"Flavored" Beers

[Jason Perlow]

Being somewhat something of a purist, I find some of the "flavored" beers out there to be a bit strange, so I shy away from buying them. If I want something fruity and not-beer, I'll go with Hard Cider.

What flavored beers do you like, or don't like? Brooklyn Brewery's "Post Road" Pumpkin Ale with pumpkin-pie spices, the stuff coming out of Dogfish Head, and all the various Lambic fruitbeers and those beers with Honey added to the brewing process are some of those that comes to mind.

[Alekeep]

How should we classify "flavored" beers? There is the banana/clove flavor of a Bavarian hefeweizen, the spicy warmth of a Belgian style trippel, and the sweet roastiness of an imperial stout. Yeast is the source of the flavors in the hefe, malt for the stout, and in Belgium you are never sure.

Rauchbier (smoke flavored) too gets it's distinctive flavor from one of the basic ingredients, malt. Kriek (cherry) is flavored with fruit or syrup added during or after fermentation. There is the argument that that is an adjunct rather than an ingredient.

Flavoring, regardless of the source, can be acceptable whether it defines the style or is added just to be different. What I don't care for is when the beer no longer tastes like beer. Different beer styles can tolerate different levels of flavor additions. A strawberry flavored light lager or wheat beer can be a good summer thirst quencher but it shouldn't taste like Kool-Ade. Stout is hearty enough to enhance with coffee or chocolate.

Likes: Young's Double Chocolate, Liefmans Kriekbier (old bruin w/cherry), Dogfish Head Punkin, Alesmith Speedway Stout (coffee).

Too much of a good thing: Rogue Chocolate Stout (sorry Seb), Lindemans Kriek (lambic w/cherry).