if you were forced by a strange and extremely powerful entity to only make/drink beers either below 20SRM or above 20SRM exclusively, which one would you choose?
I would have to choose above 20 SRM because I couldn’t live without quite a few dark beers. I would be sad to not have pale weizens, good german pilsners but I could do without.
I love a good stout or porter, but forever?! Gotta go with the paler end of the spectrum [emoji482]
I do enjoy stouts and porters occasionally but my preference is toward pale beers. I would definitely choose pale beers forever.
Light
Light side for sure
Absolutely dark. Higher in antioxidants and iron, so I’d want to live longer than the pale drinkers ;D
I’d seek out a different magician.
For the most part, I only drink dark beers…strange powerful entities or not. Tapping a Stout tonight!
Every now and then a pale beer to cleanse the palate, just like one might put on a little Captain Beefheart to adjust the senses.
Would avoid the dark. Like Poltergeist, would run into the light !
Less than 20 SRM for me. Even the brown ale I am fermenting now (the darkest beer I have brewed in years) comes in at 18.2 SRM according to BeerSmith. Frankly, that’s making me nervous I have a roasted malt phobia.
I brew maybe two beers a year over 20 SRM: a Stout (29) and a Porter (22). So…
Gotta go light. For me, the real question is over or under 40 IBU.
It depends on the OG of the beer. 40 IBU would be a West Coast Blaster in a 1.038 OG beer but IMO not near enough bitterness to balance the sweetness in a 1.110 big beer. 40 IBU would be about right for me in a 1.060 beer.
Good one! 
Light for me!
This preference is reflected in my homebrewing, too. I just did a quick check of the stats for the approximately 200 brew sessions I have on record, and 80% of my beers are <20 SRM, ~60% are <10 SRM, and ~30% are <5 SRM. My average is ~12 SRM.
As much as I would miss darker beers, I do think I’d have to go with light as well. I just feel like I have to be in a certain mood for something like a stout or a porter, but a pale ale I could drink whenever.
Pilsners, CAP, Helles, Cream Ale, Bitter, IPAs, and so on are what I mostly brew and drink these days.
Darker beers I le to brew are Check Dark Lager, Dunkel, Doppelbock. I will smoke some malt soon, to make an homage to Schlenkerla Märzen, which is about 22 SRM, and it is one I love.
So mainly light beers.
Light…can’t live without IPA, pils, and tripel.
^^^ this and saison. If I could only drink one style the rest of my life it’d be saison [emoji869][emoji16]
unfortunately, not possible. this is an extremely malicious character.
very valid point. i tried to think about this, and thought that 19SRM leaves lots of room for nutty, nearly-brown ales and intensely malty beers, but nothing with more than ~3% dark roasted malt (chocolate, carafa, 200SRM coffee malt, RB, etc), also cuts off the distinctly darker belgian strongs (i think?)
and yes its very valid to have a roasted malt phobia. i see some stout recipes with 12,13,14+% roasted barley by weight and think that would simply be too much, based on personal experience.
someone brought up different OG/FGs for IBU, but i’d go under. very easy choice for me.
awesome stats breakdown. if i did that i think my average would be slightly higher, but probably under 20SRM. However i’ve decided recently and especially based on my current water profile that I should make repeat batches of beers that I really like the most and not waste time covering styles.
I forgot tripel. that would probably be the #1 or #2 <20SRM style i would miss most.
Yes, and admittedly quite a few beers just a touch over 20 could simply be dialed back to be under 20.
wow this magician is awful.