Shoutout to My Local Watering Hole

"functionoverfashion" (functionoverfashion) 01/19/2018 at 13:29 • Filed to: None

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I promise this is my last post for today. Probably for the whole weekend, as I tend to disconnect over the weekend to focus entirely on my kids. That’s what everyone says to do, “they’re only little once,” and that’s my mantra, so I really try to give them my full attention when I’m with them.

Anyway, with the craft beer bubble exploding over the past few years, it seems that a HUGE majority of beers are IPA or variations thereof. And I get it; they’re easier to make, or at least faster, and that counts for a lot in the Google era. I mean, walk into an average store and count the number of beers that call themselves pale ale IPA, or hop-something-or-other, and then count the number of beers that have “stout” or “porter” in their names. No contest, right? I do like the hoppy beers, but I also might have a slight hop allergy. I tend to sneeze violently while drinking them, but not every time.

But hey man, dark beers are good too. Especially in the colder months, it’s nice to cuddle up to a nice dense stout by the woodstove, rather than a refreshing session IPA. I’ll drink those all summer long, along with light beers with really no substance at all - because I don’t want to get drunk every Saturday afternoon. But I don’t mind sipping a beer... and I can sip a lot of Coors Light over the course of a day and not consider myself “drunk.” When we come back inside from a couple hours of playing in the snow, throw some wood in the fire and try to thaw out? I’ll take something smooth and full-bodied, dark and complex, malty and dense.

So that’s the point. After a questionable morning at work, I went to the local pub for a pint at lunch time, and the beer tap count was at LEAST 11/26 porters or stouts, with a select few outstanding IPAs still on there, and then the usual variety filling out the rest - Guinness (really it’s own animal), Blue Moon, Budweiser, a hard cider, and a Beer of The Month (brewery of the month) with a few offerings from a light ale to one of the stouts.

This is the way it should be, no? 26 beers on tap that cross the spectrum from high-alcohol, dark, malty, to hop-forward cloudy IPA or double IPA, to lagers and ales. Something for everyone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been to bars lately where they have like 10 beers on tap and 8 of them are some variation of IPA. This place gets it.

Cheers to that.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > functionoverfashion 01/19/2018 at 14:45

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I’ve never really understood the fascination with IPAs. It’s like apple enthusiasts going nuts over the red delicious. It’s a beer that was developed for the same reasons, long shelf life and durability for transportation, hence the increased dose of hops. But most of them now are on such an overload and that ends up being all you can taste.

There’s a craft brewery out of Winnipeg, Torque brewing. As much as I want to support craft brewing in my home province, they seem to have never bothered figuring out what they’re supposed to be doing. I tried the Diesel Fitter which they bill as a stout over the holidays and I was appalled. It looked like a stout, poured like a stout, had the body of a stout, and tasted like another goddamn IPA. Their description is “Dark, roasty and malty with hints of chocolate round out this Torque favourite.” except you can’t taste any of it because the overdose of hops overwhelms ever single other flavour there.

A little hops is a good thing, but too much ruins the beer. Especially when that beer is supposed to be a stout.

functionoverfashion > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee 01/19/2018 at 16:02

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Amen

functionoverfashion > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee 01/19/2018 at 16:03

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I had a beer this summer that was a hoppy Pilsner. I mean, it was good? But why?

interstate366, now In The Industry > gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee 01/19/2018 at 17:45

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Speaking as someone who likes IPAs, you get used to it. Eventually you can discern specific certain hops, certain grains behind the hops, and other flavors.

interstate366, now In The Industry > functionoverfashion 01/19/2018 at 17:46

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Session IPAs are the worst.

gogmorgo - rowing gears in a Grand Cherokee > interstate366, now In The Industry 01/20/2018 at 00:09

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That still doesn’t take away from the fact that the primary flavour of the beer isn’t supposed to be the preservatives. You can still have a hoppy beer like an IPA without it being overpowering, but unfortunately almost all craft brewers seem to have forgotten that and their consumers are ignoring it, to the point where it’s somehow become appropriate to spread the hops overload to other beers... except it’s not at all.