Pastry Stout ABVs

I can honestly say I’ve never experienced this phenomenon. If I’m drinking a 15%er, I feel like I can definitely detect alcohol on the palate. Additionally, I can definitely feel a 15%er by the time I’m mid way through the glass as well. I guess if I drank a whole glass of a beer with that octane and had no warming effect, I might question it. But, I’ve never had that happen. Cheers.

 

Yeah I really just think it's all the adjuncts they use that mask the alcohol taste pretty well. You can certainly feel the buzz afterwards. Whether or not you taste the booze is entirely dependent upon the beer. Balance (and lack thereof) tends to throw off perception of abv

 

I typically drink one beer a night and it usually takes me roughly the same amount of time to finish it. I agree with the OP, there are times I just don't "feel" the ABV on the label. I've called BS in a couple of reviews. High ABV is a selling point so there is a reason to lie about the number, I wouldn't be surprised if it happens.

 

Even though in the US on the Federal level listing the alcohol content on beer labels is voluntary: "Alcoholic content and the percentage and quantity of the original gravity or extract may be stated on a label unless prohibited by State law", when it is it must follow this Federal regulation:
Subpart H - Alcoholic Content Statements
§7.71 Alcoholic content.
Tolerances.

The chances of the Feds discovering the error are remote since only a tiny fraction of beers are randomly sampled by the TTB.
Alcohol Beverage Sampling Program (ABSP)

You can always make a complaint.
Consumer Complaints

 

I think they're dumping so many extras in these pastry stouts that you just aren't picking up on the abv. Although after a 16 oz can at 15+% abv, you should feel something from it...but it wouldn't be the first time a brewery misrepresented the abv on their labels.
I'm not a huge fan of the style either, though. I can't take drinking cake batter/syrup/cookie dough that often. It's not that I don't have a sweet tooth, it's just too much.

 

I don’t drink many pastry stouts but I’ve had a few that are in that 13% range and rarely get any booze. Maybe because the beer is so sweet it hides the alcohol. Also, seems like pastry stouts have a syrupy body due to unfermentable sugars, which also that might contribute to the ability to high the booze.

could also just be another case similar to 450 north. They were boasting 8% slushy beers when it turned out they were 3%.

 

This thread reminds me of the Non Fat Yogurt Seinfeld episode.

Cheers!

 

I could probably google this, but what are some of the more famous examples? I always assumed it was strictly regulated, but now that I think of it, that would be a massive undertaking.

 

See post #5.

 

The TTB site is down* (which happens on weekends occasionally - that's why some of my links in post #5 aren't working, they obviously were when I copy/pasted the info) but based on this article:

So, either over or under, they averaged less that 1% off.

At some point (likely tomorrow) this page might work and might list some brewers' with labeling mistakes
2021 Offers in Compromise Accepted - TTB

Although I also have a vague recollection that they announced they would stop publishing the sampling results a few years ago (?).

 

I thought you were joking at first.

They add a bunch of sugar. You ever try a Pastry Bourbon? Literally can't taste the 40% alcohol

 

This could be purely anecdotal, but I've found the more residual sugar is in the brew, coming from adjuncts or otherwise, the slower the absorption of alcohol. Honey seems to be really good at this. A friend and I were halfway through a bottle of Coconut Eclipse and weren't even buzzed. Then like 5 minutes later we were blasted out of nowhere. This is from just only a handful of experiences. I'm not sure if anybody else has had something similar to this happen.

 

like that peanut butter one screwball? Not a single trace of booze.

 

While it's possible for some, I can't imagine the majority of breweries are mislabeling their Abv.

When I first read the post I thought you were going to suggest lower Abv pastry stouts. I'd prefer an 8% stout if it could pack similar flavor. Cheers!

 

I think the sweetness (whether it's from pastry sugars, fruit perceived or otherwise) can certainly hide the ABVs

 

This thread makes me wonder if the gravity measurements to determine ABV are skewed by such massive amounts of adjuncts and such heavy body in the wort.

 

Would a commercial brewer really use that to determine the ABV they print on the TTB-approved label?

 

Either they measure gravity or test in a lab. I’m wondering if either of these methods could be thrown off. Imagine trying to measure alcohol content in a bowl of cereal

 

99% of the time mine would come back at 0.0%. That 1% of the time though!