11 Obscure Beer Styles that are Worth a Try

Wow gose, what is this rare and obscure beer i've never heard of.

 

Easy now! Gose is the only type of beer I have heard of on this list. I'll have to seek the rest of these out (but have no idea where to start).

I would add Rauchbier and Zweckelbier to the list, I didn't discover their existence until recently.

 

I think the article may have been written for those on the outer fringes of beer discovery, and not necessarily "us" as this first line reads:

"Sure, stouts, India pale ales, and hefeweizens are tasty, but if you want to venture away from the beaten path for your next beer, give one of these styles a shot."


There are about 9 other offerings on there that I have never seen any discussion on within this little thread universe.

 

I love lists!!!!! 6, 7 and 10 sound made up

 

Some of them are historical throwbacks that maybe 2-3 random breweries made for the hell of it. I guess that would make them obscure, although it's hard to tell how accurate those representations actually are.

One that really flies under the radar (but really is common) is Faro. In Brussels I saw quite a few of them (including one from Cantillon), but I think the only one that leaves that area is the Lindemans version.

 

I think this article was fun and pretty informative for a non-beer focused site. I hadn't heard of the majority of the styles either. Haters gonna hate I guess....

 

I never understood why these lists always choose some random numbers. Why not 10?

 

The Joppenbier and the Burton KK both sound interesting.

 

ISO Chicha!

 

Only ever heard of 1 and 2. That Kentucky Common sounds pretty good though.

 

Curious as to when the first time you even heard of Gose was? Last year? Save your snide hipster remarks.
Guess you don't remember posting this in October last year?

As for the article I think it's really cool to see these rare styles mentioned in a fairly popular non beer-centric website, they are fairly hard to come by since not many people make them.

 

I've never heard of Koyt and Kottbusser but I had Scurry and found it to be odd (and clearly at odds with typical style classification). It's apparently debatable if Kentucky Common was or wasn't sour. Sure wish the Pretty Things Once Upon a Time series was brewed regularly and well distributed beyond MA.

 

I've heard of all but two. I'm not their target audience though. Ballast point makes a Kentucky Common at their taproom sometimes.

 

From the BJCP style guidelines for Kentucky Common:

“Comments: Modern characterizations of the style often mention a lactic sourness or sour mashing, but extensive brewing records from the larger breweries at the turn of the century have no indication of long acid rests, sour mashing, or extensive conditioning. This is likely a modern homebrewer invention, based on the supposition that since indigenous Bourbon distillers used a sour mash, beer brewers must also have used this process. No contemporaneous records indicate sour mashing or that the beer had a sour profile; rather the opposite, that the beer was brewed as an inexpensive, presentuse ale. Enter soured versions in American Wild Ale.”

Sounds like the sour aspect is a myth.

Cheers!

 

I've had Gose many times, of course, and a Sahti. The Kentucky Common is something to keep an eye out for, being close to KY and interested in the profile. A Faro has been on my list to try for a while. The rest? {shrugs} The Chicha?

 

I've only had gose and sahti

 

If you ever make it down to Louisville, Apocalypse Brew Works sometimes has this beer on tap:

“Oertel’s 1912: Dark Cream 4.5% 29 IBU
Brewed from the original recipe from the Oertel’s Brewery from 1912. Crisp, clean and very drinkable with a hint of caramel malt.”

http://apocalypsebrewworks.com/?page_id=37

Cheers!

 

11 is one better. I always get suckered into clicking on these things and wasting five minutes of my life. This was kind of interesting though.

 

I had chicha when I spent a few months in Ecuador in my early 20's. A lot of bars / people on the street in Quito serve it. I think that most versions are made just using corn/maize as the grain, not via the chew/spitting method described in the article.