Beer Styles Have Finally Been Updated!

I'd say "smoke" being used a verb makes more sense for smoked beers, since it's the process of smoking the malt before brewing that makes a beer smoky.

A "smoke beer," with smoke as a noun, sounds like it should be a beer... made with smoke? Which doesn't make much sense, it's not a beer that's somehow directly infused with smoke itself the way fruit beers have fruit/juice/puree/etc. added directly to the mix during brewing. The smokiness comes from the smoked malt used in place of (or addition to) malt that's been dried by other means.

I'd like to see this listed as a separate style too... but considering that Black & Tan seems to be getting removed and everything in it being recategorized as [insert style the dark beer in the mix belonged to here], it's probably kind of unlikely that they'll be added.

 

Awesome to do this ever evolving thing! I do sometimes miss the simpler times, if that makes sense.

 

What's a Milkshake IPA? Could you give some examples? Aren't Gose and Berliner Weisse kettle sours?

 

Much sweeter. It seems to be a preference in that region of the world.

 

Do the many saisons that use brett belong in the new brett category or should they stay in the saison category? Or should everything using brett be grouped together? The description of the style is a little vague on that.

 

Evil Twin has a few, and a majority of what Decadent does is Milkshake DIPAs(at least what is available to me).

 

I like most of the changes, (especially New England IPA as its own category!) but I do agree with the others that "American Sour Ale" or "American Kettle Sour" should be its own category. Dry-hopped kettle sours are a modern American invention distinct from American wild ales--which are America's take on traditional Belgian lambic--and the distinctive German sour styles of Berliner Weisse and Gose.

If New England Pale Ale, New England Double IPA, and Milkshake IPA were their own categories, I wouldn't mind that either. However, this goes down the slippery slope of every beer style needing a potential double/imperial classification based on abv content.

 

I third this - why do we need the imperial designation? Just leave that to the brewer to say "Imperial" on the label if they want. That would get rid of six unnecessary styles. BTW - are there no non-imperial Russian stouts?

Just waiting for someone to get the bright idea of making "Barrel Aged" style variants - then we could about double the number of styles, unless they further specify oak, wine, bourbon, rum, tequila, etc! Just think, hundreds of styles!

 

I would have Brut Ale instead of Brut IPA. No need for American and Russian Imperial Stout. Just Imperial Stout would be fine.

 

I like imperial versions. People tend to rate imperial versions higher, so this way I can see what the top beers are for those styles.

For example, if I want to know the top New England Pale Ale, it would get buried under the massive amount of higher rated doubles.

 

Interesting side-effect, but no reason to keep six pointless styles

 

I think the NE style has become so prevalent that it justifies 3 styles. Though I don’t really think there’s much difference between an 8.5% NE DIPA and a 7% NE IPA, there is when you get higher to say 9 or 10 and you have to draw a line somewhere. There is a notable difference on the lower end (7% IPA vs 5% PA). Again, it’s become so prevalent that I think it’s justified to have 3 for this style. Not for Brut or milkshake though.