Odd Beer Question

[GilesTH]

I'm not sure if this is the right sub-forum for this question, but it IS about beer, and not about homebrew, so I figured I'd give it a shot here.

I love local breweries, and in the Denver area, we have a TON of them. There's a newish brewery in Arvada (Arvada Beer Company) that didn't really impress me right away, but after giving them a second and third chance, they started giving me beer that I enjoy.

But last night I had one of their new specialty beers that they crafted to celebrate their neighbor's one year anniversary (it's a Belgian fry shop). It tasted like beer-flavored soda syrup. I really wanted to like this beer, and it didn't taste BAD, just REALLY flippin' sweet. They called it a Golden Strong Ale. Is that a style? Is it supposed to be sweet? I know a bit about beer (mostly because of The Sunday Session), but I'm still VERY new at the intricacies of this amazing hobby (I only brewed one batch of extract beer, but I love trying new craft beer and have for more than 6 years).

A few months ago I tried ABC's Lemon Shandy, and THAT one tasted like a Wit Bier mixed with Lemon Cello. I didn't like it too much, but since it's the first beer of that style that I've ever tried, I figured it was me, not the beer. But with that beer I had last night, I'm starting to wonder if they just screwed up something in the brew.

Am I crazy? Is this just something I don't like in a beer? Or did they make bad beer? (Sorry for all the rambling.)

[Ozwald]

Not a problem, it sounds pretty 'generally beer related' to me

If the first thing you think of when you taste a golden strong is 'sweet', there's definitely a huge problem there. My guess is that they don't understand the style, or more likely (since it was created for a specific date/event) that it didn't have time to finish properly. They may have not used a yeast that could handle the job properly as well.

The style starts off pretty heavy (1.070 to 1.095) but it includes a lot of simple sugars, either from dextrose or a well planned mash schedule as it's done traditionally. These ferment out very well, so the end result is very, very dry (1.005ish) unlike many beers with that high of a starting gravity. The high carbonation level also is a factor. That's the gist of the sweet part, I won't list all the other nuances of the style, but if you're interested search out the BJCP style guidelines for 18D. If you can, track down a Duvel, which in my opinion is one of the very best examples of the style & quite often a reference point for others attempting it.

[spiderwrangler]

Crap, now I have to agree with Ozwald...

Golden strong should not come across as sweet, most likely the beer didn't finish out properly for whatever reason (rushed it, yeast health/strain/numbers, etc).

Your characteristic as a shandy tasting like a wit mixed with limoncello isn't too far off. You can make your own by mixing a wheat beer with lemonade. I find commercial examples to be quite variable, and while they are sometimes quite refreshing, if I'm in the mood for beer, they don't cut it. But if I'm in the mood for lemonade, the beer part can be a plus.

[Ozwald]

Crap, now I have to agree with Ozwald

Oh shush, you love it.

[gwk453]

+1 Spiderwrangler .............some beers are for chicks that love Corona or Bud lime..............uck! uck! Oh Uck!!!!

[EL TIZZO]

yeah...oswald said it...get a Duvel and you will taste what a golden strong should taste like...they are damn good...even in the morning...

Cheers!

[Ozwald]

even in the morning...

Especially in the morning! I wish I could get it more easily - it's the perfect hangover cure. Delicious at all hours though.

[GilesTH]

Glad to hear I'm not COMPLETELY clueless about beer . The beer had great head, but it was more like a Belhaven than what I'd expect from something called a golden strong.