Both hops and barley prices are way up this year, and brewers are feeling the pinch; especially local craft brewers, and drinkers, who aren’t fond of adjuncts like corn or rice.
But I am hopeful the result, other than $5+ pints, will be some lighter, more complex beers.
I can appreciate the malty and bitter jolt of a powerfully hopped IPA on occasion, but local drinkers’ obsession with the style baffles me; if the bitterness stuns my tongue into numbness, how am I to taste anything besides the hops?
Give me a tart and sweet lambic, a strong roasty porter, a true European-style pilsner, an ale where the sweet bready malt doesn’t disappear behind the bitter flowery hops!
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