Beer traditionalists

I WANT IT ALL, BABY!

 

I want whatever tastes good to me.

Be it a pilsner with pear juice or a traditional pale ale with flavors of malt and hops and nothing else, if it tastes good to me I'm going to drink it.

 

Do you consider American adjunct lager a traditional style?

 

Very few breweries nail traditional styles perfectly. Usually there are only just a couple of world-class examples & a whole bunch of mediocre examples on the market.

I prefer twists even if they are subpar, they are usually at least fun.

A subpar example of a traditional style just disappoints.

 

My line in the sand is that the beer should resemble the style that it calls itself. So an imperial pilsner rubs me wrong a little, even though it calls itself "imperial and pilsner." and so does the pils with pear juice where the key word is "with". BUT if they are good and the flavors work well then I will like and drink the beer. If the beer has flavors that do not belong in the style at all then while it may be enjoyable it's just not that good. Some folks will criticize sharply if someone says that a beer did not live up to style or exceeds the style by just a bit too much. Here is my other most recent dance with tremendous unpopularity. Lagerbier does not have caramel or toffee flavor. End of the story. But you go ahead and drink as much of that as you want.

 

I find that I usually end up disappointed with new/different spins on stuff. I think it is good that people are able to experiment and if others like it then more power to 'em. However, my problem with a lot of beers is the addition of ingredients in order to put across a flavor that would otherwise be present solely from the hops, malt, and yeast.

American takes on Belgian beers are the quintessential example of this to me. I have had a couple that were good, but none that came close to being as good as one brewed 'traditionally' in Belgium.

 

Traditional recipes were once a spin on something else that was traditional back then, so I don't mind either way personally. I do prefer the more traditional recipes to a lot of the more innovative ones today. A lot of these twists nowadays just don't work, but they are still bottled and sold at too high of a price.

 

Just call them strong pale lagers.

 

Most of my favorite beers do fall in traditional styles, cause they're more likely to stick with me once you get over the 'Wow, that's pretty neat' reaction of an experimental beer.

I suppose the experiments that turn out to be great ideas in the long run will eventually be considered 'Classic styles'.

 

I like trying it all from time to time but for various reasons I find myself sticking to the classics I know are solid and consistent.

 

Traditionalist.

 

I'm kind of getting to the conclusion that brewing to the "traditional style" means brewing beer that is made for pairing with food. Experimenting with; riffing off of, and fusing and adding hyphenations into beer styles is pretty much what America has to offer, that is going to create its own set of "traditional styles."
There are also old world styles and new world styles. It seems that most of the traditional styles exist because the brewery that makes them is still in business hundreds of years later. Can't really compare them or put them next to one another except for in drinking a session with the expectation that one will live up the example one interpretation sets to another or should be held as the standard to which everything else applies.

 

Exactly. How can there be either excellence or innovation if absolutely anything goes?

 

I prefer traditional styles. I do not like fruit in my pale ale or stout!

 

There is a danger in believing that "traditional" styles are or ever were static.There has always been evolution , incorporation of new varieties of ingredients, technical progress and changes in taste.Sometimes beers have changed unrecogniseably; my grandfather's mild was nothing like the mild I love and enjoy for example.

 

Imperial IPAs are what.......20 years old? Tops?

And now I would doubt many BAs would call them 'non traditional'.

 

It's been said, but there's a good balance to be struck somewhere.

I like a good "traditional" style beer, but for me it's more about being interesting and tasty. Are there beers brewed in a "traditional" style that are fairly simple and boring? Yes. Are there "non-traditional" beers that are masterfully crafted, balanced, and refined like many of the "traditional" staples? Also yes.

If a beer is brewed well, the idea is well-executed, and above all it tastes good, then it's good enough for me.

One more thing: good brewing innovation, in my mind, should use the motto "addition, not replacement". You don't like fruit in your pale ales? I'm fairly certain nobody is advocating a mandatory fruit addition to all pale ales, so I think you're pretty safe. The more styles, the merrier! As long as new styles don't completely replace the traditional ones, I'm all for whatever crazy stuff brewers want to do.

 

I like new beer styles to try, but I still turn back to the classics.

Years ago I would say my favorite style was the American IPA, now I would say its a session bitter. It's interesting how tastes change as you age.

 

today's traditional styles were novel back in the day. im sure in 200 years the american DIPA will be a classic style that people sleep on.