Last night I was having a rather unusual brew, and it got me wondering what exactly it is that makes beer beer. Is it simply the presence of alcohol, hops, barley, water, and yeast? Is it some particular flavor profile? The process used to make it? Obviously I'm ruling non-alcohol beer out completely. That stuff is just nasty.
It gets a little tricky when dealing with a drink that's labeled as a beer and brewed like a beer, but really doesn't taste like one. Of course, there's a lot of different flavor ranges with beer, from watery to bitter and burnt tasting. There's a lot of room for variation from lagers to ales and hybrids. It just seems a bit unusual when you have a drink that's completely dominated by a particular flavor that really isn't very "beery". For instance, Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock. It's a wonderful drink that's very easy to get down, but when I had it I couldn't help but think to myself that it was more like drinking an alcoholic version of Yoo-hoo than an actual beer. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Anyway, feel free to leave your comments. What do you consider "beer" to be?
If your answer is Bud, Miller, Coors, or contains a variation on the word "light", go read a different blog.
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