It was only five or six years ago, that keystone light arguably had one of the best marketing campaigns of the year “Say no to bitter beer face”. Great imagery and a catchy tagline caused a lot of people to talk. Too bad the beer advertised was such swill. Yet here we are not a decade later and bitter beer is being considered a good thing? With constant chatter about craft beers today, I am amazed to hear how many people advocate bitter beer, “more hoppy the better”. My god, to watch at a craft beer bar these days, you flash back to the old Keystone light commercials. You would think that nothing is more refreshing than having your taste buds pulled out by the stem.
What is the current fascination in the US with bitter beer? When did US craft brewers decide to measure their manhood by how many hops they can cram in a beer bottle? More importantly, how did they convince US beer drinks to buy into this madness?
There are a lot of things I do not understand about the US beer industry and it’s consumers. Things like, how can Boston Brewing Company (Sam Adams) produce more than 2 million barrels of beer a year (that’s more than 62,000,000 gallons of beer) and still be considered a craft brewery? Additionally, why do respected international beer competitions feel the need to include categories such as “Best American Style Light Lager”, which has been won repeatedly by beers such as, Lite by Miller Brewing Co. and Old Milwaukee Lite (Really, Beast Lite? God help us all!)? When did people feel the need to start tasting beer from a wine glass, swirling it around and commenting on it like a fine wine (for the love of all that is holy, it is a $7.00 beer not a 100 year old, $300 bottle of wine)? When did IBU (International Bittering Units), the scale for measuring the perceived bitterness of a beer, become a common rating method for beer even at the most meager dive bars (we know this because we have been asked the IBU of our beers at many a dive bar)?
So help out a simple, small brewery owner, what is America’s great fascination with bitter beers? Don’t get me wrong, I do love hops but in the proper proportion. There is nothing like the wonderful aroma from a good hop, balanced with malty undertones. A smooth balanced beer is a thing of beauty. So what is the obsession? Where will it end? Or is there no hope for American beer drinkers ruining their taste buds with hops overload?
We here at Dockside Brewery believe in well-balanced beers. We believe in making refreshing, easily drinkable beers with a unique taste. I guess it should go without saying, at Dockside Brewery, we don’t appreciate bitter beer face.
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Those numbers on the new poll are petrty low, IMO. I think the vast majority will be 6+. I probably have over 100 different beers on hand. Some are aging, but many are drinkable now (though I probably have forgotten about them). I probably have 10-20 different beers in my fridge alone.
Most of the responses on this particular weblog dont make sense.
Sapporo is a Happoshu Lager or a Japanese Rice Lager depending on the brew. Stella Artois, Kronenburg, Peroni, Grolsch, Abita Golden are also lgeras that are similar. Bud, Tecate and those types are also lgeras. I believe Japanese lgeras use more rice where American and European ones use less or no rice. There are full malt lgeras which are fuller like a Brooklyn Lager. Then you have your ales, porters stouts et al…
This is definitely my store for sure. The borockam beer staff are excellent and of course so is the selection. I will continue to support them. But I’ve found the front store staff in the daytime to be surly. Its at those points, as in most retail related fields, where I just assume they hate what they are doing.
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Try some Bard’s. Founded by celiacs, Bard’s is the only gluetn-free beer that malts the sorghum in its recipe for traditional craft beer flavor and aroma. Sorghum replaces barley which makes the beer gluetn-free.
I also like Kronenburg. So I think we’ve established that I’m tnkilag about lagers (as I suspected), but not just any lagers – a subset of lagers. I’ll have to drink my way through that list and construct a Venn diagram, placing some within that-breed-of-which-I-speak and others outside of it, and then take the Venn diagram to a beer-ologist for a diagnosis. Maybe it has something to do with my . I’ve got a long night ahead of me.
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I don’t have an intolerance to geutln, but I do have a friend who does, and he is always looking for geutln-free products, and yes, he loves beer. I will definitely recommended him to read this post and give New Grist a try! Thanks for the info..-= Ken@Make Your Own Beerb4s last blog .. =-.
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Review by J. Gypton for Rating: My wife got me this for my birthday last month, and I was rlaely excited about trying it out which, like a kid with a new toy, I did almost immediately. The instructions are easy to follow and the components are easy to assemble and use I had my first batch (of Cowboy Lager’) sitting in the keg after about 45 minutes of reading and work in the kitchen.The minimum amount of time the mix needs to sit in the keg is 7 days I let this first batch sit for 11. The longer the time in the keg, the more flavor it’s supposed to develop. I bottled the mix 8 liters in all and that was another simple process, going exactly as described in the instructions. The beer has to ferment in the bottles for no fewer than 7 days in order to carbonate. My 8 bottles are still sitting, after 8 days. I plan on letting them sit for another week before putting them in the fridge so they’ll be conditioned’ in time for Christmas.I did, however, make an extra bottle from the first batch, in an extra bottle I had. I drained the keg almost dry to do it, even pouring in some of the sludge that had settled at the bottom. The stuff was orange and cloudy! I let that sit for the minimum 7 days, and let it condition in the fridge for only 1 (although the instructions recommend at least a week). I wanted to try something close to the minimum standard for the mix and the kit in general and I have a mug of the stuff next to me as I type. Final verdict on this minimum mix’ it’s quite good! It was adequately carbonated, and produced a smooth head that had a nice smell and flavor. The beer itself is about the same color as a typical American brew Coors or Michelob and has a very light flavor, with a slightly dry aftertaste. It’s something I could enjoy in the middle of summer. And remember: this, according to the instructions, is the swill. The better stuff will come out of those bottles that are going to ferment for another week before I cool them.I’m fired up! I made my next mix today American Blonde which was also included in the set. I’ll let that sit in the keg even longer to see how the flavor develops. All in all, I’m rlaely happy with this as a present, and even happier about what’s it’s produced. This isn’t just a gift that seems cool: it’s already exceeded my expectations.This section added on 8 June 2009: I’m now carbonating my 17th two-gallon batch. Yes, that’s a lot of beer, considering that each batch makes 20-24 bottles, depending on how much water I decide to add (sometimes a little more if it’s a heavy brew with a lot of ingredients). ANYWAY, I’m still as fired up about this thing as I was when I got it. We’ve bought two six-packs and one twelve-pack of beer from the store since December, and that was mostly to harvest bottles for future use. I do not miss buying beer at the store mine is better, and cheaper, too. My only recommendation is to get 12-oz brown glass bottles, a hand-held capper, and O2 barrier caps then you can bottle your own normal’ bottles, and you can reuse them. The 1-liter PET bottles that came with my set are fine, as they keep the carbonation well, but I don’t like opening that much beer at once unless I have people over. Standard bottles are far more convenient. Mr. Beer rocks. That is all.
cool post thanks!
Okay, I think we’re honing in on an anwser here: lagers but dry, bitter-ish lagers; easy on the hops. Got it.And Sapporo is A-1, but I would be willing to go even dryer, lighter, and bitter-er… er. I will now set sail on those lager seas, journeying into the unknown, seeking that Great, Dry, Bitter Land beyond.
Review by L. Truong for Rating: The Mr. Beer Premium Gold Edition Home Brew Kit plus Amazon’s free shipping eulaqs beer-making’s Keep It Simple and Sweet solution. As a beginning home brewer, I didn’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on an elaborate home brew kit nor have to read tons of books on how to do it. My goal was to try it, and if I liked the finished product, play with it some more.Well, after my first two batches of Mr. Beer brew, a lager and a pale ale, I can attest to the simplicity and convenience of this product. The beer making process was somewhat simple. I followed the directions that came with the kit about sanitizing, brewing, bottling, and conditioning almost to the letter. Almost anyone with a high school reading level can make their own beer using a Mr. Beer kit without terribly screwing anything up. The beer that is fermenting in the Mr. Beer keg doesn’t make your entire house reek of a micro-brewery. As a matter of fact, the only time you do smell beer is when you’re preparing the wort and when bottling. Although I’m not really a fan of the light beers, I was quite happy with my first couple batches of home brew and have subsequently ordered more Mr. Beer refills from Amazon.If you want fast, effort-less beer, visit BevMo! My own bit of advice to getting optimal flavor in your brew is to be patient. Let the beer brew (ferment) in the keg for two weeks to give it favor and alcohol content. Then after bottling, let it sit for two more weeks to fully carbonate. Finally, let it chill in the refrigerator for 2 weeks before enjoying your home brew. It’s the 2-2-2 rule! Bottoms up!Rather than using glass bottles, which probably look better and feel more like beer in your hands, I prefer to use the plastic bottles. I think plastics are easier to clean, not prone to bursting or breaking like glass, and you can easily tell if your beer is fully carbonated by squeezing the bottle. Since this brew kit only came with 8 1-Liter bottles and I had multiple fermenters, I needed to get more bottles! Rather than paying $14.99 for the Mr. Beer empty bottles on Amazon, I decided to buy the 16 oz. plastic 7-Up bottles instead. One Mr. Beer fermenter will yield 16 of the 16 oz. bottles of beer. As long as you use plastic bottles made to hold carbonated beverages, you can use it to bottle your Mr. Beer home brew. If you want to use the smaller 12 oz. soda bottles, you will require 21 12 oz. bottles for your 2 gallon batch of Mr. Beer.My only complaint is that Amazon doesn’t sell the other ingredients nor accessories sold only on the Mr. Beer website, such as the Unhopped Malt Extract which allows you to add additional flavor, body, alcohol and malt characteristics to your beer. At [...], you have to pay quite a bit for shipping, and you only get free shipping if your order totals $99. However, with their Brew Club, members get $5 shipping on all club orders over $29.99. Happy green brewing!
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