So, working at a beer bar and mingling with a considerable amount of fellow beer lovers has given me ample opportunities to engage in a debate discussing who we think, country-wise, offers the best beer. While the argument always is between Belgium, Germany, and the good ol' US of A, I think the discussion offers a more interesting debate that I believe to be of a different character than merely your favorite beer producing location. The subject I love discussing with beer experts (those who know a considerable larger amount than I) and brewers is what they genuinely think of the quality of American beers. I come at this from an execution standpoint.
When I say "execution" I think of it in a couple of ways: 1. The execution of a classic style of beer that's been brewed for hundreds of years in places like Germany/Czech Republic and Belgium. I combined ze Germans and the Czechs because when you talk about Czech beer you really are focusing on their pilsners, which are certainly different from the German pilsners, but debating the differences doesn't help this discussion. I also left out the English/Scottish/Irish because there is very little to no attempt these days to make beers that are reminiscent to those traditional styles any longer. All of our Pale Ales, Porters, Stouts etc.....are very American and have a characteristic of their own. Beer Advocate are even giving most styles brewed here the "American" prefix. 2. The second "execution" I speak of is in regards to the absolute explosion of the last 5+ years of all sorts of crazy beer styles and flavor profiles. These things include ultra-hopping, barrel aging, crazy yeast strains, collaboration brews, mixing of styles, adding ingredients like chocolate/coffee/vanilla.........well, the list goes on and you get my point. Fellow beer lovers put America at #1 because we have, as a country, taken beer to another level. I agree with that in theory, but I think the thing that keeps me pensive about throwing the US into the top spot is that we have seemed to bypass some of the all time classics in favor of our own fusion-style cuisine, so to speak. In mind it's execution per se, but the innovation and new flavor profiles that get us excited.
EXECUTION OF TRADITIONAL STYLES
This is what I discuss most with beer experts, and remains my biggest issue with American breweries. With all the innovation that takes place on a seemingly less than yearly basis with American brewery, it is my opinion that while the quality of American beer has reached very high levels, there still seems to be a lack of brewers and breweries that can sit down, take a style that has been made in the aforementioned countries for hundreds of years, and nail it. To hell with the rye malts, the crazy yeast strains, the crazy hopping, etc.......take a Belgian abbey ale, a hefeweizen, a doppelbock and kick its ass. Do it without adding any of that extra bullshit and just knock it out of the park. Time and time again (with a few exceptions, of course) American brewers miss the mark. I absolutely LOVE the complexity that some of the newer American brews offer that challenge the pallet....they have become fun to drink. What bothers me though, for some reason, is that in brews that have been made for a really long time, you can find a big ol pile of complexity that is as interesting to the pallet as something that American brewers are inspired to make because they found something they thought looked cool at a yard sale.
Specific Examples you ask? here goes:
The German Doppelbock: There is one American doppelbock I've had that is even in the same stratosphere as the best traditional German doppelbock (the best being Ayinger's Celebrator) and that is made by Bell's brewery out of Michigan (their Consecrator) that hangs with Ayinger's.....kind of. Outside of that one, it's a really really poor go around. America features brews that are heavy-handed with the malt, and become a big, syrupy mess. Celebrator gets all the yummy sweetness, and brown sugar-caramel character that you would want, and doesn't even hit the 7% abv mark. The American ones that I try are all 8% plus and just blow the pallet out with this maple-y nonsense. They look the part, smell the part.....and you get a feeling that they know what they're doing....yet once it hits your tongue you realize the execution is really piss poor. None of them are even CLOSE to what you'd find from a number of German brewers.
German Hefeweizen: A proper German hefeweizen is a relatively low-alcohol brew, yet can still give you a really entertaining level of complexity with competing notes of clove, bubble gum, banana, and maybe a few others every once in a while. It is a highly-drinkable, easily accessible style of beer, yet seems to be forgotten when "great brews" are discussed.....I believe because of its ease to drink. Unlike the last example with doppelbocks, I'm not sure I've tasted any American version of this style that's even worthy to call a a "hefeweizen", much less compare it to the likes of one of the world's finest beers, in Weihenstephaner's Hefe weissbeer. Hell, many American breweries seem to shy away from the name "Hefeweizen" and try to limit themselves to a mere use of the term "unfiltered" when describing their wheats. And while breweries like Boulevard out of Kansas City, Missouri have certainly made a name for themselves with a very drinkable, easy to find brew in their wheat beer, it doesn't have 1/100th the sophistication or flavor profile of any number of German wheats. The American brews that I have tried that have the balls to put "Hefe" in their name make a more valiant effort, but still come off as nothing more than full-bodied, easy to drink brews. A good German Hefe accomplishes that, but also shows a beautiful delicate nature to the style that gives it an interesting array of flavors on even the most inexperienced pallet.
Any Belgian Abbey-Ale: The list of the beautiful abbey-style ales that come from Belgium is seemingly too long to even worry about. I think if you are reading this blog than you have more than likely come across any number of dubbels, tripels, quads that are wonderful pieces of brewing art and absolute treasures to drink. This is a similar discussion as the one above with Doppelbocks, but it is my opinion that a great Belgian abbey-ale offers a fairly larger array of flavors and subtleties than even your high-end doppelbock. That's not a knock on ze Germans, just a general observation of German beers which tend to focus on drinkability, versus some big Belgian ales which more often lend themselves to be "sippers". Crap, I'm getting off-track. The point is, is that this is yet another style where Americans seem to fall short. I'm not saying that you have to love abbey-ales, but like the doppelbocks, many of the American attempts at making these big beers really miss the mark. These are all heavily-malted beers, but for some reason or another, the amount of malt in the brew is often-times the only thing executed correctly. There are extremely easily noticeable levels of complexity to the traditional Belgian ales that aren't found in the American attempts. Now, not being a brewing expert I'm not 10000% sure why this is the case, but I would assume (and some brewers have hinted at this with me) that it's the yeast used and the quality of the malt used in the product. There are a lot of wonderful, spice-characteristics that come in the traditional ales from Belgium that, often times, pull together, and help clean up a beer that is otherwise "heavy" in every sense of the word. The American versions are certainly "heavy", but the fun notes of fruit, pepper, and funk that are found in the traditional takes on the styles often just aren't there. Of all the North American breweries that throw their hat into the abbey-ale ring, I'd say the most consistent product, in my opinion, comes from Unibroue out of Canada. They have all the wonderful notes coming from their yeast that the American versions seems to be missing.
HEAVY-HANDED INNOVATION
It would take quite a while to list all the new styles and flavor profiles that American brewing has given us over the last few decades. As a dedicated beer drinker I love this and it can be really exciting when a brewer gets it "right". The wide spread use of barrel aging, adjunct malts like rye, different yeast strains, and of course massive use of hops - in any and all amounts and varieties has allowed American brewers to do more than stake their claim in the world of high end brews. Hell, the American IPA has almost single-handedly taken American brewing to another level. Most reasonable beer snobs realize this and enjoy going out and tackling the ever growing collection of mad scientist brews that we now have.
Ok, I've kissed enough ass to show that the point of this post isn't a wholesale indictment of American brewing. The problem I have (at times) with this innovation is the fact that such a prevalence does not cover up the first point that I made. Many American brewers still fail to execute the classical styles have been perfected by man in Europe. I understand that America hasn't been doing it as long as the folks across the pond, but that's also the reason why I think our ability as a country, to brew beer, still isn't on the level of those who have perfected their craft. A great hefeweizen, belgian tripel, saison, and doppelbock can entertain your taste buds with a very high level of complexity.....all without bringing in all sorts of adjuncts, barrel aging, and a mouth puckering barrel of hops. In the aforementioned styles, you still have an exquisite layering of flavors, a beautiful balance of bitter and sweet, and at times a level of drinkability that does can be hard to find, even among the high end American brews.
A discussion on drinkability brings us back to the title of this section in reference to the "heavy-handedness" of many high-end American creations. Too many times the drinker is beaten over the head with dominant note of the beer. The seemingly endless supply of double and imperial IPAs often times showcase nothing more than a brewers ability to get their hands on an obscene amount of hops. It's to the point where it often seems like the brewer was mistakenly delivered too many hops and had to figure out a way to use them before they went bad. What the fuck...let's throw some more into the boil!! Certain beers here and there give us a decent malt backbone and help tone down the mouth-puckering bitter a bit, but that often isn't the case. The same heavy handed behavior is showcased in our weak attempts at anything that is made with significant amount of mat....be it a doppelbock, or a high-gravity belgian style abbey ale. Certainly the German and Belgian versions of those styles feature a big, malt profile, but there are subtle hints of bitter, and more importantly beautiful esters that offer notes of fruit and spice that help complete the beer and keep it from becoming a syrupy mess. American attempts at high malted styles like those just mentioned are just that.....big syrupy messes. The malt is way too heavy handed, and the subtleties that keep the beer from becoming a malt bomb and nothing else are non-existent.
Another issue I have is with the innovation itself. While sometimes the final product is nothing short of a really cool brew, it seems as if American brewers are hiding the fact that they can't make any of the traditional styles mentioned, (at least not at a high level) and throw in all these new ingredients and techniques to develop a more complex profile. I don't know if there is this idea that these old styles are tired and boring, but it's hard to believe that any good beer drinker would find something like St. Bernardus Abt 12, Ayinger Celebrator, or Weihenstephan Hefeweizen boring. To me it seems like some American brews are like the people that use A-1 steak sauce on their steak because they can't cook the beef the way it's supposed to be cooked. Either that or the ingredient(s) they started with are simply inferior. The same goes for a top notch piece of seafood. A good seafood joint won't ruin a fresh, perfectly cooked product with a plateful of heavy sauces because simple ingredients done properly should offer a great product, with depth of flavor.
I'm not saying that American brewers owe John Q. Beerdrinker a larger portfolio of traditional brews, my ultimate argument is that I simply don't think that, in terms of skill, American brewers have been able to perfect traditional brews. That doesn't mean our beer is craft, it just means I don't get on board with the idea that we have surpassed the veterans of the beer making profession. The proof is in the product, and the American versions of any number of traditional styles fall EXTREMELY short of their predecessors. An ability to make those styles at a high level will not only offer more depth to a brewer's portfolios, but more importantly, allow them to use that skill and their innovation to start absolutely dominating the euros in high-end brewing.
Sorry folks, we aren't there yet.
Fellow beer nerds, let me know what you think. I have some people that think I'm bat shit crazy, and some people that agree with me to a certain extent.
Cheers.
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