Gimmicky Beers

Dark "IPA"

How can it be a Dark Pale ale?

 

Hendrix was an innovator, most of his stuff was very solid but even he thought some of his playing was gimmicky. He thought tricks like playing behind his head and setting the guitar on fire were gimmicks that detracted from the music. Beer is the same. Gimmicky beers that get hyped detract from the solid beers a brewery may have that don't get the publicity.

 

Ah yes, the Dark Pale Ale. Gimmicky since at least 1888.

 

I swear I still want to gather all the curious / masochistic LI BA's who want to try the voodoo bacon together and we'll collectively pop one bottle, take one sip, wretch, and then say "yay, we did it!". These threads make me sooo curious!

 

I'm not sure why you'd waste emotion simply because you don't like a beer that the brewery probably deemed as creative. You try the beer, you don't like it, you move on. Or you try it, enjoy it, and you're glad you did. I guess I'm lost as to why it would frustrate or anger you?

 

Well said sir.

 

Indeed... VERY GOOD points.

Yet still, I hear what the OP is saying, and I get it. Sometimes it makes me laugh to see some of the failed tries. But as a craft beer store owner who looks at the market as a whole, and sees these beers come and go, its HARD AS F*CK to penetrate the market going up against breweries that have nearly unlimited resources. So if they get creative with names, beer styles, labels etc. etc. just remember that the BIG guys own 85+% of the overall market. Many breweries will gladly do what it takes to get their beer to you.

 

based on kzoobrews definition of gimmick, stone enjoy by is a gimmick beer, forcing you to drink and buy the beer before a certain date. What happens if i dont? does the beer blow up? I tried my enjoy by 12/21 after the date, tasted fine.

 

also, as a smoked beer, voodoo bacon maple is very good in my opinion. It just so happend to be finished with maple which is a nice little addition and change up to the style.

 

Dude, Putting bull nuts in the brew kettle is definitely a gimmick.

 

What does that have to do with Stone Enjoy By?

Ignoring that, was the beer only being brewed as a method of drawing attention and sales? What happened to having some fun? Again, the gimmick label is determined by intention in my mind.

 

One person's "gimmick" is another person's "pushing the envelope." I too love traditional styles of beer that are well executed. However, I think there should always be room on the shelf for the Maple Bacon Donut stuff as well. Where would beer brewing be without experimentation?Aging beers in bourbon barrels was probably viewed as a gimmick once too.

 

True, but going by your very own standards of "A device employed to cheat, deceive, or trick" don't you think it is somewhat deceptive to call anything Dark a Pale Ale?

 

If you don't want what you perceive as a "gimmick" don't buy it. If the vast majority agrees with you then there will be no market. Personally, I like it. Rogue Voodoo MB was a nice smoked beer. The brewers want to have some fun sometimes and I'm buying it unless it has bananas ... I hate bananas. Cheers

 

While an oxymoron, it is a better descriptor than any style name that has been made up since. The style originated with the intention of a beer being flavored as a pale ale but black in color. A Pale Ale is a ubiquitous style and everyone knows what black is, combining terms gives an accurate description. There is no intention of deception, simply doing the best to describe what is there.

You want something misleading? Cascadian Dark Ale. Far more misleading.

 

Strangely I was thinking of CDA's as I typed my original whim

 

Why use Webster's secondary (2c) definition when the primary one (2a) fits?

2 a : an important feature that is not immediately apparent : catch

In this context, a large majority of the top popular craft beers on BA could be seen as "gimmicky," in that they exhibit some important feature (barrel aging, extremely high IBUs/ABVs, non-traditional additions, etc.) that would not be immediately apparent in the context of the base style (stout, IPA, etc.).

 

In that context the definition certainly fits many craft beers. But does the definition fit the context in which most apply the term in conversation?

 

I think there has been, and continues to be, so much one-upmanship in the craft beer "conversation" around attaching "important/not immediately apparent" features to your beers (with BrewDog taking it to the most -- intentionally -- absurd levels), that the fact that so many craft beers fit the basic definition has been lost.

 

I was referencing the first post. There was a story about a rocket mountain oysters in beer. The enjoy by might have been a gimmick or sarcasm as a response to requests for bottle dating?