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The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

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Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#31

Post by beat »

jhbadger wrote: post #28
whistlerbrk wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the obsession in America over IPAs really needs to end. I'm sure this is a good brew, but the vast majority of them seem to me to be an exercise in absurdity. Too high ABV and so bitter you can't taste the fact that most of these beers have nothing else to offer in terms of body or flavor. I liken it to Starbucks drip, you like it because in order to make it palatable you have to dump sugar and cream into it.

I think it is more like getting used to spice. In the 1980s it used to be often repeated in the US that Mexican, Thai, and Indian food was ridiculously spiced and that there was no flavor except peppers and that the only reason to eat these dishes was to prove that you could take it. But eventually a lot of even US people developed palettes used to spice and could appreciate that there is a reason these dishes have a…

Meh. There's a difference between a complex flavor that happens to be spicy, and a mere heat bomb. Take a Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich, for example. That's a heat bomb. It's awful, but it's very spicy. Meanwhile, two of my favorite Indian restaurants in town (well, one Indian, and one Trinidad) can serve most of their dishes with zero peppers - no heat, just flavor. Peppers can be added all the way up to gut-melting levels, of course.

Beer is the same way. Complexity and bitterness are two different things, and you don't need a ton of bitterness to get the complexity.

Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#33

Post by SippinLean »

sumeno wrote: post #22
whistlerbrk wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sam Adams is not a craft brewery. I understand that term is subjective, but really truly not in this case. I wouldn't say Dogfish Head is either anymore.

There is a formal definition of what is or isn't a craft brewery from the Brewers Association. A craft brewery makes less than 6 million barrels per year, less than 25% is owned or controlled by a non craft brewery, and the majority of their alcoholic drinks are beer. Sam Adams and DFH both satisfy those requirements.

That might change with the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Act

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sam-adams-is-about-to-be-ki...

Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#35

Post by SippinLean »

jrlocke wrote: post #32

Heady Topper is a great beer, but make no mistake, the astronomical esteem for it stems not from its merits, but from its status as the progenitor of New England style (cloudy) IPAs.

False dichotomy, it really is just a great beer as well.

To your credit when it first hit the scene it stood out a lot more than it does now (there are three craft breweries in my area that release cans of NE-style IPA every month).

Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#36

Post by cnnsucks »

eatbitseveryday wrote: post #6
rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #3

Sounds like the writer liked their beer a little too much to make a balanced piece. It is my understanding that from coast-to-coast, America's most beloved craft brewery is Dogfish Head, and that the most popular craft brewery (by sales volume) is Sam Adams. I have never heard of Heady Topper, and I used to drink like a fish.

Heady Topper isn't sold outside of Vermont, so that is perhaps why you haven't. I was able to purchase one when visiting there after learning the beer has a score of 100 on beeradvocate.com [1] 'Most loved' probably isn't the right wording :) 'Highest rated' probably would be better. [1] https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/27039/16814/

>> Heady Topper isn't sold outside of Vermont

And yet it's "America's most loved"... Never heard of it myself.

Beer hype. I've no doubt someone's gone off the deep end to get their hands on some; people do a lot of stupid things on behalf of the cliques they aspire to. There just seems to be a lot of this when it involves crafty beer stuff.

Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#37

Post by bendykstra »

joezydeco wrote: post #15

I've tried a Heddy Topper (it was offered to me in a restaurant in Burlington), I live near Goose Island, and I've consumed New Glarus in Wisconsin. To me it's all about the scarcity. People waiting overnight for limited-edition brews, crossing state lines to buy exclusive brands...it adds this psychological value to the beer. When you strip that away you're left with another 100+ IBU beer that my palate eventually c…

The amount of competition in the beer world is just incredible. (I just checked with a beer-enthusiast friend and he tried over 1000 different beers just in 2016.) To get people's attention and then to maintain a reputation as a great beer for several years, a beer has to be more than just an extreme example of a certain style. No doubt, though, the ambition to be interesting to aficionados of a given style does push certain beers towards the extreme. These beers are not bad, just niche in their appeal.

There is truth in what you say about the psychological value of scarce beers. However, being hard to acquire cuts both ways in a world of so many alternatives: the beer enthusiasts that I know are quick to dismiss a beer as not worth the effort after one sip.

Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#38

Post by jrlocke »

SippinLean wrote: post #35
jrlocke wrote: post #32

Heady Topper is a great beer, but make no mistake, the astronomical esteem for it stems not from its merits, but from its status as the progenitor of New England style (cloudy) IPAs.

False dichotomy, it really is just a great beer as well. To your credit when it first hit the scene it stood out a lot more than it does now (there are three craft breweries in my area that release cans of NE-style IPA every month).

I agree that it's great, but being 8th on Beer Advocate (4th amongst hoppy beers) is to me too high.

Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#39

Post by beat »

NotSammyHagar wrote: post #11
SirFatty wrote: post #2

who? what?

Never heard of this on the west coast. You mean there is beer made east of the beerocracy states of Washington & Oregon? At least the hops must come from here, right :-) I wish it was available around here, but the legally required liquor industry beer industry middlemen have too much power in what gets imported. In the Seattle area there are dozens of brewerys in the city, plus zillions in surrounding areas. There a…

Many states have great local beers these days. Here in the Twin Cities metro, we have some world-class beers that are as good as anything I've had... Surly Furious, Lift Bridge Farm Girl, Indeed LSD, Sidhe Greenman's Harvest, and the late great Harriet Divine Oculist (Harriet recently closed, sigh).

Whenever I'm traveling, I go out of my way to try the local beers, relying on recommendations from bartenders and local friends. It's always a great experience.

Some years ago, I was at a conference in San Francisco, attended by numerous Europeans. The vendor poured a lot of Anchor Steam beer into us. Some of the Europeans were shocked at how good it was. The only American beers they'd ever had were Bud and Miller Lite, and they thought American beer was awful, until they tried Anchor. I kept telling them we keep the best stuff for ourselves. In practice, that's true even of individual states.

Re: The story of Heady Topper, Americas most loved craft beer

#40

Post by defen »

beat wrote: post #34
defen wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think Pliny the Younger, but earlier in the hype cycle.

If it's as good as Pliny, I might go out of my way to get some!

Couple notes:

1) I don't know where you are, but it's best drunk fresh - I wouldn't recommend paying or trading a lot to get some if you're far away and can't be sure of the provenance (e.g. a month old can that has been improperly refrigerated is not going to be good)

2) It's "like" Pliny in that they are both hoppy double or triple IPAs but still different - Heady isn't filtered, so it doesn't have as clean of a mouthfeel (not necessarily good or bad; just different). You get a bit more of a piney vibe as well as more tropical fruit with Heady in my opinion.

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