Hop-head addiction

“The hoppiest beer?” Garrett asked. “It’s a fairly idiotic pursuit, like a chef saying, ‘This is the saltiest dish.’ Anyone can toss hops in a pot, but can you make it beautiful?”

This is taken from today's article at The Pour, written by Eric Asimov, the wine (and occasionally beer) editor of the New York Times. The quote is, of course, from beer author and beer-and-food evangelist Garrett Oliver.

Later on,

Still, the best versions, in which all the elements are well balanced, are highly appealing. Florence [Fabricant: chef and food author, a taster for the article], in particular, was surprised at how many she found likable, and even elegant.

A Taste for Brews That Go to Extremes

This may indeed be an important distinction between the winos and the beer geeks.

Wine does have its partisans for bigger is better, more wood, more extraction. But I would wager that there are more extremists in the beer world, who almost seem to have an addiction-like desire for more, more, more rather than better, better, better.

They're not called hop-heads for nothing!

Tasted were:

• Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial I.P.A.
• Weyerbacher Double Simcoe I.P.A.
• Lagunitas I.P.A. Maximus
• Oskar Blues Gordon
• Victory Hop Wallop
• Mad River Brewing Steelhead Double I.P.A.
• Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale
• Moylan’s Moylander Double I.P.A.
• Southern Tier Unearthly Imperial I.P.A.
• Great Divide Hercules Double I.P.A.