Should barrel-aged Quads be recategorized?

No. Does adding ketchup to a hot dog change the basic hot dog? No, no it does not. Aging a beer in a barrel does not change the basic nature of that beer. A thing is what it is, and not something else.

 

Ketchup on hot dogs!?!

Cheers!

 

I tend to think of it more like putting tacos into a Doritos "tortilla" instead of traditional corn ones, but your analogy works, too.

 

I missed the above. To be explicit, my point was that La Trappe was the first brewery to use the term 'Quadrupel'. It was a name for a beer, not a style, but Americans created the style (you were the first to consider it a style, as far as I know). It is, in a sense (I'm always somewhat provocative), an American style. Of course Belgian breweries now call their beers Quads but I assume that this is because of the importance of the American market. St Bernardus did not used to call their beer a 'Quad' now they do on their website. Belgian breweries create new Quads now, but, no doubt, with an eye on the American market. To me, la Trappe Quadrupel (I've made this point several times before), is very different from the Rochefort and other Belgian strong dark ales, as Tongorad points out. It is a pale ale. I've made similar points many times before. I grow weary.

 

Another point I've made before is that the la Trappe beer suffers for most in comparison with other famous so-called 'Quads' because it is so different. I think it is a fantastic beer, closer perhaps to Maradsous 10...And why on earth did the brewery call that one a tripel (which means that it suffers in ratings)?

 

I see your point, but do you really want double the number of styles, or just best barrel aged no matter the style...where do you draw the line..rum vs bourbon?

 

In other words, the early beers that represent examples of what is now categorized by a style name/description were first done in Europe, but it was the categorizers who developed the style designation for those and newer beers that are variants on that style.

 

I think barrel aged beers should be a tag rather than a distinct style. There can be separate tags for rum vs bourbon vs whatever else, as well as for brett or coffee or vanilla beans. That way you can still separate out those beer without needing distinct styles for them.

 

"Quad" isn't even a style of beer. Belgian Strong Dark Ale and or Belgian Specialty Ale solves all requirements.

 

I personally believe there should be less styles, but that's me.

 

I'm actually just fine with one style that is called Beer.

 

The problem with dividing a style like that is that eventually you'll have to re-classify every single style into BA and non-BA variants. Then you run into issues with blends of BA and non-BA versions.
I'd rather not over-complicate things further.

 

There aren't any BA styles that have their own category. So if Quads get their own category, every BA style will have to also.

 

Yes, except that those who created the style and started putting beers into it included ones which are not particularly similar to the original.

 

This should be the only post anyone reads when the whole quad vs bsda comes up.

 

And which do you propose as being "the original?"

 

St. Bernardus barrel ages ABT. 12......... so not really strictly america. I think St. Bernardus is as traditional as it gets.

 

As discussed by Crabbie, the first beer to label itself as Quadrupel was La Trappe, but this was simply a beer name, not an intention at creating a whole new style. This was turned into a whole style by American breweries, but not particularly following La Trappe in style. As LordCrabapple also mentioned, lots of BSDAs were put into this new quad category ex post facto.

PS: LordCrabapple, I hope you don't mind the nickname of Crabbie which I just coined for you.

 

But you see its the expost facto bit wherein lies part of the propblem. I've no problem agreeing with the idea that the style categorization was part of a US based attempt to introduce some consistency, etc. in description and naming conventions and that it was not used to categorize Belgian or other beers by, say, the Trappist brewers.

But, according to sources I've found so far the La Trappe Quadupel was first brewed/named/released/trademarked in 1991. So the question still remains as to which came first, the Beer or the style categorization. This is the question I'm after answering. If the style categorization existed first it was not derived from the name of the beer and there was no ex post facto categorization.