Comments on: Taking a Tip From the Italians

By: Pivní Filosof

Pivní Filosof — Fri, 02 May 2008 16:42:00 +0000

There is nothing wrong with the session beer. I love it. After all, session beers are the ones you are most likely to be sharing with friends. That in itself is great, and even better if you are drinking a good beer that you know you can drink a fair amount of without fearing the consequences the day after.
Or what about thirst quenchers? What more noble purpose for a drink than that?
I think beer people tend to look too much at ratings, there is where the extreme beers tend to do better than their more humble session counterparts. And that shows the sort of twisted idea of rating, it gives the impression that everything is measured, or must be measured, with the same bar.

By: E.S. Delia

E.S. Delia — Fri, 02 May 2008 14:25:42 +0000

I’ll admit that we do lack many sessionable beers here in the US, and it’s something I’d like to see more of from our brewers. American beer writer Lew Bryson has even waged a campaign to bring back the session beer.

I’ll also admit that some of my favorite beers of 2007 were not “extreme.” The Mad River Double IPA is a little misleading; it’s actually not as bitter and in-your-face as the style appears, which is one of the reasons I enjoyed it so much.

By: Pivní Filosof

Pivní Filosof — Fri, 02 May 2008 13:52:04 +0000

I agree that extreme beers are not only brewed in the US. But they seem to be a marginal thing, maybe copying the American trend more than a trend of their own making. Yet, is about people just following a trend and not doing what they can do best.
The biggest question here is if extreme beers are a good thing for craft brewing. They are catching a lot of attention and make many of us talk about them, while at the same time “forgetting” about more “normal”, yet nonetheless interesting brews.
In my spanish blog I chose as beer of 2007 Desítka from the Chýně brewpub. 10°balling and a bit over 3%ABV, still is a beer with a lot of taste, character, balance and great mouthfeel. That is the kind of beer I would like to see more of. The problem is that many who think they know about beer might look at its low ABV and will dismiss it.

By: E.S. Delia

E.S. Delia — Fri, 02 May 2008 12:50:13 +0000

It’s great to be able to hear some non-American voices offer their perspectives on the matter, seeing as how “extreme” beer seems to be solely a US phenomenon.

But that’s what is really confusing to me. Why is this moniker confined to beers from the States? I understand there is a certain cultural context in which this takes place: America is the land of bigger, better, faster. Everything we do seems to strive for one of those three, often times against our better nature or well-being.

When specifically talking about beer, I see the Double IPA or the Imperial Oatmeal Stout as two examples of styles Americans have taken and made all their own. However, if you look at some Belgian brewers, such as De Dolle or Regenboog, they’re doing things our brewers haven’t dared to try.

Perhaps some of these have been inspired by the American micro movement, I think Denmark’s Mikkeller is probably a great example of that. But there you go, “extreme” beer is already beyond our shores. De Ranke XX Bitter or Houblon Chouffe are hybrid styles influenced by American styles, but apparently there is a want for these “extreme” beers, too.

However, I would point to the popularity of Allagash and Russian River, two breweries that are renowned for their eccentric approach to Belgian-style beer. I’d agree with Boak that Belgians were the original “extreme” brewers, and we’ve certainly taken a cue from them. Both breweries seem to be looking toward traditional styles and adding their own imprint, much as some Belgian breweries have done with their Belgo-American fusion beers.

So maybe “extreme” beer is hardly a worldwide phenomenon, but at the same time, it’s definitely not confined to the United States.

Pivní Filosof, you bring up a good point with your analogy, and I’ll agree that “extreme for the sake of extreme” is not a good policy. Many times, these beers fall short. Barrel-aging is a perfect example of that; it’s a trend that has become more popular, but with that you have more breweries doing a less than stellar job with their beers.

And just like with that, and several other trends in the beer world, it’s a fine line to walk.

By: Pivní Filosof

Pivní Filosof — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:29:42 +0000

For what I’ve read (and correct me if I’m wrong), this “extreme” beer thing seems to be an American phenomenon. Probably due to the huge amount of craft and micro breweries competing for a relatively small market.

As I see it, there are two reasons for this trend:
1- They are like those super cars. Those that can go at 400km/h, have 2000hp, and stuff like that. Hardly anyone is going to buy them, and those who do, will probably have them gathering dust in their garages because there isn’t any road in the world where you can actually drive it as you should. Yet, all the media will talk about them, they will make the cover of specialist magazines and thus, bring some publicity to the company.
2- They are a pissing contest among brewers.

I like strong, extreme or “weird” beers, but not when they’ve been brewed just for the sake of being strong, extreme or weird.
Anyway, nobody is forcing me to buy them, same with expensive beers. They are a decision of the brewer and since we live in a pretty much Reinheitsgebot free world, they can brew as they fancy.

By: Boak

Boak — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:37:45 +0000

Absolutely. While I appreciate “extreme beers” from time to time, you can’t drink them in the pub (even if you can find them), not unless you want to spend the next day groaning on the sofa and vowing never to drink again.

And yes, surely the Belgians invented extreme beers?