Should "fruit and field beer" category be broken into 2 distinct categories?

I would guess that most vegetable / herb beer either 1. also includes fruit or 2. is better defined by another style as the vegetable is a brewing ingredient, but not a primary source of flavor as opposed to the fruit being a primary flavor in fruited beers.

For example: Lazy Magnolia's Sweet Potato Stout https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/10990/22345/

Yeah, it's got sweet potato in it, but milk stout is really the better descriptor. In my opinion, at least.

 

Would a Saison with herbs and/or spices be listed as a field beer or a Saison?

Back to our buddy Marcus Aurelius: " Of each particular thing, ask what is it in itself? What is its nature?" . In our instance, we should ask what the beer is at its core, before the fruit, vegetable, herb or spice is added, and list it accordingly.

 

I agree and after looking at several of the top listed fruit and field beers, I too am confused.

 

Then you get into the sticky arguments about what definitions to use for "fruit" and "vegetable". The biology definitions, or the culinary/legal definitions.

 

Agree . Looked at that list and was surprised at the amount on beers listed that i thought would not be on there.

 

I saw a dozen on the first page that I had rated and never thought those beers would be categorized as such. My original retort to the OP was that most fruit beers are of a different style with fruit being an additive and nothing more. After seeing the top beers in that category I see I was ignorant in that assumption. I honestly feel after looking at those beers that said category should be deleted and those beers recategorized. It makes no sense given that the all the beers listed; at their base, are actually other styles completely. Fruit and field beer is in essence "extra".

 

I like your thoughts/post here. Many were American Wheat ,APA ,Lagers and some IPA’s ,

 

Definitely lends credence to the OP.

 

But doesn't any fruit beer need to be have a "base" style? It still has to use barley/wheat or it would be wine.

 

I look at what was and was not listed in the F&F category and was confused as why some were listed like Pyramid Apricot wheat but not Mango Oberon both are fruit infused .

 

I think that category comes out of a time when flavoring additions to beers were unusual in the "craft" beer space.

Now that has flipped. Adding fruit or other flavorings to beer is super mainstream and people have come to see those beers as normal extensions of the base style.

From my perspective, the category could probably be eliminated. But there are still the odd beers (Fantome is the quintessential example of these beers) that don't fit well anywhere else

 

Yes something like Fantome Pissenlit, Listed as a Saison as the base ,infused with dandelions.

 

Pretty much all of their beers are "saisons", but they are also pretty well defined by their flavoring additions.

 

Maybe some are more “Fruit and Field”?

 

You just became an instant virtual friend by quoting Aurelius. So underappreciated.

 

I'll go along with the base beer arguments. Nobody would lump milk stout and milkshake IPAs into the same style. Could probably make the same argument with pumpkin [pie] beers and spiced Christmas beers.

Of course, someone might think I was comparing apples to oranges... ahem.

 

It does get pretty vague with some of the more catch-all categories. Pumpkin Beers come to mind. Are they fruit and field or are they herb/spice since most of them feature pie spices more than the pumpkin, and what did they start as - there's stouts, brown ales, imperial stouts, probably even a barley wine or two that have "pumpkin". Where's the line between a saison and a wild? Even consider all the various pilsner riffs that are out there. I think it would be possible to debate endlessly about some of these blurry lines and gray areas.

There can't be infinite varieties, so I'm kind of in the base beer camp - what was it before it got tinkered with - when it comes to "flavorings". I've had a few that I recently added that had to be squeezed into one category or another, even trying to honor whatever the brewer may have called it. I usually try to understand the brewer's intent first, though, since it's their concoction.

 

I remember the time before this was even a category. I’m not up to trends but I don’t think a “field” beer can be warranted. Fruit and field seems better

 

Barley, wheat, corn and rye are all grown in a field, too.
So, that'd make AB's Budweiser a "paddy beer" (NOT an anti-Irish slur!).