Discussion from 6 years ago:
So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
21–30 of 303 posts
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#22My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…
Couldn't agree more. I live in Oregon, the craft beer center of the universe, and find that the vast majority of craft beers is too overwhelming to actually enjoy. There are more breweries learning how to do good lagers but still few and far between.
To be fair, there's more risk in lagers and other 'light' styles. If you want to produce a consistent product, they're not particularly forgiving to variance in the mash and brewing processes.
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#23My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…
>I have a personal theory that the overwhelming aroma and taste of hops in a beer can be used to mask many errors and missteps in the brewing process, which might be more easily tasted by the customer if it were, for example, a weissbier.
It's not just your personal theory! It's absolutely correct. In my neophyte brewing years if something came out bad, I'd just chuck more hops in the carboy and call it an IPA (back when it was rare and unusual).
It's also arguably not very good for men. Hops are fairly estrogenic. Might help with post-menopausal bone density though! https://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2010-04/beer-...
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#24Running a brewery ends up being more about running a business than actually brewing...
Every corp ends up being much more intensive in the administrative side once the process or product has been standardized or reached a stable version. Isn't this the case for most businesses, including tech?
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#25My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…
I have given up on IBU for predicting hoppiness. After a brewery tour, they said IBU is all subjective, with no quantitative measurement (unlike Scoville units for hot sauce).
After home brewing, I have never had a bad batch. I just use soap and water to clean. Maybe it’s the risk of losing 600 gallons instead of 6. Some of the lambics are exposed to open field air (the one with the monk on the front). Is the cleanliness overblown?
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is a west coast phenomenon, I’ve found the Midwest and east coast to have a lot more variety. It feels in Seattle like beer bars have a “token” stout in the same way that they have a single house wine. Hops must be what sells though.
>Hops must be what sells though. I'm increasingly suspicious that (typically) high relative ABV of high-IBU beers is a significant factor in influencing consumer choice, perhaps moreso than hops enthusiasts would like to admit.
I definitely do fast math of $ vs % alcohol and volume. It’s less that I want to be drunk and more of a “super size me” feeling, like I’m getting a better deal.
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#27My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…
I haven’t seen the appeal of many craft beers beyond the ideal of buying small/local. Pretty much all of my favourite beers come from Latvia. I haven’t tasted much better than I did out there.
Living in Rīga, I like drinking Latvian beer from Labietis, Malduguns, Nurme, Alķīmiķis, Hypnos, and a couple of other breweries.
But I have to say that there are some Estonian breweries that are really world-class, especially Põhjala and Pühaste made some of my favorite beers ever.
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#28My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…
Same here, but for me I swear overly hopped beers are a migraine trigger for me. I have had some beers that will give me a headache before I have even finished them! The bad association was enough for me to no longer like the taste of these beers. I only go for lighter ales/loggers or dark porters/stouts now but the stores are overloaded with extremely hoppy IPAs, but I guess that's what sells unfortunately.
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#29I'd rather we used general terms "So you think you want to sell drugs" Glamorizing drug "tasting" is what's going on here. If we are going to criticize social media, why do drug dealers get a free pass?
Let's not forget coffee, right?
But really, what's wrong with drug tasting?
Re: So You Think You Want to Open a Brewery (2014)
#30My personal taste complaint with a lot of people who open a brewery... Everyone seems to think that more hops = better beer. There are so many other possible flavors and types to a beer than some type of IPA that is absolutely overloaded with hops. But that seems to be a very common type of thing to brew. When I open something and am assaulted with the aroma of hops, it's not appealing anymore. It was interesting 7-8…
And then they start putting lots of kümmel (caraway seed?), corandier, oregano...