Kool-Aid Inspired Beers

I was thinking the for the consumer. If these cans are $4-5 a piece vs $2 for a HI C and less than a $1 for a shot of vodka.

 

I'm a member of a local craft beer group on FB, and these smoothie/fruit juice beers seem to be posted more than anything. Very popular. I believe "drink what you like" but admittedly internally I make fun of it. I would choose Natty Ice over these beers.

 

I was thinking of posting a new poll that asks “Have you actually tried the juice/kool-aid/slushy beers?”

 

This whole trend is sort of a beer-equivalent of a discussion we've been having in the scotch community for the past few years. The Western diet continues to get more and more sweetened, sugared, and processed, and we are learning even as infants and toddlers that sweet and processed = tasty. By the time we are adults, we've got no capacity to tolerate taste sensations that don't fit into this paradigm. We can't naturally appreciate the taste of something that isn't sweet and accessible; instead, we have to retrain our minds and palates, and frankly, most consumers are too lazy or ignorant for this.

So in scotch what you see is a blending away of flavor sensations that are challenging to the modern sweets-coddled western palate. In name-brand official bottlings, gone are savory, dry, or astringent malts, replaced instead by sanitized kool-aid tasting malts that were matured for a few years in a cheap refill cask then transitioned over to a cask that had some sherry syrup sloshed around in it for a few months to give it a quick sugarcoat.

Same thing in beer, I reckon. The folks who can enjoy a nice dry or savory or estery old school beer are vastly outnumbered right now by those who want nothing more than simple and sweet.

 

Well said. This is what I meant when I wrote "Kidding. But not really" in my response.

 

Sounds like you may have a future in politics......

 

Looks like he just took a bite of deep fried horned toad.

 

Curious as to what comes next after this - I feel like something else always one-ups the latest "WTF is happening to beer" moment as time goes by.

As long as there's still quality lagers and ales out there, this doesn't bother me too much.

 

The vast majority of bars and retailers try to cast a wide net with regards to customer subgroups as well. And for those that don't- just don't go there if it doesn't appeal to you, it's not that hard. You literally don't have to try 'em all, you know.

 

Alright, Smirnoff then.
The point I was making is that there are more convenient and less expensive ways to get kool ade flavored alcohol.
Hell, back in the days before flavored booze we would pour a jar of Tang into a jug of Bacardi (it's what the astronauts drink )

You're right, I've never tried those types of beers. If I came across a single for a couple of bucks, I might give it a go, but otherwise I have more enjoyable flavor profiles to spend my money on.

 

I wish I was around for the the time when those crazies on the west coast were radicalizing IPAs. I can only imagine the horror!

 

"I'll tell you a story of the halcyon days,
of the early compositions of well-hopped IPAs,
whence C hops abounded and the nose could opine,
on the heady bouquet of cat-piss and pine.

In those dreamy days not a inkling took root,
of additions like lactose, or vanilla, or fruit,
And the trembling visage of a taplist not near,
could always be viewed right through one's glass of beer.

Now the modern drinker will stand by and proclaim,
'IPA you can see through? For shame, for shame!'
But those who were there can still wistfully recall,
that the joy of discovering a new beer on the wall.

When horizons were open to those who dared further,
with names like Cilurzo, and Steele, and Arthur,
who built west-coast beer to unknowable heights,
and changed all our palates in what now feels overnight

Those ships have now sailed to ports far and near,
and the world has moved past simple clear hoppy beer,
but those years of providence in our hearts hold a place,
with a certain smell, and a look, and a taste."

 

Do you really think things are really all that different? Many decades ago (more than I care to state) I ate pixie stix, ate breakfast cereals like Count Chocula, regular Coke wasn't sweet enough so we had the place add cherry syrup so we could drink Cherry Coke, etc. Nowadays I drink very bitter IPAs and I enjoy single malt Scotch.

Is the 'real issue' that we were able to grow up/evolve away from sweet but today's young folks can't?

Cheers!

 

I'd argue that the 'real issue' is that the vast majority of the population didn't grow up/evolve away from those flavors. As "craft beer" feels the need to cast an ever-widening net, it becomes necessary to chase those sugary/sweet flavors in order to bring those new customers in.

 

Or perhaps it’s just another iteration of an old trend and not an ‘issue’ at all. Sweet has always tasted good to people. Maybe this style will be a gateway to craft beer that has greater reach than tradition styles. Maybe...

 

I suppose we have another 'factor' that distinguishes the Baby Boomers from Millennials?

I am glad that I personally grew up/evolved from my days of youth consuming all of that sugary crap. And I suppose my teeth are happy too?

Cheers!

 

Where do we submit the post of the year nominations?

 

I wonder of that beer tastes like 'blue'?