One Trick Pony

Sorry, but this is simply not the case.

 

My two cents... "one trick pony" is a brewery that only makes one good beer.

 

Even if its their only beer?

 

I think one of the reasons why old world breweries are so freaking amazing, is because they specialize in doing a particular thing very well. To be honest, I've found that breweries that try to do a little bit of everything end up lacking a distinctive remarkable style. Sometimes it's better to MinMax.

 

Why? Because someone just hasn't had the right sour beer? Or is your objection that I used to strong of language?

Does Cantillon make non sour or at least not spontaneously fermented beer?

I just don't see how it would be controversial to say that if someone doesn't like sour beer they won't like the beer from a brewery that only makes sour beer.

 

Greene King's only big hit Old Speckled Hen, on this side of the Atlantic anyway.

 

Greene King is a no trick pony

 

I'm not the biggest fan of Greene King, but their XX Mild is solid. The vatted old ale, 5X, is meant to be a bit of a thing as well - it's a shame they bascally use it for blending in homeopathic doses into other beers and only actually release casks of it for the odd special occasion.

 

I really don't care so long as the trick is a good one.

 

Around where I live, Old Nation has a reputation for being a one trick pony with M43/their NEIPAs. I don't think their other styles are bad, but people want to be knocked out. For my money though, being able to brew even one style in standout fashion is the mark of a very good brewer. When you start rocking out a bunch of styles, that's when you enter the "great" category and get big national attention. But that's not easy.

 

My disagreement stems from the fact that not all sour beers are created equal. So your statement is an oversimplification and there are counterexamples.

For example, the flavor profile of a Cantillon beer, being spontaneously fermented, will include some tartness/sourness but it is generally in the background and not central to the flavor profile (Brett makes a difference). However, if we look at something like a kettle-soured beer (with no Brett) the tartness/sourness is often upfront, in the face and is mostly what the flavor profile is all about. Thus there can be and often is a dramatic difference in the complexity of beers with different degrees of tartness/sourness in their flavor profile. In addition, spontaneously fermented beers can be aged for several years and the flavor profiles will change, with the tartness/sourness often receding over time. Finally, as I said above, personally knowing people who love Cantillon and other spontaneously fermented beers but who can't stand kettle sours there exist a fair number exceptions to your statement.

 

Sad, but true. I'll buy pretty much any Belgian style ale they put out, but it's become a hard pass on any other style; although their Brut IPA is pretty good.

 

I haven’t either, but I suppose that it could be. If you’d call an Olympic sprinter a one trick pony you’d be right, it’s the only thing he does, but it’s a world class trick. But, yep, the phrase is usually used to point out a deficiency.

 

Yeah, I think the original point of "one trick pony" is comparing something to a circus animal that only knows one trick and just does it repeatedly - there's a strong implication that this is a bit crap and you'd expect a normal, competent performing animal to have a bit more of a repertoire.

Semantics aside, I tend to think of breweries that specialize in a small range of styles and focus on absolutely nailing them as a good thing. Quite apart from historic European breweries, The Alchemist have historically kept if fairly locked down, and they seem to do alright.

 

For my money, on my one visit to old nation, I was more impressed by their other styles. A rye pale ale, a mild, a scotch ale. all were delicious. Their hazy thing is good too, i just found other enjoyable tricks up their sleeve

 

For quite awhile all the Alchemist produced was Heady Topper in cans, and it was the number one rated beer on this site...for YEARS.

Before that, Westvleteren 12 was the number one beer on this site, and they only produce three beers. A Quad (the 12), a Dubbel, and a Blonde Ale.

I'd rather produce one spectacular beer than 25 different styles that are all mediocre. Or worse, 25 different variations of the same IPA.

 

That talk is un-American, boy!

 

I'd say yes I guess. 1 beer, 1 trick pony