Craft Beers, do people really like them?

Surprised someone mentioned rauchbier, because I was going to. I did try a German Rauchbier once -- very interesting, yet bizarre, experience leaving me wondering how they get the smoked taste to stay in the beer. My friend described it as a "you love it, or you hate it" beer.Before micro-breweries became trendy, my favorite American Beer was Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. A lot of my friends started home-brewing around that time, but I never got into that, as I couldn't wait weeks or months to drink the results of the brew. My contribution was drinking many kinds of imported bottled beers, and giving them the empty bottles they needed for their brews.If I go to micro-breweries, I prefer IPAs, and I'm not ashamed to admit I like the extra hoppy taste. Tried other recipes, but always go back to IPA.I moved to Europe in the 90's, so I think I missed the wave of micro-breweries. Before the trend, I stumbled across a new kind of bar, a micro-brewery, in Mishawaka, Indiana in the 1980's (but recently heard it closed down). I have a book from Michael Jackson (beer connoisseur) favourably rating this "what the heck is this doing here?" micro-brewery. With no offense intended to any Hoosiers, Indiana doesn't strike me as a state that would lead this kind of progressive movement a decade before it was trendy. But then again, Michael Jackson (the singer) also came from Indiana...Not a regular drinker of stouts, but there was a time when I frequented local Irish pubs, drinking more than my fair share of Guinness and Murphy's on tap. Can't recall drinking too many porters though, and never a sour.I'm a fan of many kinds of beers, but actually don't like wheat beers, fruit beers, or many Belgian Ales, finding them too sweet, and/or too alcoholic, which ironically, a lot of people offer me when they learn I like many kinds of beer.I like Stella's too.

IPA train is good but wrote:

Hop head here wrote:

I only drink IPA. It has nothing to do with thinking it's cool. I moved to a place where there are a lot of local breweries and I began trying the different IPAs. Suddenly my palate had totally changed and everything else now tastes like garbage.

I love when people who are just getting into beer say things like this.

I was the same, drinking every possible IPA and learning the distinctions between west coast, east coast, english, south pacific, etc. Then a brewer said to me "once you've burnt your taste buds on IPA, try a rauchbier or a sour." Not to mention legitimate stouts and porters.

There's more to taste than IPAs.

I don't understand why the craft beer makers don't try to mimic german style beer, especially german style weiss beer. There doesn't seem to be any good weiss beers that aren't imports, in spite of the imports not being real.

Also why don't craft breweries try to implement the German Purity Law. I think it would be a great marketing gimmick that might lead to something good.

I agree with the OP's point about there being too many craft breweries. I live in Central PA, and we have definitely gone beyond the tipping point with craft brews/brewpubs. Probably over 40 places brewing their own beer, and most of them do all make similar beers. Half of them taste like something I could brew myself. Very few actually making any meaningful profit.

Personally, I am a big stout/porter guy, so I will always prefer craft beers. In Central PA, however, there is always a drinkable lager on tap...Yuengling, baby

Can we get political, please?? I'm from Chester County PA. I love Victory brews (Downington, PA), and Troegs (Hershey, PA) is pretty good as well. I notice that around here and near West Chester PA there are a lot of cars with Victory brewpub magnets or stickers on their cars, and also Trump magnets/stickers.

Do Trump supporters generally like craft brews better than Clinton supporters? I think they do, because craft brews are "bold" and "distinctive" which describe Trump. For the life of me, I never saw a car with a Clinton-Kaine sticker and a craft brew sticker as well. I'm sure they exist, but are rare.

Sam Adams did it 30 years ago with their Boston Lager...

Then Why don't wrote:

I don't understand why the craft beer makers don't try to mimic german style beer, especially german style weiss beer. There doesn't seem to be any good weiss beers that aren't imports, in spite of the imports not being real.

Also why don't craft breweries try to implement the German Purity Law. I think it would be a great marketing gimmick that might lead to something good.

Yes. People really like them.

Clown

Then Why don't wrote:

I don't understand why the craft beer makers don't try to mimic german style beer, especially german style weiss beer. There doesn't seem to be any good weiss beers that aren't imports, in spite of the imports not being real.

Also why don't craft breweries try to implement the German Purity Law. I think it would be a great marketing gimmick that might lead to something good.

+1 on the craft breweries not making enough german style beers.

I read a good article awhile back about the German purity law. In essence, it restricts what can go into a beer and limits the creativity that American beer makers enjoy. While I still turn a nose up at fruity beers or weird ingredients in beers, the article went into the history of brewing and how that used to be common.

Part of what turns people off is the automatic association of hoppy IPAs with craft beer. This is partially the fault of the brewers themselves, who in many cases don't even make lager or pils beers, which are generally the most popular types of mass produced American beers. There are some great IPAs out there, but good beer is not just about hops. Also, the whole deal of craft beer bars with dudes with mustaches and tattoo sleeves and bicycles hanging everywhere is really corny now. The same thing is happening with farmhouse ales, sours, gose, etc.

I like lots of beers, but the whole craft beer fad is childish. My beer is better than your beer. Stupid.

I don't think it's really a fad. Big breweries are buying craft breweries left and right; there will always be a certain demographic buying cases of Bud Light, but there are huge groups of people who would never even consider buying mass produced "beer"like that, and I think this trend will continue.

I really like "good" beer, but I don't use terms like "craft" or "micro brewery". I generally just say "good" beer while recognizing that "good" is a matter of opinion. I just drink what I like, which tends to be sours, funky/wild beers, stouts, and all sorts of beers that are aged in interesting barrels or just made in some interesting, experimental fashion. A lot of the fun is that there really are many possibilities, so I love to try something new all the time. I'm not big on bitter flavors in beer, but I'll enjoy an occasional IPA that has a citrusy or fruity profile without much bitterness. The four breweries I drink the most from are The Bruery, Wicked Weed, Cantillon, and Cascade, in about that order, but I frequently try new stuff (Upland is a recent favorite, as are D9 and Alvinne). These beers all tend to be relatively expensive and many are a high percentage (Cantillon being the exception, having a typical 5%-ish ABV, but also being quite expensive in the US, which is disappointing since they're likely my favorite brewery), so I almost always split the bottle with my wife or friends. I don't really care what other people drink, but I do enjoy sharing my bottles with others. If they like it, that's great; if not, that's fine too. Giving a friend their first sour is always a fun experience. I haven't seen a lot of moderate reactions - either they love it like I do or they hate it. So, to answer the original question after a smattering of thoughts, yes, I really do like "craft" beer. And, while I realize this sounds snobby, I honestly wouldn't drink beer if stuff like Bud Light were the only thing out there. Beer is a fun hobby, and we have the spare income to afford "good" beer, so I'll keep drinking "good" beer until nothing new and interesting is available to try, though I suspect that won't happen anytime soon.

Echion wrote:

I'd say that not only are craft brewers oversaturating (I speak for where I live) but they have become less impressive. I feel like a lot of these breweries really aren't masterful craftsmen and their flavors go toward the circus act (chocolate habenero lime jackfruit....). I wish the movement focused on quality grains, grain and bittering variations, and making truely excellent standard beers. That said, there are artists out there too.

I mostly agree with this. Many breweries (no reason to name bad ones, but quite a few that I live in the immediate vicinity of) experiment a lot and end up putting out beers of mediocre base with a lot of added elements that just don't work together, resulting in expensive beer that, at least to me, tastes "bad". My favorite recent beer has been a blueberry berliner weisse (a more or less simple beer to make for a good brewery, and a pretty traditional German beer, although the blueberry isn't the most common fruit choice), while I also recently had a "dark sour ale aged in tequilla barrels with lime and salt" that just didn't really work as well, despite a much higher price tag. That said, my favorite beer of all time was a rye-based sour aged first for over a year in new American oak barrels, and then re-aged for a few months with lavender, vanilla, peaches, and blackberries (A'Tatons by The Bruery). This beer had the potential to be terrible with everything going on in it, but they took their time and did it well. The rye malt base for the sour made it, while other malt may have killed it. Thus, I think that it's most important to start with an excellent standard beer, and then, if the brewer chooses to go from there, that's totally fine with me.

"My German friends agree. Just buy Miller HD or an import."

I'm glad you found a beer you like. Here's the thing. I don't need you to tell me what I should like. I can figure that out.

The craft beer craze would not exist if people did not buy them. While it might be a fad for some people, there's always something behind a fad. Some grain (no pun), some itch, some thing that made it take off.

I mainly used to just drink Ales: IPAs, Stouts, Porters, Ambers... major hop head.... think Dogfish head 90min IPA as a favorite (well, still is).

But I have a new appreciation for Lagers now after a runner friend from Germany bought over some "traditional stuff." Totally legit.

Furthermore, in talking with some of the brewmasters at Avery Brewing (Boulder, CO) I learned that a "good" Lager is much harder to make compared to a "good" IPA. A fine Lager is a true work of art!

Like those mentioned above, any decent craft brewery should always have a pretty good Lager in the line-up (Avery has Joe's Pils for example). I can see the price point of "craft beer" (generally quite a bit more expensive) being a huge turnoff (stuff is not cheap) for a lot of people though. At Cornell I remember drinking PBR, Yuengling, Rolling Rock, Miller, and Keystone (basically the opposite of "craft")...which for sure helped save some money, but it turned me off on Lagers for a long time!

dude, really? wrote:

This craft beer thing is wearing me out. Thousands of small breweries all churning out pretty much the same 6-8 beers.

lol I bet you can't even tell the difference between the "same 6-8 beers." I sure can't. The only beers I buy are Amber Ale and IPA and to me the latter just tastes like the former with more alcohol. Beer is beer.

jamin wrote:

dude, really? wrote:

This craft beer thing is wearing me out. Thousands of small breweries all churning out pretty much the same 6-8 beers.

lol I bet you can't even tell the difference between the "same 6-8 beers." I sure can't. The only beers I buy are Amber Ale and IPA and to me the latter just tastes like the former with more alcohol. Beer is beer.

...competition in failure and mediocrity.

You win.

jamin wrote:

dude, really? wrote:

This craft beer thing is wearing me out. Thousands of small breweries all churning out pretty much the same 6-8 beers.

lol I bet you can't even tell the difference between the "same 6-8 beers." I sure can't. The only beers I buy are Amber Ale and IPA and to me the latter just tastes like the former with more alcohol. Beer is beer.

This was a pretty decent thread. Thanks for bringing the average IQ down by about 50 points.