Originally posted by ContemplateBeer Agreed, though at times it seems that even experienced and knowledgeable brewers either don’t know or don’t care about guidelines and traditions, rather they are more interested in buzz words and catchy names. I.e., a pineapple-kolsch is not a kolsch, a cactus-gose is not a gose. |
Originally posted by spacecoyote I’m not sure what the point here is. If a brewer makes a beer with mostly Pilsner malt, with a bit of white wheat malt, lightly hopped with Noble hops, fermented with Kolsch yeast at, say, 58F, and then they later add some pineapple, what have they made? They’ve made a pretty traditional Kolsch with pineapple in it. How exactly is that not knowing or caring about traditions? I would argue the opposite is true. The brewer has taken the lessons and experience of their predecessors to build the foundation of a beer profile, and added their own twist using ingredients available to them in an effort to deliver a product that suits the tastes of their customers. That is at the very heart of traditional brewing practices. The point is, there is a tradition in brewing of bending style guidelines. This is quantifiable on a number of levels. |
Originally posted by FooFaa Some styles, more so than others, should be considered sacred, such as kolsch, lambic, gose, "saison", pilsner, Berliner weisse, just to site a few examples. |
Originally posted by spacecoyote I’m confused by this. Some styles, such as Kolsh and Berliner weisse have fairly narrow definitions... at least in my mind. Others, such as saison and pilsner seem more open to interpretation or local version. |
Originally posted by spacecoyote Why? |
Originally posted by bitbucket Agreed. "Saison" and "Lambic" could only scarcely, if at all, be considered styles. |
If you look at the BJCP style guidelines it might seem as if it’s hindering progress and evolution. |
Originally posted by FooFaaA fair point. However, at least around me, the respect that they may have for these "rules/guidelines/insert your politically correct term here" does not often show up in the actual products they create. |
First let me give my answer to the initial question. NO. The BJCP system can only stifle innovation if you blindly follow it thinking "this is the only way to brew beer". I don’t think that many brewers do that, even the ones that like to win BJCP competitions by following their guidelines to a T. Originally posted by FooFaa OK . . . you guys are confusing things here. Styles like Kolsch and Pilsner have fairly narrow definitions. The term Kolsch even has appellation as defined by the Kolsch Convention. Though I’m not saying that brewers that brew this type of beer outside of Cologne can’t call it Kolsch, what I am saying is that if you don’t brew the beer as traditionally defined, then it isn’t a proper Kolsch. If you add pineapple to it and call it a Kolsch, you should be slapped. Have some respect and call it what it is. A Pineapple Blonde Ale. Berliner Weisse and Gose, though simple beers, are also decently well-defined. The "problem" is that Berliner Weisse had the tradition of being flavored, at service mind you, with syrups to cut the tartness and make them more drinkable. The recent trend of fruiting both beers is completely untraditional, though it does produce interesting beers. Just call them " _____ (insert fruit name(s) here) sour" and everyone will be happy. Saison is one of the most, if not THE most, ill-defined styles in the entire beer world. End of story. Lambic is one of the most well-defined, especially when referring to process and provenance. The problem with Lambic is that the members of HORAL make such different products and Cantillon, probably the most recognizable maker in the world, is not a member. If however, you want to call your beer a Lambic, you must do the following. You must construct your grist of pilsner malt and unmalted wheat. You must perform a turbid mash. You must hop the runoff with a high level of aged hops. You must boil for an extended time. You must cool your wort in a coolship before transferring to wood for fermentation. You must age your beer in wood and blend the resultant beer into a uniform end product. If you don’t do all of these things your beer cannot even dream of being called Lambic and if you don’t even attempt to do these things and you call your beer a Lambic, then you, sir or ma’am, are an asshole, plain and simple. |
What if these same ideas were applied to painting? |
Homebrew Shops - A collection of homebrew shops and supply houses submitted by RateBeer readers
Homebrewing Articles - RateBeer Magazine's homebrewing department
Homebrew Recipes - Experiment, share and post your own homebrew recipes
2000- 2024 © RateBeer, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service