I'd go along with this. Someone says beer, I think Zombie Dust. Bet you wouldn't say that if it was a Belgian Saison. Oh, wait...
Dude, I'd love if I could have an easy drinking, dry amber ale with enough of a hop presence to keep it from being flabby. Like an ESB, but American hops and fresh. Shit, we had that 20 years ago and let it die.
Another beer flavored style that died is American Wheat. Now there's Oberon in season, and I don't see anything else? Before anyone says anything, Gumballhead is either an APA or session IPA.
The thing is, since you can only get it in Wisconsin, yes I have had it, but not often at all of course. Every time I've had it or any other Cream Ale (like here we have Catawba Farmer Ted's), I have trouble discerning any noticeable difference between it and an AAL. It would take a side-by-side comparison for me to find the differences
Personally I'd be happy if every brewery was forced to follow the Reinheitsgebot. Sure, it would get rid of some beautiful fruited lambics, but it would also get rid of these spiced additive abominations that are turding up the shelves everywhere.
FWIW, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale won the Gold Medal in the ESB category in the 2025 World Beer Cup. Cheers!
We are two days into this thread and the Hamm's guys are MIA!?! Cheers! @Jaycase @miwestcoaster @Blogjackets @gatornation
^^^ This. When I was a small child, my father always told me never to use the word itself to describe an item. So I've always felt describing a beer as having "beer flavor" as lazy and non informative. Unless I happen to know what beer tastes like to you, you telling me a beer tastes like beer tells me nothing. That being said, I've of course heard plenty of consumers use the expression. As you indicated, they typically mean a lightly flavored lager, with or without adjuncts (rice and corn).
In the US, that usually means a macro lager or a craft/import that tastes similar to one. For instance, Heineken might not taste exactly like Bud or MGD, but it's easily identified as being similar enough to them. Pils, helles, Kölsch, blonde ale, cream ale, etc. ? Sure. Something like Julius, Pliny, or Dark Lord? Not so much.
You do know that you can find literally tons of beers on the shelves that conform to the letter of the Reinheitsgebot, don't you?
Many thanks! @miwestcoaster can attest, I coined the phrase "beer flavored beer" It's on my wikipedia page and as we know, that stuff is always accurate and up to date. Cheers!
