The obvious divides in brewing

This is subject that's been blogged about a fair few times. Dredgy gave a good overview here and In my time I've realised that the brewing industry and the consumers supporting it are an opinionated bunch. I've heard plenty of old blokes go on about how beer was so much better back in the 1950s, and read plenty of hype supporting crazy new world inventions of the brewing revolution. I've seen plenty of new world IPAs cast aside as over hopped, over hyped or too extreme and plenty of old school brown bitters called just boring. Many people have been under the impression that I back one side or the other but really I'm not on the fence, but back both. Here's what I think;

In one corner: The old school brewing traditions.

Things I like about it;

It gave us classic best bitters, pale ales, Belgian strong ales, pilsners and Barley wines. The templates for virtually every beer in existance. Old school brewing doesn't try and re-invent itself, it's about quality, consistency and usually, simplicity. I love brewing simple beers. Daleside Bitter was always easy peasy and Mordue Workie Ticket is a bundle of joy. Crystal malt and English hops are as compatable as ham and pease pudding.

Things I dislike about it;

Ok, even though it sounds wrong I have to say it. Image is a bit of a problem here. Traditional old pump clips and a thousand and one products that all taste more or less the same triggers nothing but old fashioned perceptions of beer and a stagnating beer scene. It's been blogged about many a time but many small breweries have had the tendency to follow the heard.

That's not to say in twenty years' time when everyone's drinking high octane kegged IPAs and Imperial Porters the next big thing could be cask conditioned pint of mild.

I also have a grudge about a lot of supermarket bottled ales. A 3.8% traditional bitter can be delicious, but after it's been forced through a filter, pasturized and force carbonated it loses more than a lot of that subtle character and becomes something else. The word 'bland' comes to mind. These bottled products don't win the craft brewing industry any fans, even if the cask versions might.

In the other corner: The new wave radical brewers.

Things I like about it;

Big hops, oxmoronic beer, crazy ingredients, edgy fonts on labels, lets get some attention. The brewing revolution is more than just evolving existing beer styles. For the outside its about changing the perceptions and stigmas associated with beer. For the insider its about capturing the imagination and expanding product diversity. Basically radical brewing encaptures just about everything that's new and exciting in the beer world.

Things I dislike about it;

Dangerous territory here as a lot of bloggers reading this may disown me. But truthfully, I have pondered over the odd over hyped beer and thought I'd rather just be down the pub drinking bitter 'x' from brewery 'x'. Are extreme beer just too extreme? For me, sometimes, but the majority of double IPAs, imperial porters and oak aged barley wines are great in small doses.

On thing I have realised is that at times I have found the whole craft beer movement/revoultion in the UK to get a tad arrogant. This can be towards anything mainstream or traditional in the industry. Beer geeks who take this stance generally come across as beer snobs whose attitude ends up deterring people from trying new beers.

So there we have it, my take on it all. The question is can a happy medium be found between the two ideologies in the modern brewing industry? I would like to think so, and from what I've seen not many British brewers strictly back one side or the other. Most upstart brewers from the 80s and 90s started out with a range of traditional products but are now branching out to new ideas.