Currently big around the german speaking countries: Brown Ales and, more generally, brownish beers with a name that is a bad pun on shit.
Several local brewers have asked me what style of beer they should (home)brew next, and I’ve repeatedly asked for brown ales, as the so-called beer world seems to have deserted the style, and I love malts. Some really solid stuff has been made, which makes me happy. Puns in the names are of course inevitable, but fortunately the one a local maestro made for my 45th birthday was pleasingly called “Brown your Sorrows”.
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Hehe. He. Hehehe. 
I should maybe explain my posting above: I’m absolutely for said puns.
Definitely beers aged not on barrels, but in clay pots Mesopotamian style. Ultimate hipster retro beer
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HotD is always on the frontiers of beer trends.
wow, talk about bastardization
How about breweries just start brewing beer to style? Just kidding…
In all honesty, I really would love for breweries to start making more lower abv offerings, actual sessionable beers. Flavorful, and not just insanely hopped pale ales either.
I’m talking 5.5% at the most (preferably 5.0% or lower). A nearby brewpub to me a few years ago made a Mild that was incredibly delicious. Great for the super hot day. It was below 4 percent and it hit the spot on a super hot day.
We just have to change the opinion that higher abv is automatically better. There’s always at least one very vocal “local” that shows up at just about every brewery I go to who always likes to point out how the ABV of whatever they’re drinking is so much higher than the rest of the offerings as if it’s the only sensible criteria to base your purchase on.
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A bar in Auckland has a yearly ‘Session Beer Challenge’ where they challenge brewers to make a new beer under 5%. There’s usually some absolute crackers, but it is surprising that some of the more popular / more successful brewers manage to mess it up. It seems that it’s harder to make balanced beers when you have to be a bit more delicate with the flavours.
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True. Many of the recent low-abv session beers are hopped up to mask other shortcomings.
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omg yes. The bizarre attachment to high ABV beers is exactly why I’ve never really cared too much for the Top 50 pages on Ratebeer, because those lists are all plagued by monstrously strong beers.
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It’s a lot nicer now with the ABV slider though as you can easily exclude the strong beers. Only problem is sometimes the page takes ages to reload the ratings when using it.
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Sure, but I’m hoping for overall structural change. A revolution, if you will.
I see more coffee imperial stouts coming. Also, more organic stuff that is locally sourced. And the word is that hops are going to get expensive this year. So I look for more Gose and Alts.
Mead.
More tasty Lagers and then, people rating them to style.
Those strong beers tend to have a monstrous amount of flavor as well, that’s why they’re so well liked. I would prefer session variants as well, but I have yet to find a low-abv beer with the same full flavor as for example KBS or BCBS.
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I thought people were told to rate to taste, not to style. Still, I’ve run into some gems I found to be highly underrated. People who rate to taste should only drink things they actually like.
Monstrous amounts of flavour doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s good flavour, though. I find that imperial stouts in particular are just overwhelming and boozed up for the sake of being boozed up.
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No, but if the flavor is good, it’s monstrously good. Which I like. I can’t say whether imperial stouts are boozed up for sake sake of being boozed up or not. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.
And I don’t think that overwhelming is a bad thing in itself, would depend on what flavors are overwhelming and whether there is some kind of balance.
The way things look I amber sure that the last traces of beer will be replaced by grain alcohol in the new wave of tutti frutti ice cream IPA.
Also the new thing in Berliner Weisse will be to use 100% fruit juice. (Topped with ice cream and glittery topping of course.)
The final wave of pastry stouts will consist of Bailey’s with a chocolate brownies, maple syrup, molasses, vanilla, pecan, peanut butter, lactose and cocoa nibs. Just mix with a food processor, serve with ice cream atop, add some sugar to really top up the sweetness, and voilá hipsters will love it.
Did I mention how infantile today’s beer scene has become? It was already bad enough when brewers started to brag about using sh*tloads of this or that, now it seems like our top list is crowded with stuff designed for 5 year old.
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