Sam Adams Longshot results are in

[_CJ]

Just got an email from Sam Adams naming the four regional winners. The "big beer" trend is apparantly still going strong. Three of the four winners are "big" beers.

This is the only competition I take part in, so I don't really know. How much of a role do you guys think trends play in beer competitions?

I really had no expectation of winning or even getting recognized, I just think it's fun to get the judges comments and a T-shirt. Last time there was some funny stuff, but also some helpful comments that I can use to make my beer better next time around. I'll be sure to post up the results when I received them.

[1BGDOG]

I think that small breweries inspire big breweries to make "fake" craft beer. With that being said there is a lot to be said about trends. It looks like extra Pale Ales are huge nowadays.

[Oscar]

yuke pale ale the only thing worse is Heather Ale

[Snotty]

Did you get your results back yet?

[_CJ]

Haven't gotten any results on my stuff yet. Last year it took several months before a package showed up with judges tasting sheets and a t-shirt.

Obviously trends will influence more people to brew beers that conform to whatever is hot, but the question for me is weather or not they're really the best. Do the trends influence the best brewers to make beers that follow them, or are the judges picking beers based on what's hot, or both? With three of the four winners being big beers, I have to wonder. :shrug:

[Jeepindog]

A (well made) big beer equates to big flavor. Many beer drinkers are tired of weak, thin, tiny little baby beers and want something more out of life. Ever had skim milk? Not quite as good in french toast as whole milk. Ever had American light lager? Not quite as good as a real beer. I hear what you're saying, but you seem to whine a lot about big beers. Don't brew one, and don't buy one. Think about this, though: if an average, regular beer has around 5.5-6% abv, and a BIG beer has 9%, you're only talking about a 3% difference there. It's not like some beers are 2.5% while some evil BIG beer brewers are making 60% beers. The point is that with a relatively small change the beer is quite different. Not all big beers are great, and certainly neither are all small brews. Why do you always rail against big beers? I remember the other thread all too well, but I thought we had cleared it up. I think I'm gonna start bitching about pussybrews that are less than 8.0% abv, and how the punkass brewers who make them are just not capable of making a real beer. Ha, ha. All in good fun.

[_CJ]

A (well made) big beer equates to big flavor. Many beer drinkers are tired of weak, thin, tiny little baby beers and want something more out of life. Ever had skim milk? Not quite as good in french toast as whole milk. Ever had American light lager? Not quite as good as a real beer. I hear what you're saying, but you seem to whine a lot about big beers. Don't brew one, and don't buy one. Think about this, though: if an average, regular beer has around 5.5-6% abv, and a BIG beer has 9%, you're only talking about a 3% difference there. It's not like some beers are 2.5% while some evil BIG beer brewers are making 60% beers. The point is that with a relatively small change the beer is quite different. Not all big beers are great, and certainly neither are all small brews. Why do you always rail against big beers? I remember the other thread all too well, but I thought we had cleared it up. I think I'm gonna start bitching about pussybrews that are less than 8.0% abv, and how the punkass brewers who make them are just not capable of making a real beer. Ha, ha. All in good fun.

Wow bro....too many big beers last night? :drunk: Maybe if you stuck with something a little more season appropriate, you'd be in a better mood. :flipoff2:

I wasn't railing against big beers....but the comformity of an industry and community that should pride itself on creativity and idividuality is getting a little tired.

It was the people at Sam Adams that sighted the big beer trend being alive and well in their email. I just thought it might be an interesting topic to discuss. Guess not.

As much as you might like to pigeon hole yourself into only liking big beers until somebody tells you what to like next :boxing: , I think I'll stick with sampling from the whole spectrum. 90+ degrees? Yeah, I'll probably go with something lighter and more drinkable. -32 degrees outside? You'll probably find me next to the fire with something on the other end of the spectrum.

[Jeepindog]

Wow bro....too many big beers last night? :drunk: Maybe if you stuck with something a little more season appropriate, you'd be in a better mood. :flipoff2:

I wasn't railing against big beers....but the comformity of an industry and community that should pride itself on creativity and idividuality is getting a little tired.

It was the people at Sam Adams that sighted the big beer trend being alive and well in their email. I just thought it might be an interesting topic to discuss. Guess not.

As much as you might like to pigeon hole yourself into only liking big beers until somebody tells you what to like next :boxing: , I think I'll stick with sampling from the whole spectrum. 90+ degrees? Yeah, I'll probably go with something lighter and more drinkable. -32 degrees outside? You'll probably find me next to the fire with something on the other end of the spectrum.

You got me all figured out. Keep rockin' the bitchfest, and maybe the industry will listen to you and revert back to Bud Light, Miller Lite, and Coors Light. Now there's some variety and creativity for you on a hot Summer day. I keep forgetting that anything over 4% is a BIG beer.

I truly believe that you have not experienced a great deal of beers from breweries scattered across the country, or you would never say that there is not enough variety. Tried a Z Lager from Ft Collins Brewery? Had a Jackwhacker Wheat from Tommyknocker? Anything from Smuttynose? Pelican? Tyronina? You've forgotten (maybe just don't know?) that some beers are just bigger than others by their nature. A Belgian Dubbel or Trippel is not necessarily a big beer when looked at next to others of their style. They're just dubbels and trippels. Maybe grab a bottle of Bilk from Japan. It's a tiny little beer that's just begging for a nipple. :crybaby:

[jwjeep1]

You're acting like a :troll: and I'm not buying into your game.

Seems to me like you're the troll. the only posts I've seen you make in this section are railing against "big" beers and how there's "no creativity" with brewers. I've got a wheat wine that got split into two secondaries, one with 6 pounds of peaches added, and one with 1.5 pounds of raspberries. But I'm sure that's just the same old big beer trend, since the original gravity was 1.105 even before the fruit. Never mind you've likely never tasted anything like it before. Seems to me like Jeepindog is right, this is the same thread you had last time where you bitched about no creativity, then railed about anything being brewed outside of it's normal parameters. Me, I'll keep enjoying this pomegranite wheat from Fort Collins Brewing, but it's over 4% so it must be following the trend too.:rolleyes:

[_CJ]

You guys are hilarious.


If you were to look in my beer cellar, you'd find a collection covering a wide spectrum of styles from around the world, and several beers that could be considered "big". Never said I didn't like big beers.

Life is really too short to be wasting my time here arguing about nothing. Good day.

[Jeepindog]

I wasn't railing against big beers....but the comformity of an industry and community that should pride itself on creativity and idividuality is getting a little tired.

Are you saying that a brewer who takes a regular old IPA and makes it a big IPA is not creative? There was no such thing as a double IPA a few years ago. They're pretty common now. All different recipes, too, yet they share a trend of American creativity and inspiration that originated in Southern California. So, if everyone made beers that didn't stand out, like Bud/Miller/Coors for example, wouldn't a BIG beer be pretty creative? How about if someone took a stout and added chicory to it? What about a seasonal beer that had some pumpkin added to the mash, with pie spices to flavor it? You need to remember that breweries exist to sell beer. They can't make an aspen root dirt beer and expect it to sell. Give them a break. If you want to sink a quarter of a million bucks into a brewery and then brew your "creative" and individualistic beers that no one wants to drink, please do so. Otherwise, that's the whole point of homebrewing. Brew something no one else has ever done and I'll send you a dollar. I'll bet that same dollar you couldn't come up with something new, though.



Take a deep breath, Here's another :beer: for you.

[jwjeep1]

Never said I didn't like big beers.

Right, you just think it's a travesty that there are lots of them out there and they're taking away precious brewing time from more "imaginative" beers.

As for what I hope was the original intent of this post, it's hard to say where the judges are coming from. I watched Jamil win I think 5 awards at the NHC during the banquet. He basically won at least 3rd place in the country for every beer he entered, reguardless of style. Now come on, can that really be a reality. Sure, I'm sure the guy makes great beer, but top 3 in the country for every one? We're talking some categories with a thousand or more entries. Sounds to me like the judges see his name on something and automatically assume it's going to be great. Palletes could have also swung to bigger beers as far as the judges are concerned. Drink a IIPA for a week and then try and go back to "normal" beer. It just doesn't taste the same.

[ColoradoXJ13]

too many personal attacks, post is being locked, play nice in the future people, drink what you like, no need to denegrate people