Why some beers are objectively better than others.
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- Опубликовано: 3 июн 2024
- This week we discuss why "balance" is an unhelpful term in beer, how a clear structure is what makes some beer objectively better than others, and why that might just be what we should look for in our drinks.
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Want to join our live tasting and tour with Kernel on 27th April (7.30pm UK time)? Sign up to Brewser and select this month's Kernel box. Use the code CBC8 to get £8 off! Link here: brewser.beer/our-breweries/
I loved the video, the Keesman herren pilsner you're drinking. My father and I import that directly into the UK, along with many other franconian beers for our trade customers nationwide. Keesman is one of the best pilsners we offer. It's great to see it on your channel.
Hmm I couldn't see the Kernel box on this link, or Kernel at all?
@Chris Green once you sign up you select the brewery!
@@chrisgreen6259 I found them under “T” not “K”. Took me a while to figure out how to order the box, but I got in confirmed, and the discount code did its job.
Objectively better?
Watching this feels like a lecture, but in a positive “I’m actually going to do my homework” way.
Tough homework assignment this one. Go drink, have a think.
We know you’re a great beer writer, journalist and researcher but I reckon you would make a fine teacher too.
@@mrougelot Well thanks! Teaching with a hangover is hard though, I hear
I live in the Willamette Valley, one of the best beer regions in the world. My town is literally surrounded by hop fields and wineries. I have been home brewing for years. Now that I'm older, I often just crave a well-crafted freshly made local Pilsner.
It's not age! It's maturity. very different things, as I prove every day.
Couldn't agree more. I'm only 23 years old but have been semi-legally drinking craft beer for the last 5 years. Started with IPAs & that was all I wanted for the longest time. The hoppiest, the juiciest, the most hype etc. But now what I turn to more than anything is a crisp and bitter-leaning pilsner. I'm not old, but I do have 5 years experience in drinking a wide variety of beer.
I've noticed after having hundreds of IPA's in various forms/styles I have a greater appreciation for a well-made Pilsner or Helles. Part of it may be due to a maturing palate, but it was not easy to get a fresh pilsner. Once I had access to a fresh interpretation, I started to enjoy them.
@@papalegba6796 Well, as they say, it takes a lot of beer to make good wine.
Balance is to beer what smoothness is to whisky: the non threatening sales pitch.
Damn this is so on point.
I absolutely love this type of video. Jonny is fantastic at describing beer and also at explaining what craft beer is all about. Agree about the term balance. I'd also add that "smooth" is also a similarly unhelpful term. Will there be a CBC cicerone/beer sommelier school?
Great video! I agree entirely with what you're saying - I just wonder if the concept of what is meant by the word balance has been misunderstood. Whenever I describe a beer as balanced, I'm referring to the levels of the predominant flavours both within the beer itself, and within the concept of its style. So, like you said a New England can be balanced in that the sweeter juicy notes, the more complex pithy notes and then some resounding bitterness as a collective, resulting in something that feels like a balanced experience - even if not balanced between the core elements of beer in general.
Basically agree and many of my favourite beers have a clear and pronounced development in their taste and flavour from sip to finish. If the structure and flavours all work together by the end, and I am feeling particularly geeky, I think of this as a denouement.
Enjoying the 'structure' as opposed to a particular flavour profile or style means that you can drink and genuinely enjoy a far wider range of beers.
I live in New England and was unaware that people around the world call IPA’s “New England IPAs.” Funny thing is, most people around here dislike them.
I watched this drinking my own version of Timothy Taylor Landlord. As a British pale ale, It has that balance that has become a cliche, as you say Jonny. Very satisfying to drink though. On the other hand I also love beers that are very hop forward and crisp (refreshing) or malt forward (unctuous and indulgent). It just goes to reinforce what a wonderfully complex and diverse drink beer can be.
The Herren pils was my favourite beer we sampled in Bamberg last year. Mahrs across the road was okay too 🤪 Going back to check in October this year.
Professor Jonny smashes it! This is such a thoughtful way of describing the drinking process, appreciate all that you and Bradders do…
Great video Jonny. I don't have a particularly refined palette so have never really been able to pin down why I like some beer better than others. I think this really helps. I homebrew as well, so doubly so!
Thanks Jonny, you bring lots of understanding to the complex world of beer! I, for instance, was reluctant to ever try a lager or pilsner again since I found the ales; but have the last months found out that there are lager/pilsner beer that are very refreshing and quite complex tasting.
Enjoying this wonderful lecture with a Kernel Pale (Amarillo CY22). Educational and fascinating as always 🍻
As a Sussex resident I feel thoroughly spoilt to have Harvey's, Long Man and 360 all nearby with many others not too far away
Being an italian craft beer lover, I worried hearing the name of Birra Moretti in a craft beer video, but I think you've been fair in your review...
As macro-made lagers go it's decent!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel well, when I saw in a supermarket their new lager in a cristal clear bottle I shivered...
superb video and supject, would watch more of this type, for sure
Agree with what you said at first concerning "Ballance". I like my beers "Unballanced" to the dark side! Heavy dark malt, caramel and dark fruit, 4.5% upwards and low carbonation. So you can imagine what my opinion is of Macro Lagers etc......! I I was even put off of many German pilsners and Helles as they had too much 'fizz'. Many of the regional German Pilsners have now become pretty bland.
Tried Keesmann beers a few times over the years at the brewery tap, but never the pils. Keesmann used to be no 2 on our pub crawl after the Mahr's Bräu.
Thank you! This is a really interesting video.
have had a few of these beers and i have to say that harveys does a really good range and al their beers are very drinkable. not however my favourite, that is theakstons old peculiar. marvellous beer.
What temperature would you recommend to drink the stout at?
Would love to see a video where you go through your Top 5 in each style. From Lager to Hazy IPA.
Top 5 in the world?! Think of the comments! I'd be crucified by people naming beers I've never heard of!
Great episode, it's like my professional cookery apprenticeship all over again! Plenty to think about. Chapeau!
Cheers!
Reminds me of the lager episode you did with notch 4 years ago. Lagers themselves are "balanced" but not really. you have the hoppy pils or the malty Czeck lager. The nuances in the beer with depth of flavor is what makes them so good.
I think 'drinkability' can be tricky. I was enjoying an Emperor Julius from Treehouse while watching this - and it's just a huge NEIPA.
It's an excellent tasting beer - but in a 16 oz format, it gets to be a bit much on the pallet for that last 3-4 oz and tends to burn me out. I've gotten similar with some other NEIPAs that I've really enjoyed. However, something like Heady Topper, while hop loaded, is a lot more 'drinkable' (I think calling Heady 'crushable' is a bit too far). For me, it's that extra level of bitterness that balances it out (as well as the oats present in other NEIPAs) - to me, that's what I think of when I think of a beer's "balance" lending into "drinkability" - both terms being - what I believe to be - a bit wishy-washy and subjective.
Great video!
Out of All the beers 🍻 your tasting! I'm going to Look for the Kernel Stout! 🤔😁✌️😎
Oh. The malty stout! Love it.
I agree with the idea, structure makes more intuitive sense to me as well, and opens those different interpretations up for positive evaluation whereas balance can feel quite elusive and prescriptive.
Indeed! Structure leaves the conversation a lot more open to different ways of finding flavour, drinkability and indeed forms of balance.
This is spot on, I realised when I talk about balance in beer what I actually mean is drinkability
Thanks Jake - Brad and I have had that conversation a few times as Brad definitely conflates those two and they aren't QUITE the same.
Great video! I do agree about structure being crucial in making a ‘better’ beer but how do brewers make structure in their beers? Is it just to do with hop/grain bill or their processes or a bit of both? Love and beer!
A good question and one I didn't have time here to dig into. We'll likely talk about this in our podcast on Friday though!
Smashing it with the videos!
Really nice video and makes you think about how often brewers or beer geeks talk about balance, but it doesn’t actually apply to a lot of styles that we love.
In my opinion a well made beer is simply a beer devoid of flaws. No infection, oxidation, acetaldehyde, diacetyl, DMS, etc (although some like Urquell break this rule and still work). When a beer achieves this it’s what we would describe as “clean”, no matter the style. From that point you can start critiquing flavors. Luckily brewing has gotten so much better on the whole and if something isn’t well made you have literally thousands of other breweries to pick from.
Indeed this used to be the baseline, but now we are spoilt for excellent producers and we're demanding more!
Mate, where do you get your beers from? I am also based in London so wondering if you go to a local shop or just order online… thanks!
I'm not actually London based anymore but I used to shop at Caps And Taps most.
Drinking a chubbles Enhanced while watching the craft beer channel. Thats a good time in my book
I’m looking forward to the live taste testing, I’ve never done anything like that before. Will the box tell us which beers to save for the live session? If not how do we find that information? Or do we just need to keep all 10 beers in the fridge for a week?
We'll be drinking the enigma pils, damson, Mosaic ipa and Export stout! See you there!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel thank you for the swift response. I’ll be sure to save those. Looking forward to it!
Thank you for the alternative 'structured' for balanced. Balanced is such a non-descriptive adjective in beer. Can, in your opinion, a beer be more structured than others within the same style? A gueuze is a quite unstructured style, as they are very sour, but I would say that some have more structure to them than others. Cheers!
Absolutely! My point is that a style's kind of preconceived notions of balance shouldn't affect their ability to be more or less drinkable - so a bad geuze would have too much acidity, or too much brett, or indeed not enough of those things, to give it a strong 3-part structure which (I think) should be a bold bretty and lactic aroma, rich funk and malt depth, then high carb and acidity to finish. I have always found Beersel best at doing that, although Tilquin consistently do it well too.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Gueuze Tilquin is exactly the balanced geuze I was talking about. Never had Oud Beersel, but I do have an Oud Beersel Oude Kriek in my fridge, is that of the same quality?
I've been thinking about flavours on the spectrum of bitterness for a while, particularly between beer, some spirits and, kind of obviously, specialty coffee. Can you please point me towards literature/people about this bitterness idea? Have you written about this somewhere?
Also, I recently picked up a coffee imperial stout in Sydney made with Anaerobic processed coffee. I don't know if you know what that means, but I love coffee and I'm super excited about this. Would you be interested in doing a video exploring different ways coffee is incorporated into beers? Even if it is just different coffee stouts as the weather gets a bit cooler.
A big reason we taste bitterness more intensely on the swallow is that there are some bitterness receptors on their own right down the back of our tongue.
Ostensibly this is adaptive as a kind of last line of defence. If you haven't detected the bitterness on first impression, it will definitely be noticeable later without the competing flavour receptors closer to the outside world.
Love Kernel
Great episode! Off topic a bit...but this episode made me have a thought: Does bottle/canned on date really matter? Can an "older" beer destroy that balance on what a brewer was aiming for with their beer? Assuming it really depends on style? I guess its all objective...but it was a thought...and I was just a bit curious on what your thoughts were around this when it comes to freshness in beers?
Our philosophy on ageing beer (ie beyond their best before) is that the brewer didn't intend for it to be enjoyed that way for a reason. So BBEs definitely matter, but if the beer is kept really cold the whole time, outside of REALLY hoppy beer it should be pretty delicious for longer than the date. The Ageing process brings in new flavours of oxidation and potenetially further fermentation that would throw out the balance or structure.
How are you getting Bamberger beers in the UK? This is the stuff of dreams.
A specialist importer brings them in so some good bottleshops have them including The Beer Shop where I got these
Yes this makes sense. I've often thought the best beers have an effective 'point' 'counterpoint', where we as humans like contests or debates or experiences etc that aren't lop sided. The structure / journey analogy might be a type of balance, in that the flavors allow you to notice and appreciate what is there, without one thing being distracting. Not that the beer is in balance with every ingredient available, it's in balance with itself?
Crikey we are getting philosophical here! I think that a great beer can be unbalanced but structured, but few good beers are balanced but badly structured. However, balancing the points/counterpoints will help with structure for sure.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel would love to hear an example of each as the two words seem synonymous to me from your video
@Edward Skinner UK based ones? So try Tiny Rebel Stay Pufd as unbalanced and unstructured, and Titanic Plum Porter as a flavoured Porter that's also unbalanced but well structured. Or in NEIPAs see BrewDogs hazies vs the Beak ones. In lager, try something like well pretty much any uk brewer vs Lost and Grounded.
Interesting video! You know you can use another glass, yes?? It always disturbs me that you don't use a clean glass very often ;)
My take on "balance" is a drink in which a) there would have to be enough of those structural elements, but b) they aren't in competition with each other.
I rinse between every beer but to keep the vibe going I do it quick. And sadly we're down to our last CBC glass! On your second point, a well structured beer would have clearly defined flavours in that journey so no competition.
I've always felt that English "bitters" are a little too sweet and malty and not all that bitter by modern standards. Still quite tasty though. As much as I love NEIPA I also enjoy older style IPAs that have both some up front maltiness and real hop flavor too...that's balance (Racer 5 is a good example). Likewise a nice soft wheat beer with some yeasty spice and a little bright hop bite (let's say Allagash white) has that balance. Or a super clean pilsner with bit of graininess those great German or Czech hops in the finish.
How much does style guidelines play into this concept? I’d imagine there are bad beers no matter what style it falls under, and there’s fantastic ones even if they’re not under the “correct style”, but how much do you think that “guideline” influences if you think it’s a better beer than another? Always love learning about beer! Cheers!!
I think the guidelines heavily impact the notion of balance because it means we go in with different expectations, but by shifting to look at structure - which should follow a similar pattern whatever the style - I'd hope to transcend that.
Because the range of what beer can be is so wide, I appreciate the style guidelines to have an expectation for what to expect, and that each of those styles can have differences that make beers great! I like your idea of structure rather than balance. Reminds me of what you learned from Troegg’s (I think) about hop builds in a beer.
Totally agree, I used to say that certain beers are balanced but now I talk about beer in different stages (transition and contrast), kind of like football.
I myself can't stomach going from a NEIPA to an Imperial Stout, I have to drink something of similar taste.
I had a pint of Carlsberg in a curry house a few weeks ago and it genuinely astonished me. I was astonished by how skillfully the brewers managed to remove all traces of aroma, flavour and mouthfeel to leave you with nothing. Absolutely nothing. I can only imagine that people who buy it don't actually like beer, they drink it to get drunk without the bother of having to process inconvenient things such as taste. Probably the worst lager in the world.
We don't want to judge anyone for their tastes - we all like what we like, but it's worth remembering that from a very young age people are told this is what beer is.... lightly flavoured, heavily carbonated alcoholic water essentially. There's a time and a place for it, but once you realise the world of beer beyond it that time and place becomes less and less common.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel johnny , i don't think any beer be tasty with curry......
Remember driving so was on fizzy water all evening then had a sip of somebody’s Carling (just for sampling purposes) and couldn’t tell the difference 😂.
Few of my beers are balanced, I like to describe them as either exciting or adventurous.
Fair enough! But I bet some of them are well structured too!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel
I had one that was delinquent; but yes I try to avoid nebulous brews.
Gose, or salted beer, is difficult to calibrate. When my body is low on salt, a gose tastes like ambrosia but, if I have had too many crisps, chips, bread or cured meat and too little water and exercise, the exact same gose can taste salty.
I think it'd be helpful as opposed to something like Moretti to give an example of a GOOD structured beer, and a GOOD balanced (and therefore unstructured) beer - i.e. are there two very good beers of a similar 'style' which fit these two categories, of a similar style, that are at least macro adjacent, but are structured vs unstructured (thinking Pilsner Urquell or Paulaner as 'at least macro adjacent').
An interesting idea! Perhaps there is some kind of follow up we can do here.
Balanced .vs. Structure... Doesn't much matter to me as long as it tastes good ;-)
This structure idea is certainly more useful than any of the marketing-birthed terms such as “bold” and “crisp,” etc.
Yet, I wonder: How evident does that structure have to be for you to consider it objectively good?
Music is my field, and while we praise some for their immaculately clear structure (Mozart), we can also recognize that sometimes greatness arises from ambiguity (Stravinsky). I think the same comparison could be made in visual art (Rembrandt vs. Dali). How could this apply to beer?
I despise bitterness. It is why I fundamentally dislike almost every beer that I have ever had, and why I can't stand green peppers. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head that is bitter and that I actually *do* enjoy is Coffee, but even then I have to have light roasts or I end up pumping it completely full of milk and sugar to mask it. And I think the only thing addictive about that is the caffeine hit it gives me at the start, middle, end of my day.
Sat here with a beer in my hand, sniffing and tasting, the only thing I smell or taste is beer 🍺
Hey that's cool. Beer smells delicious. Not everyone has to try to break it down!
Can we get any of your glasses anywhere?
Not right now. but we are working on a brand new glass to come out in summer.
had a can of beak on the beer shelf, thanks to this video, it has gone straight into the fridge for later
Enjoy!
I agree that most styles lean one way or another balance-wise, but you can still have balance relative to the style. An American Amber, while malt forward, would be grossly unbalanced without enough hops to keep it enjoyable. This is something that brewers can, and do from time to time, mess up. There are plenty of stouts that are "unbalanced" in the traditional sense, and undrinkable.
The way you're describing structure/journey definitely sounds akin to what I (and you touched on) would call complexity. I do really value complexity, but the problem with complexity is that it's just as inconsistent as stylistic balance. Some styles will be complex, some won't. This is basically a fact when considering some European beers will use one malt, and two hops, vs American beers that might have 5 and 5. I agree that balance is not always stylistically present, and not the only factor, but neither is complexity.
For me, all factors matter at one point or another, and depending on the style, some things will be more important. I wouldn't expect a helles to be extremely balanced or complex, but I do expect it to be clean, refreshing, and have subtle flavors stand out. However, I would expect an ESB to be relatively balanced and certainly somewhat complex.
In styles that should be balanced, a lack of that will create something that is potentially unpleasant, and definitely off-style. In a style that should be complex, a simple beer will be very boring for the drinker. These things are true for feel, attenuation, etc etc.
I like the question but I do think that certain things are more important than others, style to style, and therefore everything is important at one point or another. If what you actually mean is that a beer should have aroma, flavor, and mouthfeel as the "journey" then we agree and I digress.
My point is more that yes, you can balance an American Amber with hops - but it's still going to be a malt-forward beer, when most people think balance means "the same amount of". To me, saying it is a balanced beer isn't as helpful as saying it has structure - yes it is very malty, but it still finishes with bitterness and dryness etc Perhaps this is similar to the journey you refer to
Yes I agree most styles don't have "the same amount of" everything. But some are pretty close, I think a hoppy northwest red would be a good example, or maybe a black IPA/CDA
But yes, outside of a few styles I would generally agree that most things aren't perfectly balanced, but the degree to which they are "unbalanced" could ruin a beer ie my stout reference. They can still be unbalanced past what is normal for the style.
As a homebrewer I can say that making pils is one ove the more harder beersstiles to brew. Its unforgiven in tast becouse its a bit tastless every small mistake will be found. You have no yeast no strong hop and only a little malt in a pils.
Indeed! Attempting it right now. No off flavours in batch one, but boy did I get the bitterness wrong.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel you can always say it is a ipa😉, I did that on a weizen last year. Used hop from my garden and apparently last year harvest was way more bitter than the year before.
Just like life. Beer is a journey. Hopefully RUclips will cut you in on the Coor's & Budwiser commercials.
beginning middle and end makes me think of typical story structure. I don't think you necessarily need this for a beer, or for a story either. The simplest story structure I have heard of is you think something is going to happen and then something else happens. . . perhaps that is good for beer too.
All these beers are economically out of reach. £52 for a 12 pack of the Beak NE IPA. Nah, I’ll have to go to the supermarket and drink what is on offer!
Totally get that and there are great beers in UK supermarkets. Not as good as Beak, but still great. North, Thornbridge and NMBC in particular.
Johnny, you are looking mighty dapper i must say. Loved the vid xx
Well thanks. Trying to clean up my image in time for my 40s.
So I think when lots of people talk about 'balance', they really mean 'complexity'. In other words, lots of different flavours or sensations going on at the same time (but which aren't necessarily in perfect balance).
Indeed, or perhaps as a shorthand for drinkable/crushable - when really balance doesn't have much to do with what they're experiencing
depressing that in my local moretti is the most characterful beer on tap :(
A story for so many people. Still, Moretti it better than most of the macro beers!
@@TheCraftBeerChannel thats good to hear from someone who knows!
Keep these kind of vids coming. Sooo good, Jonny and THEEEEEEEEE BRAAAAAAAAADDDDD!
I have had 1000's of different beers, and really enjoy trying new and inventive stuff, but I hope I never take a journey when drinking beer.
I can't stand the woody tannin aftertaste in British brewed NEIPAs. Sureshot is the worst offender but Polly's and Overtone have it too. I know not everyone tastes the problem though. I wish I could just send them a bottle of lactic acid for their sparge water!
Beak is best,
Beak have done some amazing stuff in the past couple of years. I'm here for it.
Everyone steals from the Elements of Music to describe things lol
When people say balance in the context of beer they mean what you call structure, and not the idea of every ingredient having the same amount of prominence in the beer.
While I don't think that's true at all from the conversations I have all day, every day in this industry, even if it were true, then the fact is they are using the wrong word.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Fair enough, but at least I only think of balance in context of the style. Helles for example is a style that absolutely needs to have the right balance, which is not to say giving the exact same weight to malt, hops and yeast, but rather to find a balance between them without going overboard with the breadiness.
Oh no. This is making me thirsty
Balance. You keep using that word I do not think it means what you think it means.
I understand balance as being relative to the style you're talking about. Good IPAs aren't unbalanced, they're just hop-forward; that heavily hopped flavour profile is balanced with the right amount of sweetness, etc so that the hoppiness can be enjoyed. Same idea for stouts, etc.
Any brewery that predominantly makes lots of different (but not very different) 6%~ IPAs is crap in my book 😂
Strong disagree regarding structure with regards to Beaks beers, far too sweet.
Of course you are right. It's all about the journey. Have you ever had yourself tested to see if you are a super taster? I think it's like 5% or less of the population can detect tons more subtle flavors and smells.
Well I appreciate you asking - didn't know there was a test! I doubt it though - many people in the industry have a better palate than me. I just practice a lot!
maybe you should give your plant some beer. it looks like it‘s thirsty 🍺🌱
Maybe me giving it the beer slops is what got it into that mess.
Why did yo throw beer away? Just use another glass and come back to it....
Put my beer into a non CBC branded glass?! Never! Also, I shot this in the morning, and there are limits even for me.
I would like to ask you then what is the objectively shit beer? I think it is corona. It is marketed as premium lager meant to be drank on a vacation at the beach but it is just as boring the american macro lagers.
Lol mate you are missing the point entirely with regards to “balance” … balance doesn’t mean 50/50… balance means the perfect amount of hop and malt (yeast as well) FOR THE STYLE. Of course IPAs are going to be hop heavy, but they can be very nicely (and correctly) balanced with malt character. Lol no one is out there trying to perfectly balance the flavor 50/50 in an IPA or a Helles lager. Ffs… your use of “structure” is exactly what beer geeks mean as “balanced”. A perfectly balanced beer is ALWAYS in the context of its style.
Everything you say is true. My point is, balance is a silly word for it that confuses people. A New England IPA has no balance by its very style definition. But it can have structure, which is a much more helpful way of saying "there is no balance, it is all hop and yeast, but the beer's flavours work".
@@TheCraftBeerChannel Then it’s just semantics. IMO balance works just fine because it doesn’t refer to “even balance” it means “pleasant balance” even if the hops out weigh the malt it’s perfectly balanced. I applaud that “structure” may work as well but I’m not sure that you can’t say all beers have structure. Come on do we really have folks out there who hear that a stout is balanced and then are confused because it’s not equally malty and hoppy? If so than I digress, I’m just not sure it’s an issue. Love the Czech episodes you put out though! Any preference between Budvar Vs Pilsner Urquell?
@thesearchbar9330 it sounds like semantics to someone experienced in the world of beer, to someone new to it they could absolutely be confused by a stout can that says the malts are balanced by the hops! I get questions from confused people around these kinds of things all the time, and constantly have to argue with other beer writers who call NEIPAs "unbalanced"... which of course they are, but not worse for it if they have structure.
As for the PU v Budvar Original question, PU is my preference but I love Budvar's reserve and Tmavy
Macro pils are cheap
"...nearly objectively better..."
Oh, so the long way of saying 'subjective' and not what the video title says. Cool, cool.
You're using the term 'structure' in a subjective manner, the same way that 'balance' is subjective and highly dependant on depending on style, knowledge, expectations, wants, etc.
Every beer has structure.
It's your subjectivity that is deciding if the 'structure' is positive or not.
Sorry, unlike many others I completely disagree.
I agree entirely with you comment but disagree with the conclusion. Both terms are loose and subjective but I consider one much more helpful in explaining what makes a good beer - and the same one goes much further to finding a sense of objective in the subjective matter of taste.
you clearly don't understand the concept of balance, but ok!!
Please explain it to me then.
@@TheCraftBeerChannel balance has nothing to do with "yeastiness, maltiness and hoppiness" something can be very hoppy and still be balanced, balanced means simply that the base taste fit with the flavor and creates something perceived as round or seamless, new england ipa is an excellent example of balanced beer (maybe not always, especially in the way european and more so uk breweries do it with 5+ plato finishes)
@@killerdude-hz2bb It feels like we're in agreement about what is important about beer, but using two different words - this video is to ask people if balance is the right one. Balance has everything to do with the prominence (NB not amount) of ingredients/their characteristics - this is quite literally what balance is in food and drink. . Otherwise, as the video explains, when we have a beer that is 25 grams per litre, with copious amounts of ester character but still feels rounded then really we're talking about the structure - how the overall flavours come together over the time you're drinking it.
NEIPA is the most dominant style in craft brewing? Then why, for example, has it never topped Untappd’s annual list of check-ins by style? The consistent head of that list for more than a decade now has been American IPA, with NEIPA never making it above second place. By other metrics, NEIPA also falls short of being the clearly or indisputably dominant style on anything more than a regional basis.
Great video!