Comments on: Look ma, more beer styles

By: LEO

LEO — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:52:39 +0000

Fantastic blog you’ve got right here. A lot of sites like yours cover subjects that arent found in magazines. I dont know how we received by 12 years ago with just newspapers and magazines.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 16:03:08 +0000

It makes my day to see the domain name PointlessWithoutEquivocation.com is available.

By: Ron Pattinson

Ron Pattinson — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 01:20:59 +0000

My confusion. There were way too many acronyms for me there.

Yes. I think so. That’s why I’ve never tried to come up wit my own detailed descriptions. Pointless without equivocation.

Did you see that? Where did it come from? The blood. There’s blood all over my hands. And I have no cuts. The blood. Where has it come from?

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 13:00:22 +0000

People insist on trying to use the bjcp definitions to describe the real world. Despite the fact that they are clearly incapable of doing so.

Just for the record, these are BA guidelines – although the AHA is part of the BA and there is AHA/BJCP crossover these are two very different organizations.

But the question you raise in my mind is if these two particular style guidelines are incapable or that trying to shoehorn beers – for competitions or general drinking – into guidelines is doomed to failure. When Michael Jackson and Fred Eckhardt began this sort of classification they were much more general.

Should competitions be more like BIAA, based mostly on alcoholic strength? Or maybe there is some other better model.

By: Ron Pattinson

Ron Pattinson — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:39:37 +0000

I have to admit not having read these new guidelines. A couple of sentences in I start losing the will to live.

By: Ron Patt

Ron Patt — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:37:53 +0000

Whoever wrote that has clearly never tried Döllnitzer Rittergutsgose, which is sour and delicious and has more than just yeast in it. It definitely has a Brett character, especially on draught. The Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose just isn’t right and isn’t really typical of the style. Döllnitzer Rittergutsgose masatches the historical descriptions pretty well perfectly. I’ve had a ferw other versions of Gose brewed for Ohne Bedenken which were similar to Rittergutsgose.

Oktobberfest: what is currently sold at the festival is a Helles Märzen (14º Plato). It used to be an amber Märzen. It seems the old version is still exported to the USA. Märzen comes in any colour you fancy, from pils-like tyo black. It’s an indication of strength rather than a specific style. I’ve been telling people this for years, but no-one wants to listen.

People insist on trying to use the bjcp definitions to describe the real world. Despite the fact that they are clearly incapable of doing so.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:21:04 +0000

The Draught House in Austin has a gose.

Also Golden City, which shares Golden, Colo., with Coors and Herkimer in Minnesota . . .

By: Russ

Russ — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:15:26 +0000

I’m somewhat perplexed by their description of the Gose. Obviously spelling it incorrectly raised a red flag right away. But there are a couple things that seem odd. First, they say “Some versions may have the spicy character of added coriander. Salt (table salt) character is also permissible in low amounts.” Coriander and salt are the two of the three defining characteristics of a Gose (along with a lactic sourness). It seems like these should be defined as mandatory, not permissible. Also, they say “Horsey, leathery, earthy aroma and flavors contributed by Brettanomyces yeasts may be evident but have a very low profile…” I couldn’t detect any Brett-like flavors in either the Döllnitzer or the Bayerischer Bahnhof Gose. Any sourness is lactic (like a Berliner Weisse), and I suspect this Brett reference stems from the common misconception that Gose is somehow related to Geuze (which they infer up front). Sorry if it sounds like I’m ranting, but given the relative obscurity of the style (there are basically two breweries in Leipzig that still brew it) you think they’d do a little more research before essentially redefining the style to the entire American craft beer community.

By: Josquin

Josquin — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:56:27 +0000

Loren,

The Draught House in Austin has a gose.

By: brewer a

brewer a — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:57:22 +0000

“Jeff: This would seem to be the place to enter Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel.

The Belgians may not care about styles but we’ll invent one to accommodate what they brew. The guidelines call for beers between 30 and 100 IBU.”

We picked 50. D for that kind of beer for this year’s WBC
D. Subcategory: Other Belgian-Style Ale
Recognizing the uniqueness, diversity and traditions of ales inspired by or brewed after several Belgian styles, the beers entered in this category do not fit existing competition style guidelines shown in categories 41-49 above. For the purposes of this competition, Belgian-style ales that represent a blending or hybridization of multiple other styles, or Belgian-style ales that simply don’t fit into any other category or subcategory, would be appropriately entered in this subcategory.

Hopefully we picked right.
D. Subcategory: Other Belgian-Style Ale