Recently I tasted an IPA that definitely had a strong rasping hop bitterness, but sadly it was overpowered by an immense diacetyl off flavour, the sort that the first sip tastes good but you know the second will be a sip too much. Another lager was full of phenolic flavours (that's most unpleasant), whilst an IPA was infected with acetaldehyde. The branding on these beers looked great and very appealing but sadly the beer just did not live up to that resulting in an attack on the taste buds of an unwanted kind!
What is a little concerning is that it seems possible to hide behind the word craft and produce beers that are less than great. To some it's perhaps the charm that there is a bit of funkiness going on, but actually I really want to taste the malt, hops and fermentation enhanced flavours that the beer should have, I'm not so keen on flavours that should not be there!
If you read the descriptions on these bottles they make no mention of the off flavours experienced above so they should not really be present and are unwelcome guests. Regretfully, the layman cannot easily identify some of the promised flavours that should be there let alone off flavours, so they become the norm and acceptable. Also many are packaged in the smaller 330ml bottle and this too might be a smokescreen to indifferent quality, as most people are used to drinking the larger 500ml so expect the smaller bottle and the word craft to offer a different experience.
So where do I stand on this. I am all for encouraging choice and innovation from the brewers but it should not come at the cost of quality. The word craft has invigorated the beer category, recruited new younger drinkers and forced many established brewers to innovate. However, I think too much can go into trying to make a beer standout with unusual or higher than normal levels of ingredients, rather than working on balance, quality and above all making sure the beer that's offered for sale is consistently good and drinkable. To this effect perhaps some of the smaller brewers should take a leaf out of the larger brewers quest for quality and consistency, add that to their armoury and an attack of craft beers brewed by the small brewer would always be welcome!
