tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895566266622513167.post401892143465830605..comments2023-04-18T05:15:22.829-04:00Comments on Eye of Newt: Brewers' Dirty Little SecretNewthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15684291245824430051noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895566266622513167.post-17479866589751919872010-03-29T12:19:30.052-04:002010-03-29T12:19:30.052-04:00Ouch!
Having brewed beers from grain for the past...Ouch!<br /><br />Having brewed beers from grain for the past 20 years - doddering around with my walker from mash tun to boiler to fermenter - I suppose I have been part of the craft beer movement that you talk about. I might in my grandfatherly way appreciate the movement as much as you do. <br /><br />Many of 200 or so beers I've made have been out on the edge of tradition - I do a lot of high-gravity IPA's and have brewed things like chocolate porters and crossovers like India Dark Ales that have characteristics of both a porter and an IPA. Many of these styles properly call for some levels of "weeds" - DMS and diacetyls and that sort of stuff - which are just by-products of a chemical fermentation that has wandered off in the wrong direction. My problem is when the weeds take over an otherwise nicely tended garden. Having made an out-of-control beer or two in my time, I appreciate how difficult it is to get it right.<br /><br />Technically, the term "beer" covers a lot of ground, from Bud Light to Samichlaus to sake to "malt beverages" like Zima and Citron (see discussion by someone of your own generation here; http://www.slate.com/id/2068426/ ) But at some point, brews get so far from barley malt, hops and yeast that they cease to be good beer and wander off to become something else.<br /><br />Catch me at Willard's sometime, where there is plenty of good beer joined only occasionally by some Cherry Wheat crap; I'll buy you a beer.<br /><br />NewtNewthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15684291245824430051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5895566266622513167.post-27708097739592945642010-03-29T10:41:32.704-04:002010-03-29T10:41:32.704-04:00Ok so you have not developed a taste for funky bee...Ok so you have not developed a taste for funky beers. Got ya. That doesn't mean they're defects. A weed isn't a weed if you planted it there. Today's brewers are pushing the boundaries of what beer is and can be. Sierra is a classic, but it is obvious that you are just too old to appreciate the craft beer movement that is going on. If all bud has is drinkability than stick to your belovedly drinkable bud and save the Cigar City and St Somewhere to the rest of us, grandpa.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com