Why no "American adjunct ales"?

Adjuncts include anything fermentable, aside from the base malted grains. Unmalted grains fit the bill but so do fruits, vegetables, sugar, honey, etc. I would assume you are referring to things like coffee and vanilla as additives, which are added for flavor only, with no impact on the fermentability of the beverage?

 

OK. Thanx. But your use of "so-called "craft" has me wondering about your true feelings concerning the subject.

 

IMHO 5 of the top 10 beers on this site, maybe more, use adjuncts.

Adjuncts = good for many beers, especially ones looking for drier finish, higher ABV, and/or improved mouthfeel.

Belgian candi adjuncts in many cases are more expensive than malt barley, and are essential in many of our favorite beers, a pound can go for double cost of grain.

Chai tea, for instance, is not an adjunct, it is a complete waste of chai tea.

 

I don't know about "all," some fruit additions go into the fermenter to provide fermentable sugars for the yeast. Seems to me this would fall under the definition of "Non-malt carbohydrate material of suitable compostion and properties which beneficially complement or supplement the principal brewing material which is barley malt."

 

Not going to bash on BMC or Coors here because without them a lot of us wouldn't have the massive access to craft like we do - someone needs to keep the lights on and trucks moving.

With that said..the reason why lagers are so prevalent and popular in the U.S. is because of A.) marketing and B.) the fact that these giants, in order to keep their businesses booming need to cater to lowest common denominator of beer drinkers. C.) History - after prohibition breweries started to focus their efforts on creating light, crisp, most times bland lagers (using adjuncts like rice helped create they crispness and lightness and I believe it also cut costs) because that's what the trend of the day was. Combine that with massive amounts of marketing and here we are today - granted those are some of the cliff notes to a larger story.

There are a lot of reasons why craft brewers gravitate towards ales. They're full flavored, a lot more room for experimentation, it seems like most craft brewers were inspired by the great beers of Britain and Belgium too which are mostly ales. Brewing ales allows you to get your product to consumers must faster as well because you don't need to lager or store the beer for an extended amount of time before releasing it - which also allows for cheaper start up costs. I also think that as a community we finally getting over the notion that lagers are lame - but when the craft scene started I'm sure that was the common way of thinking.

 

Because that is what Americans drink, and what most Americans consider beer.

 

That is why I worded that as I did:

since some fruit and other additives will contribute some fermentable material - although I doubt you'll find many "craft brewers" would use the term "adjunct" (or even the B.A.'s convoluted "adjunct to enhance rather than lighten flavor" phrase) for those types of ingredients. Nor are they using them primarily to supplement barley malt.

 

You'll notice this beer is retired

http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/29/43118/

 

bud American Ale was actually pretty good when it was around like for a year or something

 

I remember that. It wasnt bad. There was one that reminded me of it in the 12 pack, zip code, contest thing. Of course, the public picked the one that tasted the most like Bud, hence Black Crown

 

The full expression is "malt adjunct" , those grains added to the mash requiring the use of the enzymes in the malt for conversion.These also dilute the enzymes and enable clarity from high protein malts. The expression has been used loosely (largely by people who see the word and assume its meaning from the context) to cover other ingredients. Brewing is an ancient craft and has its own jargon.To a brewer, "liquor" simply means water.

 

Why doesn't McDonald's have a nice prime rib on the menu?

 

I'd love to see at least a few craft breweries shoot for a summer type AAL, I'm sure they could be tasty

 

Unfortunately, Rainier is now just another Pabst owned brew. I like it way more than anything BMC, but its still under that umbrella.

 

Ah, the American Ale Conspiracy. It was released only mere months after the InBev acquisition of AB. Thats marketing in a nutshell. Get people to believe the exact opposite of the truth while laughing all the way to the bank.

 

Read "Ambitious Brew: The Story of American Beer" by Maureen Ogle.
It goes through the history of American beer, and for you, specifically how German brewers and lager breweries came to dominate the American beer market.
http://www.amazon.com/Ambitious-Brew-Story-American-Beer/dp/0156033593/

 

Yeah, of those I mentioned so are Ballantine XXX Ale and McSorley's Ale. (I imagine Pabst might also own the US rights to Carling Red Cap Ale, too- since they still control the Black Label brand here).

I'd guess Heileman, which bought Rainier in the last 1970s, is responsible for the dumbing down of Rainier Ale. I was shocked when I had it again in the 1990s after it being a favorite of mine in California in the mid-70s when Rainier was still independent. I can only imagine moving it out of the Seattle brewery to a Miller plant (Irwindale, I'd guess) just did more harm to it.