bbaker@cadsys.UUCP (William Baker) (08/20/85)
I've noticed something odd about a number of brews being produced by west coast boutique breweries. They all seem to have a certain taste in common. In my drinking in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco, I have found this taste in almost all of the bitter-style ales produced by the small brewers in these cities. It is a sort of salty, hoppy taste that dominates the palate, but does not give itself away in the nose. I have found this characteristic taste with an amazing amount of uniformity in such new products as Pyramid Ale (Portland), Grant's Celtic (Seattle), and Foghorn Ale (San Francisco). This taste is similar to what Olympia used to taste like, so I'm wondering whether it is just the distinctive taste of Yakima hops, which Oly used to use a lot more of. On the other hand, it seems unlikely that a wide variety of breweries (I have found this taste in other boutique ales) would be using large amounts of Yakima hops. It seems like it must be a symptom of new brews because I have not tasted it in established American ales such as Ballantine's IPA, and certain not in Bass or other English bitters. It has gotten to the point where I am unwilling to try new boutique bitters because I am tired of paying for beer that I can't drink. The peculiarities of individual malt taste and nose are all lost because of this overpowerring alkaline hop character. Has anyone else noticed this? Bill Baker intelca!cadsys!bbaker
dws@tolerant.UUCP (Dave W. Smith) (08/23/85)
> I've noticed something odd about a number of brews being > produced by west coast boutique breweries. They all seem to have a > certain taste in common. I seem to recall that a large number of brews produced on the west coast use "Cascade" hops from Washington. Said hop is also prevalent amoung the homebrew crowd on the west coast. -- David W. Smith {ucbvax}!tolerant!dws Tolerant Systems, Inc. 408/946-5667
rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (08/26/85)
> I've noticed something odd about a number of brews being > produced by west coast boutique breweries. They all seem to have a > certain taste in common. In my drinking in Seattle, Portland, and > San Francisco, I have found this taste in almost all of the > bitter-style ales produced by the small brewers in these cities. [description of taste follows...] > ...so I'm wondering whether it is > just the distinctive taste of Yakima hops, which Oly used to use a > lot more of... > On the other hand, it seems unlikely that a wide variety of > breweries (I have found this taste in other boutique ales) would be > using large amounts of Yakima hops... The description of the taste and the beers characterized by it say that it's Cascade hops that you've found. Yakima is a major hop-producing area of the U.S.; Cascade hops are among the most common. It's certainly the dominant hop character of Pyramid, Grant's IPA (I haven't tasted the Celtic), Sierra Nevada, and several other West-coast boutique ales. I've done some experimentation and was able to get a comparable hop character in homebrew only by using Cascades both in the boil and as a finishing hop. I used 0.5 oz. Bullion and 1.5 oz. Cascade in the boil, then another 0.5 oz. at the end of the boil and 2/3 oz. in the fermenter. This was for a pale ale with 1.054 OG finishing at 1.012. If you're not a homebrewer, that translates to: I used a whole bunch of hops, mostly Cascade. Whether you like it (I do), it DOES produce a distinctive taste. I gather that the person who posted the original article isn't too fond of the taste of an ale highly hopped with Cascades. That's fair. One of the things that I noticed at the Great American Beer Festival earlier this summer was the predominance of this type of ale from the smaller West-coast breweries--and that's not a good sign. You're unlikely to distinguish a beer just by adding more hops (at least while Fritz Maytag and Bert Grant are still alive)! Moreover, I think it's time for brewers to start experimenting with useful quantities of other sorts of hops, and even to start blending several varieties. Does anyone know whether the current popularity of Cascades is because of a perceived market for that particular taste in an ale or because of hop availability and price? In other words, could Cascades be popular just because they're available in large quantity at good price? (Is the hop market still covered by that bizarro federal market order???) -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...Cerebus for dictator!