MVP
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At what point do you folks consider a beer "dark?"
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Best beers for brahs?
- Thread starter Jose_Ortiz_fan
- Start date
20
♪alt13
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Beer is made from sugary wort that the yeast convert to alcohol and CO2. But some of the sugar is unfermentable and remains in the beer after fermentation is complete. Hops are used to add bitterness to balance the residual sugar so that beer is not cloyingly sweet. But Hops also have antiseptic properties. Before hops were used breweries had proprietary mixtures of herbs, called gruit, for the same purpose.
But hops can also provide a distinctive flavor and aroma. In general, hops added with more than 30 minutes left in the boil are considered bittering hops (it takes time to extract the alpha acids), but due to the volatile nature of hop flavor and aroma you lose all of those qualities the longer the hops are boiled so late hop additions are used as well.
Just bought these three beers from the Utah beer Co-op! That store is great high percentage beer not from a liquor store and they do on tap growlers.
The black'o'latern is better than the regular pumpkin beers. Its a dark beer with a hint of pumpkin, not the overwhelming artificial pumpkin taste.
the Ghost rider is my favorite IPA now. I dont really like IPA's that much but this one is really good. It does not have the bitter hoppy after taste.
The Wee Peet is a hoppy bitter taste to start and a sweet after taste, goes great with something sweet.
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The black'o'latern is better than the regular pumpkin beers. Its a dark beer with a hint of pumpkin, not the overwhelming artificial pumpkin taste.
the Ghost rider is my favorite IPA now. I dont really like IPA's that much but this one is really good. It does not have the bitter hoppy after taste.
The Wee Peet is a hoppy bitter taste to start and a sweet after taste, goes great with something sweet.
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Hops are pretty amazing and there are new varietals being produced every season nowadays. Unfortunately many of the new varietals are patented which keeps the supply severely limited and the prices high. Amarillo (or should I say VGXP01 c.v.) is one of my favorite hops, but can be hard to get and is twice as expensive as many other types. Unfortunately, UGLI Baby IPA can't be made without it.
Once hops started being used they were quickly used to the exclusion of previously used gruit. They are just THAT GOOD when it comes to what they do for beer. Gruit beer is still available, although I'd say it's more for novelty and history than anything else.
But the new hops being produced are bringing more and more flavors to the table. Traditional hops are typically described as earthy or floral. New hops are citrus, melon, fruit, berries, pine, grass. There are some new hops said (I haven't experimented with them) to produce a strawberry flavor, some that produce watermelon. Some of the most coveted hops are real love 'em or hate 'em types, like Simcoe, which some describe lovingly as having a piney, resiny aroma and other describe as straight cat piss.
Hops are only one of many reasons I think beer is a far more sophisticated beverage than wine. Hard for many to get the beer guzzling frat boy or trailer park dwelling alcoholic stereotypes disassociated from what beer is becoming, but the fact is that good wine is the product of good grapes and good beer is the product of a good brewer. There are many beer/wine makers and former wine makers at homebrewtalk.com, and the story is always the same. Making good beer requires much more skill and creativity than making good wine.
I like Ghost Rider. First time I bought any I bought it for a poker game and only had two bottles. I actually had to beg a sip from someone else so I could try it.
I'll withhold comment on the pumpkin beer as I don't drink fruit beers as a rule. Nothing against other people who enjoy them, I'm just not very open to them.
Wee Peat is one of my current favorites. Love it. I assume from the name that they actually use peat smoked malt in the recipe. As far as homebrew style guidelines go that is cheating, but if they do use it they do it very well. The smokiness is subtle. Scottish ale should have a slightly smokey character, but real Scottish yeast will produce that if handled correctly. Wee Peat is more malty than my Scottish ale, "Third Cousin," and I don't cheat. My version is quite clean and crisp with an even more subtle smoky flavor that is in fact produced by fermenting at the extreme low end of the yeast's temperature range. I've never guzzled beer I've made like I do when I make Scottish ale. I don't make it a lot because I'm always trying to brew for specific reasons, but I think it's my favorite beer.
LogGrad98
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It might be the hops flavor that I don't like about beer. Every time I have tried it the bitterness is just overwhelming, and normally I like bitter flavors (dark chocolate, etc.). In the time I spent in Germany the group I was with would always order beer with dinner, and I tried a few and found them to be very astringent and just so bitter as to overwhelm any other flavors. I get that it is an acquired taste, but it seemed extreme to me. Could be that I am sensitive to that part of it.
Do you know what style of beer they were drinking? Berliner Weiss is a beer that uses a sour mash for its distinct flavor. That is accomplished simply by letting the mash sit for a time before draining it. Grain has a significant amount of lactobacillus on it which creates a sour flavor.
Astringency is a feeling, like something is drying your mouth out. Bitterness is a flavor.
Again, German beer is not my forte, but I'd imagine they are using noble hops (especially smooth, subtle and not harsh) and using them in relatively limited amounts and mostly as bittereing hops with very little or no flavor/aroma hops.
You may not like hops but hops character can be pretty much neutralized by shifting the balance towards the malt flavors.
So really, what it comes down to is, you just need to try a lot more beer.
Just kidding.
MVP
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So after reading this I wanted to give ales and specifically IPA's second chance. Problem is , I can't find any of your recommended brands in our local stores. Some IPA's I found are crazy expensive and come in 650mls bottles and are at 7-9% alcohol. WTF? I think I would rather have Porter if I want 8-9% alcohol beer...