Why are some breweries unable to brew great beers?

Right on.

Not many would like to emulate Bud Light in aroma and flavor, but everyone should like to emulate it in consistency.

An excellent perspective, this.

Agreed, to a point. My point is that if a beer is labeled as a certain style or given a certain title, it should probably live up to that, don't you think?

 

It is an absolute, indisputable mathematical fact that 50% of beers and 50% of breweries are below average.

 

It is a good question but you are very close to taking beer too seriously. And you answered your own question.

Sometimes the beer you are drinking is just not that great. A little head shake and move on. It's best not to invest any more time or effort once you realize you ain't digging that beer. It's beer. There are others.
Cheers.

 

I agree with @billandsuz - may be taking it a little too seriously.

That said, the brewery you're calling into question is the same brewery that produces Shiner Bock (a Texas staple at every ballpark & restaurant in the state). I put it on the same playing field as the Boston Beer Company or Yuengling. Its' appeal is to folks who don't know shit about beer, but also don't wanna drink a Bud Light, or whatever. And occasionally they'll try their hand at whatever the latest hyped style is, but I don't think they do it with the intent of winning over hardcore craft enthusiasts.

Rephrased - they kinda appeal to the masses, not the aficionados.

 

So, basically, when you're drinking a beer, it's best to consider the source before contemplating further evaluation.

 

Wouldn't it be 49.9999%? I'm such a smartass...

 

If I bake a cake and forget to add baking soda the product might still be tasty and it would be a good baked good but its not a good cake. If you still call it a cake then would you consider it a successful cake?

I'm not saying its a failed beer but I am saying its a failure for the style. I have no problem with brewers expanding beyond what they know as long as there's honesty to the process. I also have no problem with brewers taking a style and doing something new to it. What my point is that people judge beers differently, some people just on how it tastes and others on well it accomplishes what it claims to be. I think many BA drinkers will judge a beer to style while the average beer drinker judges a beer to their personal taste.

 

If I wanted to get my balls busted like this, I'd just start up a conversation with my wife. But now that you've entered this realm, what's your skill level at reverse cowgirl? Just for comparison's sake, of course.

 

What happens when you have five beers/breweries that are rated 5-stars and ten beers/breweries that are rated 1-star?

I think you're referring to the median, not average.

 

I agree, and I believe that the issue is largely due to lack of real style & brewing knowledge on the part of the consumer, and arrogance, cockiness, or just plain ignorance on the part of some brewers. We are in a time when many so breweries are trying to compete by brewing dozens and dozens of beers, instead of just focusing on doing a respectable range of beers properly. "Style" has been abused, overused, and corrupted by breweries who think they are being edgy by disregarding what style actually means. White IPA is, as far as I understand, a hybrid of Belgian Wit and IPA, yet one fairly popular brewery makes theirs without coriander and says that their blend of hops replicates the flavors of a Wit. Well, they don't. The beer is pretty good and very drinkable, but doesn't live up to its billing and thus can be perceived as not a good beer. I hope that makes sense. And don't get me started on Gose!!

 

Dude, I have degrees that require arithmetic (accounting), calculus (economics) and statistics (finance). I know my math well enough, but I was posting to regular Americans, not just the math majors like you. As I mentioned to Lahey above, if I wanted to get my balls busted like this, I'd start up a conversation with my wife.

 

Style is a wonderful concept. Taken in moderation of course.
Now what about Gose?

Style is only useful for nerds like us who like to enjoy nuance. And it's not even a concept that has turned 50 yet. So if a brewer wants to corrupt a style they have a millennia of brewing tradition backing them up. Truth is most beer geeks even around here have a difficult time pinning down the intricacies of beer styles, and that is OK.

Again, it's beer. Only beer.

 

Only because you said "indisputable" and I'm a smartass too, your (humorous) statement isn't necessarily the case. Let's say someone uses the number scores on BeerAdvocate to determine if a beer is "good" or "bad," and they are comparing 4 beers. One beer has a 1 rating and three beers have a 5 rating. In that case, 25% of the beers are below average (4) or also below the median (5) @BayAreaJoe

OK, here's the truth, I just want to get @rudiecantfail to talk to his wife again.

 

Don't be mean

 

Omg ha so good

 

Style is useful for one thing and one thing only, to inform the consumer about what to expect, and the jury's still out on if that's all that terribly effective or not.

 

The title of this thread got me to thinking about Indian Wells, I have to agree that their overall rating is pretty spot on https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/619/ although it's been a few years since I had the misfortune to sample their beers.

 

Brewing good beer is pretty easy. Brewing world class beer is very hard. I've been trying to perfect a saison recipe for years. The best score I've ever had in competition was a 38 which is good, but I can't get above that score. Getting the intangible greatness is not an easy task. Also, I think a lot of breweries are happy with good. In other words they have a product that people like, if they change it they might not have the same sales numbers.

 

That buttery flavor is most likely diacetyl. That happens in systems that aren't properly cleaned and maintained and its absolute hell to completely get rid of once it establishes a firm colony. Generally, entire systems need to be completely disassembled and thoroughly cleaned to prevent it from quickly recolonizing.

 

I almost fell out of my chair reading this. I learn all my ball busting moves from my wife, no reverse cowgirl lessons yet