Are Brewers "cheating" by just dumping lactic acid in?

Reads 7039 • Replies 84 • Started Monday, May 18, 2015 7:10:24 AM CT

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Message joet P admin beers 2900 º places 125 º 12:58 Tue 5/19/2015 Originally posted by CLevar Originally posted by TheHOFF43 If it tastes good I do not care, at all. Pretty much this. This
Message MatSciGuy beers 924 º 15:20 Tue 5/19/2015 Originally posted by Marko Originally posted by joeneugs I would say it’s only cheating if they’re trying to charge $20+ a bottle as if they spent 6+ months maturing the beer. This. Yep.
Message after4ever P admin beers 8025 º places 322 º 15:40 Tue 5/19/2015 Originally posted by MatSciGuy Originally posted by Marko Originally posted by joeneugs I would say it’s only cheating if they’re trying to charge $20+ a bottle as if they spent 6+ months maturing the beer. This. Yep. +3 You can’t get (or can almost never get) the balance and subtlety of a natively-flavored beer out of a back-sweetened or back-soured beer.

Message CLevar places 23 º 17:19 Tue 5/19/2015 It’s tricky, because it gets into a bit of a hypothetical situation (ie. "Make the assumption that they taste the same, have the same price, etc"). Might it come down a bit to intention and marketing? For example, if a beer was brewed by a brewery claiming to be a "rustic" or "farmhouse" brewery, and it turned out that they were dumping in lactic, I might be a bit peeved. But if a big industrial brewery wants to make a sour ale with lactic acid addition, toss it in four packs, and sell it as a cheap summer drinker, I might be pretty pumped. I do agree wholeheartedly with the "if it tastes good to you, drink it" philosophy, but maybe that should be tempered a bit by some truth in advertising such that the product and expectations line up a bit more. It will be interesting to see how breweries deal with this issue in the coming years. I see more than a few parallels to the whole "lambic" nomenclature debate.
Message SamGamgee P beers 2452 º places 182 º 21:58 Tue 5/19/2015 I think this is acceptable with berliner-style stuff that is priced like a normal beer. Still not as good as the real deal but it’s essentially the same as sour-worting a beer, which is really common these days and is producing a whole generation of quasi-berliners that are I guess the norm now. As a brewer, I think it’s a cheap, easy way to an end and I honestly judge those who do it (sour wort included with this as I see them as the same thing). It doesn’t taste the same and I don’t like it was much. If some people like it then that’s their right. On the next level up, faster lacto-driven sour beers have a lot to be desired compared to spontaneous beers and long-term pedio-driven beers but it all comes down to what the brewer is able and willing to do. I think that there is room for both of those styles in the sour beer world but adding acid to your wort or souring and then boiling is a trend that I wish would die.
Message flabeer places 2 º 22:31 Tue 5/19/2015 Originally posted by joet Originally posted by CLevar Originally posted by TheHOFF43 If it tastes good I do not care, at all. Pretty much this. This You’ve got to be kidding me! Are you serious Joe? Authenticity means nothing? What has happened to Craft Beer? The so called "Craft" is slowly disappearing being replaced by a more expedient version. A cheaper version. An easier version. But Hey...if it tastes good, it’s all ok. Is that it? We now have dumbed down versions of sour beers rating in the top 50. No one seems to care how they’re made as long as the ratings are high enough to garner a decent trade value. Oh, yeah...they’re "rare"...forgot about that. Artificial extracts and flavorings have become the norm and are also celebrated. WHERE IS THE CRAFT IN CRAFT BEER? It’s dead! Or dying, at the least. If you praise a beer made with artificial ingredients or a beer that uses a shortcut to it’s end, you may as well be drinking Michelob Ultra Passion Fruit and loving it. It’s no different.
Message DietPepsican P beers 1592 º places 63 º 22:35 Tue 5/19/2015 flabeer are you drunk, trolling, or both?

Message b3shine P beers 12184 º places 372 º 22:36 Tue 5/19/2015 I’d rather drink a good sour made with lactic acid or acidulated malt than a pedestrian saison made the "right" way.
Message CLevar places 23 º 22:43 Tue 5/19/2015 Shots fired!
Message SamGamgee P beers 2452 º places 182 º 22:53 Tue 5/19/2015 Originally posted by b3shine I’d rather drink a good sour made with lactic acid or acidulated malt than a pedestrian saison made the "right" way. Where is this good sour made with lactic acid or acidulated malt? I sure haven’t tasted it.