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General homebrew/craft beer ramblings...


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#1 Big Nake

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 11:26 AM

I see that a quaint, quasi-country village just north of me is having a craft beer fest tomorrow for about 6 hours. I occasionally go to these things and end up disappointed because the majority of beers that are there are not really for me: Belgians, 10% beers, barrel-aged stuff, sours, 100 IBU IPAs, that sort of thing. I was just reading the article and one of the brewers said, The fest will feature beer that many people can't wait to try... our chocolate-bacon stout. I enjoy going to these things and talking beer, etc. and I like the social aspect of it too (despite its geekiness) but at things like this you generally don't see many German lagers or even run-of-the-mill pale ales, etc. I was planning on brewing tomorrow and then we have my MIL's birthday tomorrow night but I could brew Sunday and hit this fest... but I would rather not go, fork over the ticket price and find that the vast majority of the beers are not my thing. What to do? :D

EDIT: This occasionally happens at new brewpubs too... every selection is something that I try to stay away from. <_<

#2 HVB

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 11:28 AM

I no longer go to beer festivals like that.  I just no longer enjoy that vibe.  If it was me I would stay home, brew and drink some beer.



#3 BrewerGeorge

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 11:28 AM

I gave up on those long ago. First, there's the driving home aspect. But mostly it's because everybody makes the same stuff.

#4 denny

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 11:38 AM

Other than the ones I attend for "work", I can't remember the last time I went to a beer festival.  I think I've become jaded.



#5 Big Nake

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 11:43 AM

Mmm, so I'm not the only one. I mean, I don't have a big beard either so I totally don't fit in. :P I did go to one a few years ago and there was a place that had a decent pale ale and another that [surprisingly] had a Czech Pils that was very good. I went back to that one and said, You're the only place that I've come to multiple times! Is it because we're brewers and we see standard 'beer-drinkers' pretending to know what they're talking about or maybe see brewers at these things who actually seem like they may not know what they're saying? I don't know what it is but something seems off about these things. I was asked to pour at the GLBF a couple weeks ago but it was supposed to be one of the last beautiful weekend days and I was content hanging in the backyard, drinking beer, swimming and listening to tunes. :D

#6 denny

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 11:58 AM

I went to GABF last year for the first time.  I had been dying to go for 20 years.  For me, it was too big.  Overwhelming.  I stayed maybe an hour or 2 for 2 days, but skipped all the big events.



#7 HVB

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 12:00 PM

I went to GABF last year for the first time.  I had been dying to go for 20 years.  For me, it was too big.  Overwhelming.  I stayed maybe an hour or 2 for 2 days, but skipped all the big events.

I went in 2009  and while it was a fun experience I never want to go back to the GABF itself.  Even with a plan going in after a half hour it just goes to hell.  I would not mind going back for some of the special events that happen around Denver during the GABF week though.



#8 neddles

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 12:06 PM

The few beer fests I have been to featured a lot of old beer that the distributors running the show were trying to get rid of. Beers I knew to be good fresh were old/oxidized, and so were the ones I was eating for the first time. I just kept thinking that as a brewer I would want to keep my beers away from events like this. No thanks.



#9 Poptop

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 12:13 PM

I still like to go to local beer events but in total agreement that most of the beers are big, off the wall, something you'd never want 5 gallons of. But I still go to a few.

It's fun to ask anyone of the homebrewers if they have a cold yellow lager or a low IBU something or other.... They get that quizzical look on their face, the same when you ask the "Barista" at Starbucks for a small black coffee :)

#10 Big Nake

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Posted 06 October 2017 - 12:14 PM

I also feel like when you have multiple breweries all in the same spot, something happens where the brewers think they need to impress everyone or one-up the other brewers so out come the booze- or hop-bombs or the very unique beers that were fermented on another planet or whatever. Nobody just wants to make good, drinkable beer. You might see someone like Schwanz standing there pouring their kolsch but it's pretty rare at these fests. I'll say this too: I've had some dreadful 'craft beer' at these things too. Not sure if they were oxidized, old, etc. or just not very well-made. The other thing you'll see is breweries who say they have something (say an Altbier or maybe a Vienna Lager) and it's nothing like the style would suggest. Anyone has the right to make what they want and call it what they want but that doesn't make it right... Here... try this 75 IBU Oktoberfest! :o

#11 Steve Urquell

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Posted 07 October 2017 - 04:24 AM

I'm fine with heavily hopped beers and sours but steer clear of high gravity stuff. It just doesnt taste very good to me and I dont drink to get drunk.

However I haven't had anything hoppy that blew my socks off in several years. After I brewed several batches that tasted like you were eating raw hops and got that out of my system I started enjoying balanced hoppy beers more and there are only so many combos of hops to try.

My standard drinkers are lagers though and they are hard to find at craft breweries and festivals. Cant tell you how many times my wife has mentioned a new craft brewery opening and I have no desire to go there.

#12 SchwanzBrewer

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Posted 07 October 2017 - 05:22 AM

Last time I went to a fest I was trying to get footage for top beer at hunahpu day. Every friggin brewery there had some sort of imperial stout with whatever spice/pepper/fruit/mollusk/old leather shoe from a brewer at Burton aged in a radioactive mutant wild yeast barrel served in an eye dropper because it's potent stuff. It's not beer anymore at that point, it's a gimmick. Best beer at that fest, a kolsch from my favorite brewery imo. Finally something I can just enjoy and not worry about whatever endangered animal was sacrificed to make the "beer".

#13 3rd party JKor

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 10:17 AM

When there's 5000 breweries, a lot of them will just be gimmicks.  Mastering the craft is still hard to do even if a lot of people are trying their hand at it.  There are some gatdamn amazing beers out there, but there is an absolute boatload of mediocre stuff.  Especially now that the trend is to release new beers on a regular basis, it seems many brewers don't really take the time to hone a recipe they just put something new out there with different hops in it to appease the masses who always want something new.  Honestly, I feel like a lot of the beers I buy are like the beers that homebrewers experiment with to try to create a recipe.  The process is fine but the recipes are unrefined.  A lot of 'this isn't bad, but I wouldn't put my name on it' type of beers.


Edited by JKor, 09 October 2017 - 10:17 AM.


#14 Poptop

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 11:09 AM

Last time I went to a fest I was trying to get footage for top beer at hunahpu day. Every friggin brewery there had some sort of imperial stout with whatever spice/pepper/fruit/mollusk/old leather shoe from a brewer at Burton aged in a radioactive mutant wild yeast barrel served in an eye dropper because it's potent stuff. It's not beer anymore at that point, it's a gimmick. Best beer at that fest, a kolsch from my favorite brewery imo. Finally something I can just enjoy and not worry about whatever endangered animal was sacrificed to make the "beer".


If you're talking about the CCB event that went awry a couple years ago, I thought the best beer was being poured at your tent and the other homebrewers tents. The place was ridic over booked. But serious, my group stayed right by you's guys. Nice meeting you btw.

#15 Big Nake

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 12:40 PM

When there's 5000 breweries, a lot of them will just be gimmicks.  Mastering the craft is still hard to do even if a lot of people are trying their hand at it.  There are some gatdamn amazing beers out there, but there is an absolute boatload of mediocre stuff.  Especially now that the trend is to release new beers on a regular basis, it seems many brewers don't really take the time to hone a recipe they just put something new out there with different hops in it to appease the masses who always want something new.  Honestly, I feel like a lot of the beers I buy are like the beers that homebrewers experiment with to try to create a recipe.  The process is fine but the recipes are unrefined.  A lot of 'this isn't bad, but I wouldn't put my name on it' type of beers.

Agreed. It is funny how many of the small craft breweries just keep coming out with new beers on a constant basis. You might go there and find a nice pale ale but then go back in 6 months and the server would look at you like, "I don't think I've ever heard of that one. Here's the beer list now...". <_<

#16 3rd party JKor

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 01:10 PM

The new beer consumers like variety.  I don't think it's a bad thing.  Young beer drinkers understand the ingredients more than ever and like to experience different flavors that come with different ingredients.  They don't want to drink the same beer every time, they want something unique.  It gives us more variety but also ends up leading to beers that aren't fully vetted.

 

I've definitely run into the situation where I found a beer I really like but could only find it once or twice and then it was replaced in the cooler with a different 'flavor of the month' beer from the same brewery.



#17 Big Nake

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 01:14 PM

The new beer consumers like variety.  I don't think it's a bad thing.  Young beer drinkers understand the ingredients more than ever and like to experience different flavors that come with different ingredients.  They don't want to drink the same beer every time, they want something unique.  It gives us more variety but also ends up leading to beers that aren't fully vetted.
 
I've definitely run into the situation where I found a beer I really like but could only find it once or twice and then it was replaced in the cooler with a different 'flavor of the month' beer from the same brewery.

This sounds reasonable but remember that there are varying degrees of beer drinker out there and there are a number of beer styles that some people will cringe over... sours, brett beers, Belgians, hefeweizens, etc. So the "sampling of a lot of styles" sounds like fun to me, I know what to stay away from but not everyone does. What happens when someone orders a beer at a brewpub, takes one sip and doesn't like it? That's $10 down the drain! :lol:

We were at my BIL's on Friday and he picked up a sampler pack from New Glarus in WI. One of the beers is Bubbler, a Hefeweizen. My wife, BIL and SIL all said, "What is Bubbler?" and I explained it and they all cringed.

#18 3rd party JKor

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 01:30 PM

They cringed at hefeweizen!?  give 'em Bud Light!  :D



#19 Big Nake

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 01:38 PM

They cringed at hefeweizen!?  give 'em Bud Light!  :D

Hefeweizen is not my gig either. Banana & clove? I love my German styles but not that one. :D

#20 positiveContact

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Posted 09 October 2017 - 01:43 PM

Hefeweizen is not my gig either. Banana & clove? I love my German styles but not that one. :D


For some people it's not a bad intro into better beer. Depends what you like of course.


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