Which beer is not like the others? 10.11.11

The goal is to identify the outlier and explain why it doesn’t belong on the list. There may be more than one answer, although I happen to have a specific one in mind.

a) Mission Street Pale Ale
b) Perennial Artisan Ales Hommel
d) Revolution Ales Anti-Hero IPA
d) Three Floyds Alpha King
e) LaCumbre Brewing Elevated IPA

In case you’ve forgotten: Round one ~ Round two ~ Round three ~ Round four.

22 thoughts on “Which beer is not like the others? 10.11.11”

  1. The Perennial Artisan Ales Hommel is a belgian pale ale; the others are american style pale ales or IPA’s.

    • That is true, Todd. But in the last one the outlier was the beer brewed with a different yeast. I wouldn’t do that two times in a row.

    • Also true. I guess I should have two private label beers in there, because that’s not the difference I was thinking of.

  2. Also correct, but still not what I was thinking of. Guess I should have designed this better. Had two low abv beers, two pumpkin beers . . . just kidding.

    • Finally an option I had taken into account. LaCumbre IPA also won a medal, gold in fact, in the most entered category ever.

  3. It’s a good thing you’re not handing out prizes for correct answers, Stan, or you’d be on the hook three times already–before anyone got the answer you were thinking of.

    Incidentally, I’ve never tasted any of these beers and haven’t the vaguest clue.

  4. Jeff – You’ve never had Mission Street Pale? You have Trader Joe’s in Portland, right? And I think you even get the full Firestone Walker line.

    I respectfully suggest you try Mission Street and FW Pale 31 side by side. Add Double Barrel to the mix if you are into threesomes.

  5. OK. Next time I better specify the question is not “style” related. Because I’m pretty sure none of them will be.

    In fact, I would argue that Hommel is not a “Belgian Pale.” It’s a pale beer from Missouri, fermented with yeast sourced from Saison Dupont. But that is probably another discussion.

    In any event, it’s not the outlier. Sort of a clue.

  6. Could one say that there is no such thing as Three Floyds Pale Ale? They have Alpha King, Zombie Dust, etc., but no beer that is just called Pale Ale… Editor: What a dunce I am. That’s now corrected. Can’t believe somebody didn’t mention that brain fart before. Meant to emphasize AK is a pale ale and left the name out. Thank goodness that Paul, next comment, put me out of my misery.

  7. Thanks, Paul.

    And to everybody else, I’ll try to make the less one less ambiguous but nonetheless challenging.

  8. Is there a running list of Goose Island alumni brewers? I believe Jonathan at Piece Brewpub in Chicago is also a graduate.

  9. Steve – No list that I know of. It might be as thick as the “Companion to Beer.” Not only Perennial in St. Louis, but also 4 Hands Brewing.

  10. what’s this about brewmasters from Goose Island? We don’t have any former Goose brewers on staff. Jim Cibak used to work for us but that’s been years and he didn’t formulate AK.

    • Sorry, Andrew. I was just so happy that somebody got the connection I was looking for . . . but I should have made the “real” answer clear.

      All the beers but La Cumbre were made at breweries with a direct (human) Goose Island connection. (Cibak being 3 Floyds).

      Curiously, when Jeff Erway worked at Chama River (the only place he worked before starting La Cumbre) he had an IPA medal in the Alpha King Challenge.

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