Is it REALLY beer???

I prefer that brewers be as experimental with ingredients as possible. The beer world would be a very boring place if every brewery used the same 4 ingredients. You know sometimes you end up with beer that just tastes weird, but other times you end up with a fresh take on a style that sets itself apart from all the competition.

 

I live 30 minutes from Abita, and while ill never think of them as top tier, fresh from the brewery is decent stuff. I'm sure Abita doesn't fly off shelves anywhere but here, so I'm sure you probably aren't getting it in its best state. If you're ever in south LA, it's worth a go.

 

Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: Yes, it all depends on what you are looking for in a flavor profile.

 

I had lawsons spruce tip Ipa. Definitely sprucy. Definitely beer.

 

Had some carrot brew at ACBF. Nearly regurgitated it back in the cup. Tasted like carrot-flavored AAL. I'm all for experimentation, but some experiments should not be awarded a release.

 

If you don't care for any adventure in your beer flavors, perhaps you should get in your time machine and dial up "Bavaria 23 April 1516".

 

Where are you seeing these flavors in beers? They all sound pretty interesting.

 

it's just like food:

in a bad case, it tastes like off flavors (think rotten egg, whatever).

in a good case, it tastes like beer with a subtle highlight.

in a great case, it tastes like the ingredients themselves, but married well.

in the best case, it tastes like the ingredients themselves, but you taste them (and the "underlying beer") in a new way.

e.g. you never noticed that element in the flavor of blueberries until you had the best blueberry tart; it was *more blueberry than blueberry alone*, and further, *it was a great tart*. that's how beer works too.

or, it works some other way. how do you enjoy beer?

---

edit: re: tasting cucumber, not only is it awesome in drinks, but if you go to a good enough turkish place and have some yogurt + mint + cucumber (+ paprika), you'll probably taste cucumber in a different way. cucumber is not just green water, and it's delicious. so too if you had the best cucumber infused drink.

 

Had a cucumber beer by Magic Hat. So strange.

 

All true, but beer should not taste like spiked cucumber soup.

 

I thought it was good.

 

OP: I don't want all these adjuncts in my beer, give me a Miller Lite!

 

I avoid beers flavored with other ingredients, especially pumpkin and blueberries. I'm a Reheinsgebot kind of guy and that 'beer flavor' is my favorite flavor in the world.

 

There's no difference, according to the Feds, from the Treasury Dept.'s TTB publication What You Should Know about Malt Beverage Labeling:

​

 

Beer is good, and fun.
As others have said. Historically, whatever ingredients could get godisgood to party up and poop it out was what wound up in the kettle. That's very much the story for American brewers as they arrived on these shores and wanted to keep their fellow immigrants happy.

 

Whenever I give my dad a taste of the beer I'm drinking he always, without exception, says "hmm, this really doesn't taste like beer." I'm not a huge fan of a lot of extra spices, fruits, or flavorings, but if I ever told someone that a fruit beer was not really beer because of these flavors... well I'm not yet ready to fully transform into my dad.

 

I get where you're coming from and agree--beer should taste mostly like the beer that it is and overdone flavorings often detract from this. I'm a subtle-flavor advocate and believe that an entire universe of different flavors can be found within some very basic ingredients and careful production. Not opposed to adding non-traditional (in the modern sense) ingredients to beer as long as it is done tactfully, but that is hard to find in today's emerging beer scene especially in the States. More of everything is assumed to be better. I love a subtle heather ale, but think that bourbon flavor is an abomination to the beer that carries it. Some of the same folks that are supporting the strongest of flavors described above also have nothing kind to say about beers such as Southern Tier's big bottle series (Cre'me Brulee anyone?).
So my main gripe is that some brewers use special ingredients in such a heavy-handed way as to intentionally cover up the flavor of the beer that they've made. Sometimes it leaves me doubting whether many of these brewers (mainly johnny-jump-ups coming onto the scene with only this extreme flavor plan in mind) can actually brew a decent beer.

 

It's been said before and deserves to be said here again: Just like any consumable product, beer is all about individual tastes. Just because you don't care for it doesn't mean others feel the same way. If you don't like something, someone else obviously does, otherwise it wouldn't be brewed. Personally, I don't care for fruit beers, but I don't belittle anyone who does. I save that for BMC drinkers who think they're drinking the best beer on the planet.

 

Let's break this down:

Has water: Check
Has malted barley/wheat/rye, etc: Check
Has hops: Check
Has yeast: Check
Went through a proper brewing/fermentation process: Check

Yup, it's beer.

Feel free to add whatever else you want after those core steps, still makes it beer.

If you don't think so I'd like to hear what others are calling it these days so I know how to properly order it the next time I go to a bar or pub.