Beer thread
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I'm personally getting pretty bored over over hopped beers. It's all very fashionable to make extra hoppy beers, and add things like Hazy to the title, despite it not really meaning anything. It reminds me of the fashion of stupidly over oaked Chardonnay a few years ago. Fuck all craft brewers to English style ales, like good version of John Smith's etc. So I'm mostly tracking down much easier drinking but still flavourful UK beers: Spitfire, Hobgoblin, etc.
I'm sure the madness will pass, and we'll get a bigger variety than lager, stout, and hop overpowered ales. Can't wait
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@machpants said in Beer thread:
I'm personally getting pretty bored over over hopped beers. It's all very fashionable to make extra hoppy beers, and add things like Hazy to the title, despite it not really meaning anything. It reminds me of the fashion of stupidly over oaked Chardonnay a few years ago. Fuck all craft brewers to English style ales, like good version of John Smith's etc. So I'm mostly tracking down much easier drinking but still flavourful UK beers: Spitfire, Hobgoblin, etc.
I'm sure the madness will pass, and we'll get a bigger variety than lager, stout, and hop overpowered ales. Can't wait
You and me both. I have commented before that there is a lot of very lazy 'craft' going on these days.
These 'Hazy' beers that look and taste like hopped fruit juice were OK as an experiment but now crowd the shelves. If you want to drink hopped Just Juice fine but I want beer/ale as well.
zeelandt.co.nz from HB do very good traditional style stuff. Their ESB is excellent.
Luckily a handful of 'non-IPA' variants got through into the top 30 of the New World Beer Awards so should be in most local shops.Sawmill's The Doctor is a tasty drop as is an oldie but goodie, Townshend's Sutton Hoo Amber Ale. Renaissance Stonecutter is another that has been around a while.
I can also recommend Kereru's Maple, Walnut Ale. 'Happy Little Trees'. Very subtle additions.
For everyday drinking I have long been a fan of Bookbinder. Best way to buy is mail order as well. You'll get 1.25l pub pets delivered quickly at almost half the price of those single 500ml bottles.
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@machpants @Crucial each to their own. Has been overdone somewhat at times ... the craze for sours a while ago absolutely did my nut. That said, hoppy fruit juice is my bag, and done well I love it to bits.
Still better than the alternative of boring mainstream beers ...
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along those same lines, last weekend i tried a BrewDog Hazy Jane IPA. As per usual, i poured it in to a glass. And i can barely remember a more boring craft beer. Advertised as a NEIPA, it basically tasted like a hopped up lager. Nothing redeeming about it.
Straight from the can it was mildly better, but still absolutely nothing special. Just looking at BrewDog's site, they have approximately 1,000 beers, so maybe just find a couple and make them good aye?
The last NEIPA i tried was made by our local brewer and it was pretty fucking fantastic. Heavy as hell though, i could only have 1 of the bloody things.
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@machpants @Crucial each to their own. Has been overdone somewhat at times ... the craze for sours a while ago absolutely did my nut. That said, hoppy fruit juice is my bag, and done well I love it to bits.
Still better than the alternative of boring mainstream beers ...
At times? Go into any supermarket craft section and it will be stacked with them.
The laziness is that some marketing companies (eg Behemoth) just seem to get a base hazy recipe made by a contract brewer then chuck in different hop combinations per batch so they can get another version on the shelf. If you can taste the slight variations between the one with a touch of Riwaka as opposed to a touch of Motueka among the hop mix then all good to you.
The latest yawn is fresh hop. Done well soyou can taste a difference between the same beer fresh and not is fine but simply chucking a bag of fresh into the brew so you can market another label on an average beer isn't. -
@crucial fair play to the brewers, they respond to the market trends. And the market trend is that people want to try new beers... so the brewers respond or get cleaned out with market share.
Epic talk about this. They do some outstanding core brews, but people don't buy much of them. So they have to keep changing up the hop combinations to sell beers.
I'm not saying it's OK, just contextualising it. Drinkers want variety, and they chase it with things like Untappd. Me, I love a good hoppy beer, but am just as keen on a well done pilsner/lager, and no bloody sours at all.
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@crucial fair play to the brewers, they respond to the market trends. And the market trend is that people want to try new beers... so the brewers respond or get cleaned out with market share.
Epic talk about this. They do some outstanding core brews, but people don't buy much of them. So they have to keep changing up the hop combinations to sell beers.
I'm not saying it's OK, just contextualising it. Drinkers want variety, and they chase it with things like Untappd. Me, I love a good hoppy beer, but am just as keen on a well done pilsner/lager, and no bloody sours at all.
My biggest gripe is that it isn't brewers filling the shelves now, it is beer can designers and accountants. The craft aspect isn't there and they are just playing on that desire to try something rather than actually making good beer.
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@machpants @Crucial each to their own. Has been overdone somewhat at times ... the craze for sours a while ago absolutely did my nut. That said, hoppy fruit juice is my bag, and done well I love it to bits.
Still better than the alternative of boring mainstream beers ...
Fucken aye. I’d rather risk trying and not liking one than have nothing but Speights, DB, CD and Waikato Draught on the shelves.
I am a bit over those that are extremely Hazy though.
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I love a good hazy, and have done ever since the first couple started appearing in London bars, scaring the shit out of Pommy drinkers who saw their pint was a little bit cloudy, and refused to drink it.
But yeah - the haze-craze has gone a bit mental. I'll often have a couple (yeah, right) of beers at Choice Bros on the way home from the Farmers Market on Sundays (has ever a more middle-class whitey sentence been uttered?) - and will count the number of times somebody comes in - and the first thing they ask... "What have you got that is hazy?". I cringe, surreptitiously watch the bar-staff's reactions, and inwardly sneer.
And then drop in the bottle-O on the final stage of the trip home, choose 3 or 4 six-packs, get home, and then realise I've bought 3 fucking different hazies.I also like super-hoppy beers - my catch-phrase of about 5 years ago was "let's go get some over-hopped, over-priced beers", and it holds true to this day.
Also - a well-done sour. And fresh-hop.All in all - all the trends - I like 'em. But - I think the recurring theme is... "well done". The trends became trends for a reason... but as has been alluded to - some lazy fuckers have just jumped on bandwagons, thrown out some substandard shit and called it "Hazy" or "Fresh Hop" or whatever, so that it's a new name, new label, something new for the Untappd "gotta catch 'em all" brigade to try.
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@kruse @MN5 went to Behemoth's brew bar last night and was going to post they had an amazing beer selection. 28 taps of their own beers - quite remarkable.
Of that, though, I reckon about 20 were hop forward beers. Only a few sours, lagers, pils and darks ... but they were there at least.
And yes, I'm a hazy fan. Done well it's outstanding. Done poorly (Monteiths FFS) it's super average. Kind of liek beer, really
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@kruse @MN5 went to Behemoth's brew bar last night and was going to post they had an amazing beer selection. 28 taps of their own beers - quite remarkable.
Of that, though, I reckon about 20 were hop forward beers. Only a few sours, lagers, pils and darks ... but they were there at least.
And yes, I'm a hazy fan. Done well it's outstanding. Done poorly (Monteiths FFS) it's super average. Kind of liek beer, really
Their Pecan Pie one that I had at Beervana last year was nothing short of outstanding, pricy though ! I don’t think I even like Pecan Pie either.....
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@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@kruse @MN5 went to Behemoth's brew bar last night and was going to post they had an amazing beer selection. 28 taps of their own beers - quite remarkable.
Of that, though, I reckon about 20 were hop forward beers. Only a few sours, lagers, pils and darks ... but they were there at least.
And yes, I'm a hazy fan. Done well it's outstanding. Done poorly (Monteiths FFS) it's super average. Kind of liek beer, really
Oh - jesus... Monteith's hazy... Sounds Hazy, is it? Fucking terrible... honestly worse than DB Draught/Lion Red.
I'd held off using Untapp'd, and this was the beer that forced me into installing it.
I figured I needed a way of keeping in mind the absolute shit beers to never ever try again... knowing perfectly well that if I didn't, I'd one day in the future see "Monteiths batch-brewed Hazy" - and think "oh, a semi-craft Hazy, that's probably worth a punt on the cheap".
NO Kruse, no, it is fucking not. I've found it - actually my 2nd review in Untapp'd (after another beer not to my liking I'd decided I needed to remember to avoid) - it includes the description "Less flavour than lukewarm tap water." -
@kruse said in Beer thread:
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@kruse @MN5 went to Behemoth's brew bar last night and was going to post they had an amazing beer selection. 28 taps of their own beers - quite remarkable.
Of that, though, I reckon about 20 were hop forward beers. Only a few sours, lagers, pils and darks ... but they were there at least.
And yes, I'm a hazy fan. Done well it's outstanding. Done poorly (Monteiths FFS) it's super average. Kind of liek beer, really
Oh - jesus... Monteith's hazy... Sounds Hazy, is it? Fucking terrible... honestly worse than DB Draught/Lion Red.
I'd held off using Untapp'd, and this was the beer that forced me into installing it.
I figured I needed a way of keeping in mind the absolute shit beers to never ever try again... knowing perfectly well that if I didn't, I'd one day in the future see "Monteiths batch-brewed Hazy" - and think "oh, a semi-craft Hazy, that's probably worth a punt on the cheap".
NO Kruse, no, it is fucking not. I've found it - actually my 2nd review in Untapp'd (after another beer not to my liking I'd decided I needed to remember to avoid) - it includes the description "Less flavour than lukewarm tap water."Jeepers what a fall from grace for the pride of the West Coast.
I remember in the early 2000s Monteiths was basically craft beer compared to Speights/DB/CD/Waikato etc.
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@bovidae said in Beer thread:
I tried plenty of the hazy beers over the summer months (mentioned in this thread) but prefer to drink darker beers during the winter.
A good chocolate laced porter for that winter coat.
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@mn5 said in Beer thread:
@kruse said in Beer thread:
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@kruse @MN5 went to Behemoth's brew bar last night and was going to post they had an amazing beer selection. 28 taps of their own beers - quite remarkable.
Of that, though, I reckon about 20 were hop forward beers. Only a few sours, lagers, pils and darks ... but they were there at least.
And yes, I'm a hazy fan. Done well it's outstanding. Done poorly (Monteiths FFS) it's super average. Kind of liek beer, really
Oh - jesus... Monteith's hazy... Sounds Hazy, is it? Fucking terrible... honestly worse than DB Draught/Lion Red.
I'd held off using Untapp'd, and this was the beer that forced me into installing it.
I figured I needed a way of keeping in mind the absolute shit beers to never ever try again... knowing perfectly well that if I didn't, I'd one day in the future see "Monteiths batch-brewed Hazy" - and think "oh, a semi-craft Hazy, that's probably worth a punt on the cheap".
NO Kruse, no, it is fucking not. I've found it - actually my 2nd review in Untapp'd (after another beer not to my liking I'd decided I needed to remember to avoid) - it includes the description "Less flavour than lukewarm tap water."Jeepers what a fall from grace for the pride of the West Coast.
I remember in the early 2000s Monteiths was basically craft beer compared to Speights/DB/CD/Waikato etc.
Yep - Monteiths, and Macs. How privileged and swanky we felt when visiting the South, and getting kegs of Macs Gold for a mate's 21st near Nelson, or going on a private late-night tour through the Monteiths brewery coz a mate's father worked there.
How I looked forward to each year's Monteith's Summer-Ale.
Now - I can handle a Macs Green Beret, and maybe cope with a Hop Rocker. I haven't tried the core range of either for a while - but I certainly would choose them at an airport bar when the other choices are DB Export/etc. But their attempts at having the wider range like the true bearded-piston wristed gibbon breweries... I keep forgetting to avoid, but avoided they should be. -
@kruse i used to delete Monteiths Pilsner like it was spam email
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@kruse said in Beer thread:
@mn5 said in Beer thread:
@kruse said in Beer thread:
@nzzp said in Beer thread:
@kruse @MN5 went to Behemoth's brew bar last night and was going to post they had an amazing beer selection. 28 taps of their own beers - quite remarkable.
Of that, though, I reckon about 20 were hop forward beers. Only a few sours, lagers, pils and darks ... but they were there at least.
And yes, I'm a hazy fan. Done well it's outstanding. Done poorly (Monteiths FFS) it's super average. Kind of liek beer, really
Oh - jesus... Monteith's hazy... Sounds Hazy, is it? Fucking terrible... honestly worse than DB Draught/Lion Red.
I'd held off using Untapp'd, and this was the beer that forced me into installing it.
I figured I needed a way of keeping in mind the absolute shit beers to never ever try again... knowing perfectly well that if I didn't, I'd one day in the future see "Monteiths batch-brewed Hazy" - and think "oh, a semi-craft Hazy, that's probably worth a punt on the cheap".
NO Kruse, no, it is fucking not. I've found it - actually my 2nd review in Untapp'd (after another beer not to my liking I'd decided I needed to remember to avoid) - it includes the description "Less flavour than lukewarm tap water."Jeepers what a fall from grace for the pride of the West Coast.
I remember in the early 2000s Monteiths was basically craft beer compared to Speights/DB/CD/Waikato etc.
Yep - Monteiths, and Macs. How privileged and swanky we felt when visiting the South, and getting kegs of Macs Gold for a mate's 21st near Nelson, or going on a private late-night tour through the Monteiths brewery coz a mate's father worked there.
How I looked forward to each year's Monteith's Summer-Ale.
Now - I can handle a Macs Green Beret, and maybe cope with a Hop Rocker. I haven't tried the core range of either for a while - but I certainly would choose them at an airport bar when the other choices are DB Export/etc. But their attempts at having the wider range like the true bearded-piston wristed gibbon breweries... I keep forgetting to avoid, but avoided they should be.Brewing by accountants. DB and Lion want to have one of their own brand on tap at pubs at a price they can control and fits in with the other taps. In other words 'make us one of those trendy beers so we can sell it by the pint but don't spend much more than you do making Lion Rd/DB Draught' and keep the ABV down to under 5%
Now obviously there will be lower quality malts and hops going into the vat to do this (and less of them) there lower quality beer.
The flip side of this is that if you happen upon a stock standard brewery controlled pub out in the sticks the range is now expanded and despite some comments on here that Sounds Hazy is an OK drinker when served as designed, freezing cold in a cold glass from a pub tap.
These are totally gateway beers and cost a fraction of the ones they are being compared against.
I don't knock them, they serve a purpose and,as mentioned are preferable to the sweetish malt liquor that used to be our only option.
