Gimmicky Beers

SanTan? That beer is not good.

 

I could care less. I will try any beer, if I like it great, if not move on.

 

I think the last issue of Draft magazine had an article on "movie beers" which I find gimmicky. Most notably I see Monty Python Holy GrAle quite often.

 

60% of the time, it's gimmicky every time.

 

A couple of things come to mind as I read this thread:

1. A vortex bottle is a gimmick. Brewing your saison with cucumbers is not.
2. Not so sure about beer brewed from a beard. What's next? Fromunda Bruin?
3. Get over the color of the bottle already! Voodoo Donut is a store (now a chain) in Portland that prominently features the Pepto Bismal pink. The maple bacon bar is one of their signature items, and is marginally iconic in Portland. Consequently, Rogue's beer should be seen as an homage, not as a gimmick. Not that this makes it taste any better...

 

First thing i thought of when i heard gimmic. Southern Tier is an interesting one, i feel like its a good thing to try, but not balanced enough to keep you coming back. Often too sweet, but it tastes just like what they say it is, whether its oat, chocolate, or the real kicker, creme brûlée. Creme brûlée has one of the most potent aromas i have ever smelled, i mean you can smell it two seats down from the person drinking it at the bar. All in all there are just better brews out there, but interesting and gimmic seem to go hand in hand which lends itself to creation.

 

That's sound logic. I guess this beer is an homage to the Margarita Pizza, as well.

 

You're supposed to.... "buy local".

 

Since when do cows have balls ?

 

Not only gimmicky, but also hacky. I would rather see a brewer elicit and/or elude to flavors in a beer using malt, hops, yeast, and water than actually putting the item whose flavor they are going after in the beer. To me the former is much harder to craft (as well as being much more interesting than whacking me over the head with certain flavors) and takes recipe development to acheive instead of just tossing weird ingredients into beer and putting it on sale. To me its a shame that wierd ingredient beer and style mashups have become known as "innovation" and traditional styles have become "boring" by the geeks who seem to be driving this segment with craft brewers. I am hoping its just a phase in the maturation of craft beer and you will see this become only a fringe segment in the future.

Maybe it's something that brewers want to do themeselves, but it comes off as mostly a way to gain attention for your brewery from beer geeks and the beer press.

 

While I am inclined to agree, wynkoop originally made the video for Rocky Mountain oyster stout as an April fools day joke, it was only when us (the consumers) told them that they should make it that they actually tried it. So we have no one to blame but ourselves.

 

Every Nitro Beer feels gimmicky to me. It is just a way to hit imperfections in my opinion.

 

Pliny the Younger. Tap only, no growler fills, no bottles. Tastes like Angel pee. BFD! You can have it!

 

I can see how this comes off as gimmicky to those who don't really understand the effects of oxygen and time on hop flavor or don't agree with the importance of freshness in hop forward beers. But those who crave fresh hop flavor though probably think this should be a standard requirement for all hoppy beers. IMO I think they should be congratulated for increasing awarness of the issue with distributors and retailers - most hopheads are already aware of this and are frustrated by the plethora of not so fresh ipa's on store shelves.

 

So is your issue that it can't be easily ticked and traded or that it tastes like pee? And just how do you know what pee tastes like? ;-)

 

Rogue Voodoo Doughnut Maple Bacon Ale - 70/Average - Gimmicky?

Funky Buddha Maple Bacon Coffee Porter - 99/World-Class - The first page of reviews include words like "awesome", "unique", "excellent", "divine"

Seems to me the difference between Gimmicky and World Class is execution (and the fact that the Rogue beer is co-branded with Voodoo Doughnut). Based on the name alone, one might think that these two beers are similar. Alas, that is not the case.

 

One could say that it is only a gimmick until they make a style out of it. It was not that long ago that it was pilsner, lager, porter and stout now we have Oatmeal stouts and Russian Imperial Stouts and American Stouts and....wait for it " Maple Bacon Donut Stout" wait till you wander in to your local tasting room to a whole line of those

 

I'd love to try that Mama Mia Pizza Beer or whatever its called. I dont even care if it gives me garlic breath.

 

I happen to like Fat Tire...

 

All the grave digging Dogfish Head stuff.