Beer style categories that are too broad?

I won't go so far as to say that it bothers me, but 'pale ale' can really be anything from a light amber to a triple IPA.

It's almost become more of a category of styles.

 

Call me crazy, but I would say "Amber Ale" and "Red Ale" are color descriptors, not style guidelines. Ditto "Black IPA" which, from the ones I've had, are really just hoppy porters.

 

First off you have good taste in beer. You do know that styles is something Micheal Jackson made up over the years right?

The Belgian's who I wish could post for themselves, but they been doing beer/ale a long time. also to me there is real Belgian ale and the others that make in the style of. meaning the beer/ale they made all predates MJ and BJCP, etc.

Have you read the good beer guide to Belgium? 2005 edition (5th edition). Trappist are not a "STYLE", and yet no one has an issue with that. in fact most Strong dark ales fit in there, or in abbey ales, etc etc.

the key is get over the term style is its mealiness,, IMHO. If you want consistency talk to the brewer.

good luck with that,,,,,

 

I agree with both of the above comments and add " American strong ales".

 

I was going to say strong ale.

 

I have felt for a long time that Michael Jackson did us no favours when he introduced the idea of beer styles.Like lamp posts, what were intended for illumination became things to lean on.They work best when very loose and in conjunction of at least some background knowledge.

 

I think that most styles have gotten pretty broad mostly because of all the new things breweries are trying (which is not bad) but like you said, can make it hard to know exactly what a beer will be like.

For instance, IPA's are my favorite style, and IPA is an extremely broad style. I appreciate when a brewery will put "West-Coast style IPA", "East-Coast style IPA", or "English style IPA" somewhere on the bottle, makes sorting through the varieties of IPA's easier.

I think IPA and most styles have gotten very broad, but think that's a good thing. I don't want every IPA to taste like every other IPA, and I don't want every Porter to taste like every other Porter.

 

I think it is this assumption that gets us into trouble, and leads some people to say that styles are meaningless (mealiness? lol.) A style description definitely communicates information about what a beer might be like, and what it might not be like, so it is far from meaningless. But there is bound to be a lot of variation within styles, and there are bound to be "catchall" type styles that are more just a place to classify beers that don't fit anywhere else. I think a world like the one you hope for would be very boring with nowhere near the level of diversity and experimentation that we are seeing today.

 

Bourbon barrel-aged imperial oatmeal stout. Because what kind of oatmeal is it?



Seriously though, especially with the plethora of pale ales available, calling something a pale ale, or an IPA is really not that helpful anymore. I really appreciate when breweries list the hops they've put in, because that has a lot to do with my purchase.

 

thanks my wife gets tired of telling me how to spell words. I really suck at spelling things. math I can do, English not so much. grammar forget about it. I really did get a HS diploma, lol. I barely passed English...

I can make beer though!

Cheers!

 

Your welcome and I frankly reject the term "style". I mean your welcome to use it and frankly I cannot see a way out of using it on here.

still you are wanting the impossible in getting beer to taste the same because it fits the style? Your kidding right?
surely your not saying you want to be told a blind beer is an ipa from san diego and you KNOW what it should taste like? Please tell me this is joke.....

I like catch all type of ale, I love dark Strong ale, or strong dark ale. but please why do they have to taste the same?

Really I see your point I think, but its not something as beer drinkers were can change.

 

He can't have introduced the idea of beer styles, surely? I mean, people knew the difference between bitter and mild before he was writing, I presume.

 

http://zythophile.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/michael-jackson-and-the-invention-of-beer-style/
http://zythophile.wordpress.com/201...ill-getting-beer-history-so-very-badly-wrong/
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/oh-dear.html
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/oh-dear-again.html
http://barclayperkins.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/oh-dear-once-more.html

from #1
The expression “beer style” is entirely an invention of the late Michael Jackson, it’s barely 30 years old, and it’s only been “mainstream”, in the sense that “everybody” uses it when talking about beer, for a couple of decades.

 

So he introduced that form of words? I knew there was more than one type of beer (if only Martyn Cornell's "lager, bitter and Guinness) before I'd ever heard of Michael Jackson. He may have led to the modern tendency of obsessing over meaningless differences, but I'm not sure there's a lot of difference between a "variety" and a "style".

 

well you have to understand MJ and all that. In fact I think Martyn is writing about about him.

in pre 1976 in the US there was not much good beer left. Of course there was a few pockets. but ale was rare.
Yes there was some
https://sites.google.com/site/jesskidden/

I doubt the British term for mild meant anything here then. I am sure not a beer historian and that is why I read and post those that are. you can search here on the forums and this topic has been done before but usually by now its OFF TOPIC....

surely you know lagers were the thing here. we had imports of course. and I guess in the NE of the USA there were like I said pockets of UK type beer. no one here ever heard that word style. I read some MJ books in the 1980's while in the Navy while I was visiting the ports of call. In Portsmouth in 1971, my bass pale ale I could have sworn it was called a bitter by the lady that draw the tap (cask), but its so long ago.....I did like most did I went by the brewers label.

until the net and boards like this no 1 cared that much back then except beer writers and there NOT that many then. none here I know of but I am sure there had to be some.

 

the same thing can be said about Quads.

 

well fine I'll bite... not a big deal...

But...

I am not a big fan of the phrase "sour beer".

If there was more of a broad generalized category... that's it...

Lambic does not equal Gose does not equal Flanders Oud Bruin or possible Saison or Berliner Weisse or a Hefeweizen with a lemon squeezed in it...

I can't think of a more broad term than "sour beer". I can see why people use it, but it just really doesn't tell me something except the obvious...

 

Regarding the Michael Jackson and 'style terms' - what about porter? Was that never referred to as porter until MJ?