Beers in disguise

Is there some rule/law that an Octoberfest can't be an Ale?

 

Maybe in Germany. You've seen what we've done to the IPA here in America.

 

It's about time someone resurrected one of America's* lost beer styles, (Brown) October Ale. So all the top-fermentationaphiles have something to drink during the fall (you know, a real beer, not a "tastes just like pumpkin pie" bastardization).

Appears to have come back after Repeal, but died out by the 1950s.


* Borrowed from the Brits, IIRC...but likely different than the originals by the 20th century.

 

MadTree Brewing makes a “Kolsch” called Dream Freeze. And it just tastes like a popsicle. Oh and it’s like 7.5%. So...what about that makes it a Kolsch? Been scratching my head this whole time.

 

Porters that are Stouts and vice versa were always a sore spot for me.

 

Uh, oh. Let's parce this out. It is fun and inevitable, but we'll never get to the end of classifying and categorizing beers into tighter quarters of definition. It's all OK with me, but I don't really have a deep need to know exactly where all of these new beers have to fit exactly.

 

Or even a hefeweizen?
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/703/11485/

(this actually came up in another discussion here on BA).

If we're talking some kind of rule or law, in Germany only beers brewed in Munich can be called Oktoberfest. But there are also festbiers and marzens which are primarily defined by gravity, not by style.

 

I agree, but this is at least questionable. What really is a porter? What really is a stout? They're both just marketing terms in the end. But yeah, I agree.

 

What if they are all porters, but some are stout (as in strong beer) porters?

 

stout porter.

 

I have always found on average that Porters were a bit on the thinner side, drier and had less residual sugar. Even the lightest ABV stouts seemed heavier in texture to me so I always pegged that as an element of difference. I know that it's been said that (maybe) theres no real stylistic difference between them, so I admit it could be psychosomatic but since thats where I stand with them I hate drinking thin dry stouts and heavy sweet porters lol

 

Did not Goose Island used to have a fall release of something similar called Harvest Ale? It was tasty. You are definitely on to something.

 

Well, according to our colleagues familiar with the history of brewing in the UK, porter got it's start there and lots of breweries produced them. Then when they produced a stronger verson than their regular one it was called a Stout Porter (which eventually got shortened to Stout). Makes sense would also help account for the fact that a Stout from a particular brewery might be similar in flavor profile to someone else's Porter. Thus the overlap and fuzzy boundaries between Porters and Stouts.

Note: BTW I think the word you may want is "psychological." "Psychosomatic" has to do with mental illness.

 

Wait, is this another Dogfishhead thread?
I kid I kid... sort of.
But yeah, locally (at least) we get a lot of advert for try our crispy Pils! And then it's not a Pils, more like a failed pale ale. Which would be a great name, by the way. Go ahead, no trademark claimed.

 

They may have used Kolcsh yeast.

 

Might have even used the basic recipe to add to/build on/modify, etc.

 

Dogfish Head - The Perfect Disguise

 

I meant it in the same way that a placebo is psychosomatic in it's use, that the belief that it is one thing becoming more important than the thing itself. The idea that seeing the word "Porter" informs my bias and therefore it tastes different (for better or for worse) than if the same bottle said "Stout"

 

I do understand what you meant, but trust me on this one, a placebo does/can have a psychological effect (much as you describe). However, Psychosomatic describes a mental illness that can have physical symptoms. (Unless of course you are self-identifying as being mentally ill....)

See link.