Friday, September 8, 2017

A Few Misconceptions Of Beer

I get it people, beer can be confusing. It was much easier when we just asked for a beer and they brought it, you know, the people that bring things. Now, we need to know what style it is, how much alcohol it has, and what glass to serve it in. I have compiled a few beer myths that keep haunting us. I hope to clear things up a bit. 







Dark Beer Is Stronger Than Light Beer

"Luke come to the dark side" Sorry, couldn't help myself.

I think most people believed this at one time. It reminds you of coffee. It just looks stronger, but what does stronger really mean? Does it mean more alcohol? Does it mean stronger more intense flavors? Not always. So what makes it dark in the first place?

Color and flavor come from malts and can range from pale to almost black. This doesn't mean it will have more alcohol. It means flavors, which can range between toasty to dark chocolate. Alcohol depends on the process of yeast feeding on sugar. A while back we served a Belgium style IPA called Stumbling Monk and it clocked in at almost 9% abv. Now that's a strong ale and what did the color look like? Blond. How about that?  And their Vanilla Porter takes us to 5.4% and the color? black. 




Beer Myth: "I Just Don't Like Beer"



I here this often and I usually shake my head. What this typically means is that you haven't had the right beer for you. So a beer is just a beer right? Wrong. There are over 40 styles of beer. Colors start from pale straw to jet black. Some of the many flavors of beer are light toasted bread, burnt toast, coffee, chocolate, caramel, banana, vanilla, Bourbon, grapefruit, spruce, licorice, raspberry, molasses, and peach. And like I said, this is just a smidgen of the flavors you can experience from different beers. Some are sticky sweet, others are bone dry. Some are light in body, others are as thick as cream. To sum it up, not all beers are created equal. Keep trying and you will find your 'aha' moment.

Canned Beer is Inferior To Bottled Beer 

Ok I confess, I was guilty for this for quite some time. First of all, when I first encountered good tasting beer, it was only available in bottles. This was in the early 90's. The only beers available in cans at the time were the mass produced light tasting, cheap less expensive beers. So I mistakenly assumed only craft beers deserved to be in bottles.  Talk about a "beer snob". The truth is that cans sometime keep beer fresher than bottles. Two enemies of beer are light and air.   Bottles allow light to enter, especially the green bottles. Cans deprive light from entering. Plus canned beers are less expensive. That is good for my tight pockets, not to mention more sustainable than bottles.  Another reason is that cans can go where bottles cannot. Sporting events, beaches, parks, and hot tubs, just to name a few. If you so chose, you can pour the canned beer into a fancy glass. It was 15 years ago when Oskar Blues first canned it's Dales Pale Ale and now there are over 550 breweries who can beers.  No bottle opener needed.





One Final Thought





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