more bottle of limited release coffee-infused anybloodything I'm going postal.

Carlton Draught
59A691C3-39E5-4B3A-A637-B3B217550009.jpeg


Works every time.

These yuppie hipsters are killing beer.

Stop supporting these makers of
Dog leg, one oar, rusty boat shed, Pelican beak beers
 
nzshadow
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STANDY STANDY
Carlton Draught
59A691C3-39E5-4B3A-A637-B3B217550009.jpeg


Works every time.

These yuppie hipsters are killing beer.

Stop supporting these makers of
Dog leg, one oar, rusty boat shed, Pelican beak beers

But is it artisanally crafted in the Byron Hinterland using locally sourced ethically harvested rainwater & is the harvest done by hand by gluten free vegan influencers?
 
amcclell
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Archer Archer
I gravitated to the ciders there because of this, and also the ginger beers, which were my favourite.

I like cider, as well but there are quite a few cideries who are starting to add hopps to cider which throws the taste and balance right off.

It seems to be a bit like hot sauce where they are all trying to one-up each other. I first noticed it 20 years ago when I lived on Vancouver Island. The brew pubs there referred to it as Pacific Northwest IPA but the mega hops seems to have migrated across the continent and to other styles. Thankfully both micro breweries near me have a super-hopped IPA and all of the others are balanced properly.
 
Donn Chambers
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SkunkPrince SkunkPrince
Hm my post disappeared.

I agree; Wisconsin breweries that have been here for a while, for example Point Brewery from 1857, might have other beers like good Pilsners. But it does seem like every brewery is pushing their IPA. Must be easy to make?

That’s probably because I accidentally posted the same thing twice and asked the moderators to delete the second. You probably replied to that one.
 
Donn Chambers
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Glad to see I’m not the only one!

It’s ironic that hipsters used to obsess over PBR, and now obsess over hoppy lagers. I for one can’t wait for this trend to change and breweries start bringing back “classic” ales.

But based on what I have read elsewhere, this trend is going to continue for a while, unfortunately, and get worse before it gets better. It used to be hops were only added at two stages of the process, now they are experimenting adding them throughout, even adding them to the barrels as they age!
 
Donn Chambers
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3,547
nzshadow nzshadow
ABSOLUTELY.

Drives me nuts. And don't get me started on the artificial colouring, the addition of flavour syrups plus the infinite 'limited releases'.

Sprits are headed the same way. Just follow the formula:

Buy cheap grain alcohol
Add 'local' flavourings
talk about heritage, craftsmanship & attention to detail
certainly don't age anything
add corn syrup
buy a trendy bottle & pay a designer on fiverr to 'design' a label
???
$$$

The market is flooded with inferior products, age statements seem to be becoming rarer by the year & if I see one more bottle of limited release coffee-infused anybloodything I'm going postal.

Yeah, limited releases on even good whiskeys are generally not worth the price, I have found. It’s more marketing than anything else. When a 12-year “special edition” Lagavulin sells for 30% more than the 16-year, something is wrong!
 
Cenzo
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I do not like very hoppy beers. A trip to Prague got me hooked on Pilsner Urquell. I really enjoyed some other beers there like Budvar - but unfortunately they don't sell it in the states. Urquell is readily available, but pasteurized. It's not pasteurized in Prague. If you go on the brewery tour in Pilsen, they give you beer unfiltered and unpasteurized still made in wooden casks. They make a very small batch of this and use it as a control beer to taste against the mass produced version from giant stainless steel casks. If every nearby, it's a great tour.
 
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