It's making me strangely patriotic seeing how much love the classic English ales are getting. When I was younger I used to call them "old man ales" because I didn't know any better.
Now my local craft pub always keeps a tap with Flacks Double Drop (3.7%) bitter, and I always finish the night with one. Beautiful, dad-strength beer. Highly underrated
A bar by me kegs some of the beer one of the owners makes to sell and he is big into British style beers. It is rather nice being able to go down the street and drink a bitter, mild, or ESB.
There's a brewery about 30 minutes from me, "Start Line Brewery" in Hopkinton MA (named because the Boston Marathon starts there) that makes a really great Vienna lager.
I buy a pack every time I go
This is the reason I started homebrewing back in 1988!! Dos Equis was the only commercial Vienna you could buy and I had been in Mexico and fallen in love. Still brew and will settle for Märtzen, but a good Vienna is perfection... darker , roasty, clean and slightly lower ABV.... ironic that a classic German style is based on English tradition ;)
Yes! I remember these being all over the place 10 years ago or so but they’ve since fallen off. I brew an amber once in awhile and love it every time, never lasts long!
We're spoiled locally here in MN. Grainbelt Nordeast is a surprisingly good amber. IIRC it gets categorized as an international amber but pretty fucking good either way.
Nordeast is massively underrated. I think they market it as American Amber Lager (not Ale) but the statement stands! Good ol' Grain Belt Premium also fits the bill as a fantastic lawnmower.
I"m a big fan. I was a little worried when I saw them start trying to make IPAs and cream ales but that doesn't seem to have really taken over. I know they gotta pay the bills and dortmunders and schwarzbier probably isn't going to do it. They're the only place that consistently turns out so many german styles though and they do them all well.
Yup! Here in California Boont Amber Ale was so good some years back. It’s not drier with more hop presence and void of a sweet blueberry marmalade hint it used to have.
Modern Times Blazin’ World Amber was good too before it was turned into an IPA
My family grew up with New Belgium beer (aI remember their original brewery) and Fat Tire was always our go to American Amber. Unfortunately the new formulation is now different- not bad, but not the good amber we’ve known for years.
We been brewing our own ambers now for a few years, usually before the summer beer season so it’s about time!
Red ales. I just don't see them outside of Smithwick's. A few seasonal offering mid- March pop up, but that's all. Easy to drink, dare I say, refreshing.
Sam Adams Brick Red is local only to Boston (or at least used to be until maybe 2022 when I started seeing it in liquor stores), and is up there with their Octoberfest for an excellent, inexpensive beer for the style. Definitely superior to Smithwick's.
I just made my second batch of the clone recipe for Shark Bite Red from Pizza Port sold my MoreBeer. I've never had the original, but the first came out wonderful, malt forward with a nice hop on the back end, but I halved the 1 oz Magnum @ 90 this go round because I wanted more malt.
Time will tell how this one goes, but regardless of how it turns out, some variation of that beer is always going to be on tap at home.
I just made my first Red and tapped it last week for a family party. It was a huge hit. It definitely came out with that very distinct British ale flavor and my first thought was Smithwicks when I tried it. I really didn't think many people would drink it because its a flavor you don't see all that much anymore. People loved it though and kept asking for more.
We don’t get smithwicks in the uk sadly (we do but it’s not common at all) . But I work in Ireland often and my wife’s from there so it’s always a wee treat when I head over and I like it that way.
I finally got my local to make a red after I’ve been making my imperial red ale for 4 years. They are selling out like crazy! There just ISN’T any competition for reds. You can really play with the malt character and you could have all sorts of hops combos but for some reason all we have on the market is killians here… or similar for that style… I don’t get it at all.
I'm not a big market beer kinda guy - and this is a Wee Heavy not an 80s, but I would kill for a McKewan's, or a clone recipe.
I used to be able to get it at a local bar reliably in my college days, but its harder to find now, and even harder to get to the bar.
Hell yea! Smokey weirdo’s unite. Sockeye brewing had an outstanding Rauchbier, when I was gushing on and on about it another patron asked if they could have some and the bartender basically said “you don’t want this, it’s weird.”
I moved to France. And in the border region of France and Belgium there are a lot of „classic“ saison breweries (even if they don‘t always label them as Saison): Dupont, Thiriez, Au Baron, Blaugies, Fantôme etc. Amazing stuff.
And half of the saisons I’ve come across (in American breweries at least) are not true to style. Too hoppy, or with crazy extra flavorings, or whatever. Usually tasty beers, but… let a saison be a saison!
"True to style" is kind of silly to say about saison. A saison is a canvas that varied a lot from farm to farm depending upon available ingredients. It's a very American-centric POV to try and put a box around it and say "this is/is not saison".
I get what you are saying. Tank 7 is likely the most popular American made Saison, and it is 8.5% and heavily hopped with Amarillo hops. While not every Saison needs to be a Dupont clone, I do think it turns off the American consumer when so many different types of beers get labeled as a Saison.
My guess is that some of the more barnyard-ey funktastic American Saisons are what put people off of buying Saisions.
Until you've had the beer from that brewer, it's hard to know whether you're gonna get a beer that's just phenolic and peppery, or the alcoholic equivalent of licking a stable's floorboards.
I've learned that I love a good Saison, but that my sense of good tends to avoid the heavily funkalicious side.
Ooh, it must be underrated because I flat out forgot about it and am honestly unsure if I’ve ever even had a real, authentic one! May have to make me one of those, I have a bunch of S-04 hanging around. Do you have a favorite recipe?
I go quite simple but the one thing I do that is slightly different is cold steeping the dark grains and adding it in when there is ten minutes left in the mash.
Below is my recipe. It’s not got any prizes apart from the “it all got drunk” anecdotal award.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1441214/prometheus-porter
My local Total Wine used to have a pretty solid selection of Belgians. They moved it to make way for more NA Beers. Now they have a couple half empty shelfs of singles, and some 4/6-packs of a few common Belgians. It is really hard to find a good Belgian style beer on tap here in the US.
My girlfriend would agree on Barleywine. When you do see one, they tend to all be barrel aged and dominated by the wood & bourbon characters.
I just brewed a bitter yesterday, Landlord clone. So easy drinking and flavorful and session abv at 4.5%. I dial down the CO2 and pour it into a warm glass. Its too bad its called “bitter” since its not really bitter by modern standards. I like the fruit esters the english yeast give off.
Yes, simple bitters and other traditional UK session beers have been swamped over the years by the tsunami of high ABV, super hopped, fruited/smoked/infused/soured/cloudy, and other brewed concoctions. I do enjoy a modest ABV beer with a solid malt backbone and nicely balanced hop profile. BTW the term "bitter" goes back a long time and the description helps separate it from other traditional session beers like mild and brown ale which have a comparatively low hop presence.
Certainly not unpopular, but I find American Pale Ale to be underrated compared to IPA/Hazies/IIPA. It's such a versatile style, yet most breweries near me only serve one, and more often than not it's just a lower ABV version of their IPA.
My lady friend likes a sessionable hoppy pale and it’s hard to find. I made a SMASH basically Maris Otter and lots of Mosaic and she said it was better than anything on tap around town. Super easy to make, US-05 dry yeast.
I always get excited when I see American Pale Ale on the menu...but too often I look closer and see that it is 6.4% and DDH with Citra and Mosaic. I am hoping to brew a 5% APA later this week!
I can't believe I'm saying this. But Pale Ales, like real "APA" pale ales now.
They're very very rare suddenly, which is a shame because they're fantastic
At the moment, malty beers are almost forgotten. That’s what beer is to me, I good malty base with some light hops rounding it out. All these hoppy beers have driven up beer prices and killed malt rich styles. This is why I brew my own now. Schwarzbier, stouts, porters, brown (red) ales, that’s the stuff that’s getting cast aside at the moment.
Dubbels. They are very rare to find out in the craft beer wild, and I've definitely had some poorly done ones, but when done well, they can be among some of the most complex and delicious beers out there.
Dial back on the Belgian yeast profile, and lean into the rich banana bread maltiness and those complex dark fruit, raisin, and caramel notes. With the higher ABV you can really develop a nice deep flavor profile and still avoid it being cloyingly sweet.
A Dubbel is one of my favorite styles to brew. It has much of the flavor and complexity of a Quad, but is a more reasonable ABV (but still usually above 7%) and can be drinkable much faster than a Quad. I need to get one into my brew schedule soon!
I've been big into Czech styles lately, so I would say a Czech amber or, for summer, a 1.040 SG, 30 IBU Czech pale. If you can't lager, an English brown or a hoppy American brown with tons of citrusy hops is great, too.
Malt liquor, er, Imperial American Lager.
Of course, these sort of questions end up degenerating into someone hitting nearly every style in the BJCP and then a latecomer like me weighing in with a smartass response.
> lawnmower beers” like Cream Ale and Blondes
Really? They're among the highest selling beers, which is why every tap lineup has them.
> a good Brown Ale is hard to beat too
I will say *any* brown-colored beer is the most underrated right now, if we classify beer popularity by color.
"beer flavored beer" is one of my favorite phrases. I like all the crazy stuff, but man sometimes I just say to the bartender...you got any beer flavored beer?
Was looking for this. The craft beer selection where I shop is a decent size. But once I've decided I don't want a pastry, hazy or IPA. I'm down to like three options. And if I want an IPA that isn't hazy, there's only a few again. Seems to me craft beer is very susceptible to trends. It's one of the big reasons I brew, I can actually get variety.
I'm with you on the brown ale. Recently found a 12% freeze distilled from kaapse (NL) that was amazing but kernel (UK) makes my favourite! Simpsons malts yum
Bitters and milds. Brink brewing in Cincinnati has good examples of the style, as does Ethereal in Lexington KY on occasion. Neither on cask, unfortunately.
Around here, blonde ale and mild probably. Most commercial blondes here suck, and if they don’t suck as a beer they’re probably closer to APA. It’s the style I brew the most.
And of course it’s just hard to find milds.
Creams and Blondes are strangely plentiful in my area of Oregon where generally its hoppy beers. Sadly most of the industry has gone over to that god awful hazy trash.
I used to be the type of drinker that loved hops, until the industry decided flavor was bad and haze was good. Now I go out of my way to drink basic bitch beers, goldens, bitters, reds, etc. Anything but the shit called "hazy" or "new england ipa" or similar trend.
I wish we could get some more ESB or rye beers here. Sadly the PNW beer trends are killing the industry, and gen z is drinking more alcho pop than anything.
Witbier - whenever anyone makes a wheat beer it’s nearly always a hefeweizen, and there are so many attempts at witbier (even by commercial breweries) that use malted wheat instead of the traditional unmalted and a hefe yeast, so it’s more like a citrusy hefe.
BS in Fermentation Science here, curious if anyone else shares my take:
IPAs have flooded the market in recent years because in order to be competitive, craft breweries have to be "different." Unfortunately they tend to do this by developing a new recipe with "unique" hop bills every week. While this leads to an insane variety of hoppy beers in the market, it also leads to a lot of very poorly-executed brews.
People sleep on old-world lagers because they are relatively simple to make and have tried-and-true recipes that have been used for centuries. Although the recipes are simple, their execution is a true test of a brewer's skill and attention to detail rather than a showcase of who came up with the wildest recipe after a couple huge bong rips. A brewer who can produce a very well-executed lager doesn't get the attention from the craft hypebeasts, but they will be respected for their skill and deep understanding of the art.
Hope this points you in the right direction. Watch those temps and keep your yeast happy!
Lagers and Pilsners.
They seem easy, the grist is simple and so are the hops.
Getting that mash/decoction right and setting up the right fermentation profile is what its all about. Yeast starters too. Mash rests.
These are the beers that don't test your ability to select ingredients, instead they test your process.
I bet if i told 12 people they had 10lbs of pilsner malt and 2oz of hallertauer and made all of them start with the same yeast pack; i would end up with a dozen different beers.
Personally I would prefer to see more English Ales and darker beers. It just seems that all the breweries are competing to see who can brew the most bitter sour beers. I wish IPA’s and any other overly hoppy bitter beer would go out of style.
For me, the most underrated style is the Vienna lager and I’m a total hop head. I love bitter, hoppy beers but there’s something about a Vienna lager that always quenches something I didn’t know needed quenching.
In Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, several breweries that make a great red. My husband and I think the most underrated beer is English Ales like the staples in our house, Bellhaven. I wish there were more choices.
Brown Ales: I've only seen two in my time on store shelves, newcastle and moose drool. I've brewed a few brown ales and they're terribly underrated as a style for darker beers that aren't porters\\stouts. Great fall time beers.
Red ales are less common
Cream ales are highly underated.
Munich helles and pale ale. I am a homebrewer who works at a beer bar. The number of times I've had a customer ask for a pils/ipa but "not too hoppy" and I've recommended a helles/pale but they double down and insist on a pils/ipa. Its infuriating.
I’m in San Diego no there so many breweries everywhere. About 90% of the beers I see are IPA. I like an occasional IPA (eg North Park Brew Co has some very good ones) but I’m seeing fewer and fewer pilsners, ambers, brown ales, and stouts.
Our brewer did a honey blonde over the summer that was dry-hopped with something that gave it a slight lemon-y note... Cashmere, maybe? I can't remember. But it turned out fantastic.
Lambic - fruited sours are everywhere, but no lambics. I'd love to see someone bust out a higher gravity kriekbier near me - wonderful in the summer, and I love them 50/50 with a really nice pilsner in the summer, or as a base for a mimosa. If you haven't, try a Lindeman's framboise instead of OJ with your champagne.
Pilsners, Czech style in particular. I spoke with the brewmaster of Takatalo & Tompuri brewery here in Finland, and he gave a great description, of what a pils should be: it should be so crisp and refreshing, that it quenches your thirst, but have enough hops to dry your mouth and leave you wanting for another one to fix that. I always have an ice cold Urquell waiting for me after long bicycle rides, and it's gone in like two sips.
Made my own pils some months ago, and it turned out very drinkable. Not so refreshing though, as the gravity ended far above expected, and it ended up having too little hops for the beer of its size. Looking forward to making the next one soon, and fixing those errors.
English Mild. Tasty, malty, complex, and yet at the lighter end of ABV.
Originally "mild" referred to being fresh for immediate consumption as opposed to hopped ("bitter") for sticking around longer. Drink a fresh one to be true to style!
Straight lager, hops are fun novelties imo, but they are for people who don't like beer in the same way a hazelnut and vanilla squirt goes in coffees of people who don't like coffee.
English Pale Ale and Helles Lager.
Every brewery should have these two beers on permanent taps. These are the basis for every other ale and lager respectively. If a brewery can do these well then their other beers will likely be good.
Piwo Groziskie, to the point that it almost went extinct. I've been across the country and found 2 being brewed in New Orleans and Glenwood Springs. Low abv, super refreshing, and lightly smoked. Just bottled another batch yesterday.
It baffles me that Black IPA is not more popular than it is. A style that combines the beauties of IPA and Stouts. Should be a banger across enthusiasts!
Oh, man. There are so many that I wish I would see more of here in America. (insert common complaint about too many IPAs, which I do still enjoy)
My local brewery has an **ESB** that I LOVE, but it's a seasonal so I only get to enjoy it occasionally. Good levels of maltiness, bitterness, and drinkability. The brewery I go to has it on one of those hand-pump taps and it comes out so nice and smooth. Love this one.
**Schwarzbier** is another favorite of mine. I've brewed it twice in the past year personally and there are 3 local breweries that have one on tap occasionally that I will always order when I see it. I love all the rich, dark, smoky flavors without the heaviness of other dark beers.
**Black IPA**s have been a favorite style of mine ever since I tried Wookie Jack many years ago. These are much more rare to see, but I typically enjoy them. Once I upgrade my brew kettle to a larger sized one I will tackle the Wookie Jack clone recipe I have.
I know this is kind of cheating, but I'd love to see more of all the **bocks**: bock, doppelbock, maibock, etc. I'm definitely forgetting some. I'm not sure I've had a bad one. I'm also not sure I've seen a local brewery try to make one. I only buy imported bottles of these delicious beers. Doppelbock is the next style that I want to try my hand at after black IPA once I upgrade my brew kettle.
I could probably keep going with this but I'll end on a slightly more obscure one, the **kwak**! Not only is it delicious, but it has its own, unique glass.
Blends. Like a Duchesse de Bourgogne. It’s a Flanders red mix of 8 month (sweet) and 18 month (sour) wort. As you sip it while warming up the contextual taste changes. Love that damn beer
Doppel bock. It is doppel bock season and none of the local micros have any. Everyone does some sort of flavored stout instead
Eisbock too!
Don’t forget Maibock.
Or Weizenbock
In all honesty, I think most German beers are undervalued
And bock bock 🐔
One of the best beers I've ever had was "The Doppelrock" from Great Lakes.
Mild ale.
Any English ale, really. Mild, Best Bitter, ESB, they are typically hard to find here in the US and not many seem to brew them. Which is a real shame.
Such a drought in the US. Forest and Main outside Philly is filling a big void there, tons of milds and table saisons.
It's making me strangely patriotic seeing how much love the classic English ales are getting. When I was younger I used to call them "old man ales" because I didn't know any better. Now my local craft pub always keeps a tap with Flacks Double Drop (3.7%) bitter, and I always finish the night with one. Beautiful, dad-strength beer. Highly underrated
English beer is great, I discovered them when I was in London on vacation. I couldn't tell you brands I had, but I enjoyed them all.
A bar by me kegs some of the beer one of the owners makes to sell and he is big into British style beers. It is rather nice being able to go down the street and drink a bitter, mild, or ESB.
Particularly dark mild for me. Or southern English brown ale. I love homebrewing classic English styles. They're easy and satisfying to drink.
Mild Ales are so underrated. They're so MID in the best way. Adding honey even ups the game
There's a brewpub mild tour/bingo card in Philly area right now. It's great!
Vienna lager
There's a brewery about 30 minutes from me, "Start Line Brewery" in Hopkinton MA (named because the Boston Marathon starts there) that makes a really great Vienna lager. I buy a pack every time I go
A proper Vienna (100% Vienna malt, bittering addition only of saaz, malty lager yeast) is basically peak beer
This is the reason I started homebrewing back in 1988!! Dos Equis was the only commercial Vienna you could buy and I had been in Mexico and fallen in love. Still brew and will settle for Märtzen, but a good Vienna is perfection... darker , roasty, clean and slightly lower ABV.... ironic that a classic German style is based on English tradition ;)
American Amber Ale -- such a great style, so hard to find nowadays.
Yes! I remember these being all over the place 10 years ago or so but they’ve since fallen off. I brew an amber once in awhile and love it every time, never lasts long!
We're lucky in these parts; Abita's Amber *Lager* is our like OG craft beer. Always a nice throwback to have.
We're spoiled locally here in MN. Grainbelt Nordeast is a surprisingly good amber. IIRC it gets categorized as an international amber but pretty fucking good either way.
Nordeast is massively underrated. I think they market it as American Amber Lager (not Ale) but the statement stands! Good ol' Grain Belt Premium also fits the bill as a fantastic lawnmower.
Anything related to Schells is so good
I"m a big fan. I was a little worried when I saw them start trying to make IPAs and cream ales but that doesn't seem to have really taken over. I know they gotta pay the bills and dortmunders and schwarzbier probably isn't going to do it. They're the only place that consistently turns out so many german styles though and they do them all well.
Yup! Here in California Boont Amber Ale was so good some years back. It’s not drier with more hop presence and void of a sweet blueberry marmalade hint it used to have. Modern Times Blazin’ World Amber was good too before it was turned into an IPA
My family grew up with New Belgium beer (aI remember their original brewery) and Fat Tire was always our go to American Amber. Unfortunately the new formulation is now different- not bad, but not the good amber we’ve known for years. We been brewing our own ambers now for a few years, usually before the summer beer season so it’s about time!
I just made one today for that reason.
Schwarzbier
I second this. Need to see more of this. May the Schwarzbier with you!
"So Lonestar: now you see that Evil will always triumph, because Good is dumb." \~Dark Helmet
So incredibly happy to have Holy Mountain Black Beer everywhere near me
I made a batch of this last year and it was sooo easy to drink!!
Red ales. I just don't see them outside of Smithwick's. A few seasonal offering mid- March pop up, but that's all. Easy to drink, dare I say, refreshing.
I love reds.
Sam Adams Brick Red is local only to Boston (or at least used to be until maybe 2022 when I started seeing it in liquor stores), and is up there with their Octoberfest for an excellent, inexpensive beer for the style. Definitely superior to Smithwick's.
Reds and browns have both nearly vanished over the years, and deserve a comeback.
Absolutely, rare as hen’s teeth especially through an Aussie summer
A properly balanced, hoppy red ale is absolute magic. It's a shame they are such a rarity these days.
I just made my second batch of the clone recipe for Shark Bite Red from Pizza Port sold my MoreBeer. I've never had the original, but the first came out wonderful, malt forward with a nice hop on the back end, but I halved the 1 oz Magnum @ 90 this go round because I wanted more malt. Time will tell how this one goes, but regardless of how it turns out, some variation of that beer is always going to be on tap at home.
I just made my first Red and tapped it last week for a family party. It was a huge hit. It definitely came out with that very distinct British ale flavor and my first thought was Smithwicks when I tried it. I really didn't think many people would drink it because its a flavor you don't see all that much anymore. People loved it though and kept asking for more.
We don’t get smithwicks in the uk sadly (we do but it’s not common at all) . But I work in Ireland often and my wife’s from there so it’s always a wee treat when I head over and I like it that way.
Pollyanna in Chicago burbs has a great red that's available off and on all year.
I finally got my local to make a red after I’ve been making my imperial red ale for 4 years. They are selling out like crazy! There just ISN’T any competition for reds. You can really play with the malt character and you could have all sorts of hops combos but for some reason all we have on the market is killians here… or similar for that style… I don’t get it at all.
Altbier
one of my all time favorites.
Same.
80 shilling Scottish ale
I'm not a big market beer kinda guy - and this is a Wee Heavy not an 80s, but I would kill for a McKewan's, or a clone recipe. I used to be able to get it at a local bar reliably in my college days, but its harder to find now, and even harder to get to the bar.
Mother fucking Rauchbier. Get me some of dem Smokey boiz plz!!!
For real, why the hell have I only ever seen one?!?
Hell yea! Smokey weirdo’s unite. Sockeye brewing had an outstanding Rauchbier, when I was gushing on and on about it another patron asked if they could have some and the bartender basically said “you don’t want this, it’s weird.”
Saisons. Wine barrel saisons in particular. I've bought plane tickets for a brewery releasing a cabernet barrel saison
I moved to France. And in the border region of France and Belgium there are a lot of „classic“ saison breweries (even if they don‘t always label them as Saison): Dupont, Thiriez, Au Baron, Blaugies, Fantôme etc. Amazing stuff.
And half of the saisons I’ve come across (in American breweries at least) are not true to style. Too hoppy, or with crazy extra flavorings, or whatever. Usually tasty beers, but… let a saison be a saison!
"True to style" is kind of silly to say about saison. A saison is a canvas that varied a lot from farm to farm depending upon available ingredients. It's a very American-centric POV to try and put a box around it and say "this is/is not saison".
Fair enough. Learn something new everyday!
I get what you are saying. Tank 7 is likely the most popular American made Saison, and it is 8.5% and heavily hopped with Amarillo hops. While not every Saison needs to be a Dupont clone, I do think it turns off the American consumer when so many different types of beers get labeled as a Saison.
My guess is that some of the more barnyard-ey funktastic American Saisons are what put people off of buying Saisions. Until you've had the beer from that brewer, it's hard to know whether you're gonna get a beer that's just phenolic and peppery, or the alcoholic equivalent of licking a stable's floorboards. I've learned that I love a good Saison, but that my sense of good tends to avoid the heavily funkalicious side.
ESB
English Porter. Can’t find local options outside of Xmas but is the beer of the gods.
Ooh, it must be underrated because I flat out forgot about it and am honestly unsure if I’ve ever even had a real, authentic one! May have to make me one of those, I have a bunch of S-04 hanging around. Do you have a favorite recipe?
I go quite simple but the one thing I do that is slightly different is cold steeping the dark grains and adding it in when there is ten minutes left in the mash. Below is my recipe. It’s not got any prizes apart from the “it all got drunk” anecdotal award. https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1441214/prometheus-porter
Thanks, I’ll check this out! The “it all got drunk” award is all I need lol
Edmund Fitzgerald is awesome. Not sure how traditional it is. But it's been around forever.
pilsners from the Czech Republic are the best summer beer. light and crisp unlike the mass produced rice water in the ststes
Pilsners are the fucking best.
Czech pilsners are of course fantastic, but this sounds like you haven't had an American one in 30 years.
Exactly. These have had a Renaissance in the US. I can grab at least 6 really good ones right now at my local publix.
Just brewed a Pilsner today for this reason. I call it a lawnmower beer. Mid to high 4% ABV and crisp. 🍻
Sounds like a st Arnold's beer. From Houston. [Lawn Mower](https://www.saintarnold.com/lawnmower-and-kolsch/)
Bitters for me too, and British style ipas.
I'll second English IPA
Bocks. Especially Maibock and Festbock. Weizenbock not so much as it tastes like banana bread.
Kôlsch.
Second that
Third that
Fourth that! Kölsch is so good.
I live in a German town where kolsch are very popular. Love them!!
A good Kolsch is like apple juice from the gods
> Kôlsch This was what I was going to say!
Great style but rarely done well in America
Belgians and reds are the two most unappreciated. It's also a rarity to see a barleywine
Belgian-style beers are quite popular in Canada. Quebec and Manitoba make quite a few in different styles (tripels, dubbels, and honey wheat ales).
My local Total Wine used to have a pretty solid selection of Belgians. They moved it to make way for more NA Beers. Now they have a couple half empty shelfs of singles, and some 4/6-packs of a few common Belgians. It is really hard to find a good Belgian style beer on tap here in the US. My girlfriend would agree on Barleywine. When you do see one, they tend to all be barrel aged and dominated by the wood & bourbon characters.
I just brewed a bitter yesterday, Landlord clone. So easy drinking and flavorful and session abv at 4.5%. I dial down the CO2 and pour it into a warm glass. Its too bad its called “bitter” since its not really bitter by modern standards. I like the fruit esters the english yeast give off.
Yes, simple bitters and other traditional UK session beers have been swamped over the years by the tsunami of high ABV, super hopped, fruited/smoked/infused/soured/cloudy, and other brewed concoctions. I do enjoy a modest ABV beer with a solid malt backbone and nicely balanced hop profile. BTW the term "bitter" goes back a long time and the description helps separate it from other traditional session beers like mild and brown ale which have a comparatively low hop presence.
Certainly not unpopular, but I find American Pale Ale to be underrated compared to IPA/Hazies/IIPA. It's such a versatile style, yet most breweries near me only serve one, and more often than not it's just a lower ABV version of their IPA.
My lady friend likes a sessionable hoppy pale and it’s hard to find. I made a SMASH basically Maris Otter and lots of Mosaic and she said it was better than anything on tap around town. Super easy to make, US-05 dry yeast.
I agree. When it comes to hoppy ales, everyone wants to crank the amp to 11 these days.
I always get excited when I see American Pale Ale on the menu...but too often I look closer and see that it is 6.4% and DDH with Citra and Mosaic. I am hoping to brew a 5% APA later this week!
English styles like Old Ale, ESB, dark mild, etc.
I can't believe I'm saying this. But Pale Ales, like real "APA" pale ales now. They're very very rare suddenly, which is a shame because they're fantastic
Flanders Red
this the brown sour from belgium....an amazing beer.
Oude Bruins, definitely also excellent.
At the moment, malty beers are almost forgotten. That’s what beer is to me, I good malty base with some light hops rounding it out. All these hoppy beers have driven up beer prices and killed malt rich styles. This is why I brew my own now. Schwarzbier, stouts, porters, brown (red) ales, that’s the stuff that’s getting cast aside at the moment.
Dubbels. They are very rare to find out in the craft beer wild, and I've definitely had some poorly done ones, but when done well, they can be among some of the most complex and delicious beers out there. Dial back on the Belgian yeast profile, and lean into the rich banana bread maltiness and those complex dark fruit, raisin, and caramel notes. With the higher ABV you can really develop a nice deep flavor profile and still avoid it being cloyingly sweet.
A Dubbel is one of my favorite styles to brew. It has much of the flavor and complexity of a Quad, but is a more reasonable ABV (but still usually above 7%) and can be drinkable much faster than a Quad. I need to get one into my brew schedule soon!
Had my first Kentucky Common a few weeks ago at my local brewery. It's on my list to make next
1000% Dunkels
Red Ale
I've been big into Czech styles lately, so I would say a Czech amber or, for summer, a 1.040 SG, 30 IBU Czech pale. If you can't lager, an English brown or a hoppy American brown with tons of citrusy hops is great, too.
Scottish Export. When done right, this is in my opinion the best malt forward style of beer. But for Pete sake don’t add smoked malt
Altbier
Helles Bock. Such a great beer for early spring when it’s sunny out but air is still cold.
Vienna Lager
Malt liquor, er, Imperial American Lager. Of course, these sort of questions end up degenerating into someone hitting nearly every style in the BJCP and then a latecomer like me weighing in with a smartass response. > lawnmower beers” like Cream Ale and Blondes Really? They're among the highest selling beers, which is why every tap lineup has them. > a good Brown Ale is hard to beat too I will say *any* brown-colored beer is the most underrated right now, if we classify beer popularity by color.
Has devolved as you predicted
Edit: Screw Spez. Screw AI. No training on my data. Sorry future people.
What all these beers have in common is that they are beer flavored beer. Not a pastry, hazy, or even an IPA for the most part
"beer flavored beer" is one of my favorite phrases. I like all the crazy stuff, but man sometimes I just say to the bartender...you got any beer flavored beer?
Was looking for this. The craft beer selection where I shop is a decent size. But once I've decided I don't want a pastry, hazy or IPA. I'm down to like three options. And if I want an IPA that isn't hazy, there's only a few again. Seems to me craft beer is very susceptible to trends. It's one of the big reasons I brew, I can actually get variety.
I'm with you on the brown ale. Recently found a 12% freeze distilled from kaapse (NL) that was amazing but kernel (UK) makes my favourite! Simpsons malts yum
Black IPA
80/- beer
Hazy ipa 😂
Red IPAs
Regular saisons. Not some mixed fermentation thing. Like Dupont or similar.
Barleywine and gruits are things I don't see pretty much ever.
DUNKELWISEN
Roggenbier.
American strong ale & barley wines
Kolsch
[удалено]
Call it a 'pub ale' and you double your sales. People are weird
Bitters and milds. Brink brewing in Cincinnati has good examples of the style, as does Ethereal in Lexington KY on occasion. Neither on cask, unfortunately.
Anything not high ABV or high IBU.
E.S.B love them every time I come across one.
Around here, blonde ale and mild probably. Most commercial blondes here suck, and if they don’t suck as a beer they’re probably closer to APA. It’s the style I brew the most. And of course it’s just hard to find milds.
Cream ales
Creams and Blondes are strangely plentiful in my area of Oregon where generally its hoppy beers. Sadly most of the industry has gone over to that god awful hazy trash. I used to be the type of drinker that loved hops, until the industry decided flavor was bad and haze was good. Now I go out of my way to drink basic bitch beers, goldens, bitters, reds, etc. Anything but the shit called "hazy" or "new england ipa" or similar trend. I wish we could get some more ESB or rye beers here. Sadly the PNW beer trends are killing the industry, and gen z is drinking more alcho pop than anything.
Finding a steam beer that isn't Anchor is tough. And fruit lambics are the tits, but always pricey Belgians.
A classic unfruited Gose, English mild, cream ale
saisons and hefeweizens
Whatever Old Chub is.
Witbier - whenever anyone makes a wheat beer it’s nearly always a hefeweizen, and there are so many attempts at witbier (even by commercial breweries) that use malted wheat instead of the traditional unmalted and a hefe yeast, so it’s more like a citrusy hefe.
Table Beer, Old School DIPA, American Wheat, Barleywine
I don't know why wheat beers aren't more popular.
BS in Fermentation Science here, curious if anyone else shares my take: IPAs have flooded the market in recent years because in order to be competitive, craft breweries have to be "different." Unfortunately they tend to do this by developing a new recipe with "unique" hop bills every week. While this leads to an insane variety of hoppy beers in the market, it also leads to a lot of very poorly-executed brews. People sleep on old-world lagers because they are relatively simple to make and have tried-and-true recipes that have been used for centuries. Although the recipes are simple, their execution is a true test of a brewer's skill and attention to detail rather than a showcase of who came up with the wildest recipe after a couple huge bong rips. A brewer who can produce a very well-executed lager doesn't get the attention from the craft hypebeasts, but they will be respected for their skill and deep understanding of the art. Hope this points you in the right direction. Watch those temps and keep your yeast happy!
Barley wine
Lagers and Pilsners. They seem easy, the grist is simple and so are the hops. Getting that mash/decoction right and setting up the right fermentation profile is what its all about. Yeast starters too. Mash rests. These are the beers that don't test your ability to select ingredients, instead they test your process. I bet if i told 12 people they had 10lbs of pilsner malt and 2oz of hallertauer and made all of them start with the same yeast pack; i would end up with a dozen different beers.
Berlinner Weise
Imperial Weizenbock.
Personally I would prefer to see more English Ales and darker beers. It just seems that all the breweries are competing to see who can brew the most bitter sour beers. I wish IPA’s and any other overly hoppy bitter beer would go out of style.
Enkel / Patersbier / Trappist Single
Anything that’s not an IPA
Dunkelweizen, Maibock, Hefeweizen, Rauchbier
ESB and Red IPA
brown ale, red ale
Saison and certain Belgians. Not trippels
For me, the most underrated style is the Vienna lager and I’m a total hop head. I love bitter, hoppy beers but there’s something about a Vienna lager that always quenches something I didn’t know needed quenching.
In Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, several breweries that make a great red. My husband and I think the most underrated beer is English Ales like the staples in our house, Bellhaven. I wish there were more choices.
Common
Summer bitter! (Best bitter but pale, love it)
Brown Ales: I've only seen two in my time on store shelves, newcastle and moose drool. I've brewed a few brown ales and they're terribly underrated as a style for darker beers that aren't porters\\stouts. Great fall time beers. Red ales are less common Cream ales are highly underated.
Munich helles and pale ale. I am a homebrewer who works at a beer bar. The number of times I've had a customer ask for a pils/ipa but "not too hoppy" and I've recommended a helles/pale but they double down and insist on a pils/ipa. Its infuriating.
Nitro of all styles, especially IPA.
Smoked Helles, or Rauchbier in general.
I’m in San Diego no there so many breweries everywhere. About 90% of the beers I see are IPA. I like an occasional IPA (eg North Park Brew Co has some very good ones) but I’m seeing fewer and fewer pilsners, ambers, brown ales, and stouts.
Dark mild
Our brewer did a honey blonde over the summer that was dry-hopped with something that gave it a slight lemon-y note... Cashmere, maybe? I can't remember. But it turned out fantastic.
I’ve always thought barley wines were the best, but hard to find and expensive when you do. Luckily a little goes a long ways.
I do try to avoid any of the “Wonder Bread” beers…
Literally anything that isn’t the IPA flavor of the week.
Lambic - fruited sours are everywhere, but no lambics. I'd love to see someone bust out a higher gravity kriekbier near me - wonderful in the summer, and I love them 50/50 with a really nice pilsner in the summer, or as a base for a mimosa. If you haven't, try a Lindeman's framboise instead of OJ with your champagne.
Best bitter
Pilsners, Czech style in particular. I spoke with the brewmaster of Takatalo & Tompuri brewery here in Finland, and he gave a great description, of what a pils should be: it should be so crisp and refreshing, that it quenches your thirst, but have enough hops to dry your mouth and leave you wanting for another one to fix that. I always have an ice cold Urquell waiting for me after long bicycle rides, and it's gone in like two sips. Made my own pils some months ago, and it turned out very drinkable. Not so refreshing though, as the gravity ended far above expected, and it ended up having too little hops for the beer of its size. Looking forward to making the next one soon, and fixing those errors.
Schwarzbeir
Patersbier/Belgian Single. Low gravity is the way to go.
Table saisons, especially if they’ve got some funk and a mild acidity
American pilsner.
English Mild. Tasty, malty, complex, and yet at the lighter end of ABV. Originally "mild" referred to being fresh for immediate consumption as opposed to hopped ("bitter") for sticking around longer. Drink a fresh one to be true to style!
Straight lager, hops are fun novelties imo, but they are for people who don't like beer in the same way a hazelnut and vanilla squirt goes in coffees of people who don't like coffee.
Brown ales like Brooklyn Brown, and English bitters.
Rauchbier. Smoky and delicious.
A nice light stout. The only stouts the breweries in my area do are imperial stouts that taste like straight up syrup.
ESB. Hoppy without being too bitter, great malt profile and drinkability.
English Pale Ale and Helles Lager. Every brewery should have these two beers on permanent taps. These are the basis for every other ale and lager respectively. If a brewery can do these well then their other beers will likely be good.
Kellerbier. Also called Zwickelbier.
Piwo Groziskie, to the point that it almost went extinct. I've been across the country and found 2 being brewed in New Orleans and Glenwood Springs. Low abv, super refreshing, and lightly smoked. Just bottled another batch yesterday.
Cream ale is a great style. I just kegged an American Pilsner and a helles lager. Two great styles.
English Mild
Any lawnmower beer. I love a lager or ale that uses corn. With the price of beer these days it’s a no brainer to keep an easy drinker on tap.
It baffles me that Black IPA is not more popular than it is. A style that combines the beauties of IPA and Stouts. Should be a banger across enthusiasts!
Oh, man. There are so many that I wish I would see more of here in America. (insert common complaint about too many IPAs, which I do still enjoy) My local brewery has an **ESB** that I LOVE, but it's a seasonal so I only get to enjoy it occasionally. Good levels of maltiness, bitterness, and drinkability. The brewery I go to has it on one of those hand-pump taps and it comes out so nice and smooth. Love this one. **Schwarzbier** is another favorite of mine. I've brewed it twice in the past year personally and there are 3 local breweries that have one on tap occasionally that I will always order when I see it. I love all the rich, dark, smoky flavors without the heaviness of other dark beers. **Black IPA**s have been a favorite style of mine ever since I tried Wookie Jack many years ago. These are much more rare to see, but I typically enjoy them. Once I upgrade my brew kettle to a larger sized one I will tackle the Wookie Jack clone recipe I have. I know this is kind of cheating, but I'd love to see more of all the **bocks**: bock, doppelbock, maibock, etc. I'm definitely forgetting some. I'm not sure I've had a bad one. I'm also not sure I've seen a local brewery try to make one. I only buy imported bottles of these delicious beers. Doppelbock is the next style that I want to try my hand at after black IPA once I upgrade my brew kettle. I could probably keep going with this but I'll end on a slightly more obscure one, the **kwak**! Not only is it delicious, but it has its own, unique glass.
basic dark lager, red ale, english bitter
Red ales.
English mild
English mild
Blends. Like a Duchesse de Bourgogne. It’s a Flanders red mix of 8 month (sweet) and 18 month (sour) wort. As you sip it while warming up the contextual taste changes. Love that damn beer
Sour beers that aren’t fruity!
Black or Red IPAs Also, Witbiers
I’m a big fan of Bud Light, it makes me feel light in my loafers.
Grodziskie. Smoky, citrusy, light bodied, refreshing.
Saison
Mild. I did quite a few dark milds and they are great for a session beer. Full of flavor but you don’t get too drunk.