The New Pale Ale

Generally speaking, most Pale Ales are forgettable to me and in many ways I find them to be the worst of both worlds: no interesting hops used and nothing spectacular about the malts either so nothing really stands out and you end up with a pretty meh beer to me. But I do love some Helles Lagers, Kolschs, Scotch Ales, etc., etc., and don't think that there are enough of those these days so I think they'd be a good choice.

And for the record, I do understand that can typically be the point with Pale Ales and they are meant to be easy drinkers but there is something about most that just generally rubs me the wrong way and some of my least favorite beers end up being Pale Ales, I have found.

 

That's interesting, they just gave the label a makeover recently but now this is way different, I like it! I wonder if they will be tweaking the formula again? I enjoy this beer a lot and drink this and Sly Fox's when I am in the mood for a Helles, which can be quite often (especially in the summer).

 

I recently had Nerd Alert Pseudo Pilsner and that thing was killer for what it was. Not a fan of the Pils style, and I know this is actually an ale, but whatever they did here was really nice, crisp, and with an incredibly clean finish. Maybe something like this would be a nice staple in anyone's lineup to get those that aren't big on the craft flavors to move on over to smaller breweries.

 

I feel that most IPA or IIPA are their flagship beers now. Like what are stones, troegs and countless other new breweries,new flagship.

 

A Wit or Weiss.

 

Kolsch, Belgian Blonde, Czech Pils, Saison (low abv)

 

Unfortunately real ale is still rare here, but I disagree that English pale ale/bitter or mild have to be cask conditioned to work. Selling those styles a bit short to say they can't shine even when kegged or bottled.

 

ESB gets my vote without question, but I would also be ecstatic to see more robust Pale Ales/Ambers (a la Stone Pale Ale).

I consider myself very fortunate to live in a city with a lot of different options. The biggest local brewery Schlafly shines in English styles (though many here love their TIPA), the local Urban Chestnut in Bavarian styles, and Perennial in everything but especially Belgians. Perpetual fresh Two Hearted, cans of All Day, and the West Coast breweries satisfy my hop cravings. Cheers!

 

wit beers? i dont know about that....

i appreciate a brewery that offers a nice variety. in my immediate neck of the woods, Heretic does a pretty good job... offering only their Flagship Evil Cousin (IIPA) and Evile Twin (hoppy red) == beyond that they have a nice porter Shallow Grave and then you get into a couple barrel-aged offerings, an English Bitter style, two flavored offerings, EC w/jalapeno, a hazlenut variant on the porter... then through a nice Brett beer, and an aged Sour.

the OP seems to be looking for trend-spotting. aside from Micros getting into LAGER, i dont know what you would think people want... Wit beer? ESB seems so tired to me... IT;s A HOP WORLD. offer me a nice IPA and a good Stout.

no one is gonna hang their hat on a brown ale or a wit.

 

Starting to see a lot more IPLs now. Dissenter is probably the best I've had, but Widmer Bros Hopside Down introduced me to the style.

 

Enjoying one right now!

 

You should let Allagash know they're in trouble.

 

Biere de garde - two brothers
Cream ale - new glarus
IPL - jacks abby

 

The following breweries have flagships that I love and that deviate from the Pale Ale category:

Sam Adams Boston Lager- Vienna Lager
Anchor Steam- California Common
Brooklyn Lager- Amber Lager
Long Trail- Altbier
Grey Sail (RI brewery)- Cream Ale

I'm sure someone has a Kolsch as their flagship, that works well too in my opinion. More breweries need to have Helles and Czech and German Pils as their flagship. I wish Narragansett would replace their regular AAL with their Bohemian Pils as their flagship. Never gonna happen, but a man can dream.

 

Kellerbier.

 

To be fair, with the exception of Grey Sail, the other breweries on that list entered the game long before the modern craft explosion, and the "rise of the IPA". I imagine if they entered the market today, it would be difficult to have those beers as their flagships.

And if your implication is that not having a pale ale/IPA as your flagship can be done, I wholeheartedly agree. I added the comment above simply for completeness.

Another good local example (I believe it's been mentioned) is Notch's Session Pils (an unfiltered Czech pils).

Finally, I think an Altbier, a Vienna, and a Koelsch can be excellent flagships. But from what I've read about Altbiers, Long Trail's isn't really an example of one. And Sam Adams Boston Lager is more of an American amber lager than Brooklyn's. While neither's flavor profile is spot-on for the style (from reading and my limited experience drinking the style), at least Brooklyn's uses Munich malts. In terms of Koelsch, I'm sure there's some flagships labeled "Koelsch-style" but they end up being American blonde ales rather than a Koelsch (again, from reading and my limited experience with them).

 

Amber, reds, bocks, brown ales, lagers, or even combos like black and tans.

 

They may well be labelled "Koelsch style" simply because Koelsch can only be brewed in Koln.It's a product of protected geographical location.

 

Actually in the US the use of "Koelsch-style" will be out of recognition that it is not brewed in Koln, but there is no legal prohibition outside of the EU against simply calling it "Koelsch." However, just as some US brewers refuse to call their Wild Ales "Lambics," others use terms such as "Koelsch style" or Pils to designate beer styles that originated elsewhere and/or are associated with certain geographical locations.

 

My first "beer book" was Michael Jackson's World Guide to Beer. '79 edition. There was a photograph of a guy serving Koelsch and bread and cheese to a table in Koln and lemmee tell ya. That was one of the most mouth-watering, delicious pics I ever seen. Tall, skinny Koelsch glasses. Yum oh frikkin yum.