I went into my LHBS last Saturday to make sure they had all the ingredient for my upcoming lagers. Long story short, I showed one of the employees my list of ingredients for my O-fest recipe that I put a pound of home-toasted 2-row in, and Jamil’s Schwarzbier recipe that calls for chocolate and crystal malts and tells me “You can’t do that!” because stylistically it’s wrong to put American w/ German ingredients in German beers. :o Needless to say, I was shocked. I told him I thought that freedom was what this hobby was all about. He goes on to say that it’s ok for an amateur but If I were going to go “Pro” (Which I never will) I couldn’t use these recipes. I didn’t question him about that remark but it begs the question. Is he right on any level? Do Breweries have to stay within a style / ingredient guidelines?
-J.K.L.
Tell him to STFU and let you spend your coin how you like it.
To answer the question is: no they don’t.
WTF.
It’s totally up to you what you want to brew. I agree. And even if you go Pro, it doesn’t matter.
Kai
Of course they don’t, they can use whatever ingredients they like and call the beer whatever they want. If it sells, it sells. There are no style rules they need to follow.
As long as you pitch enough yeast and have proper control over your fermentation temps you should be free to do anything you want. 
Next time you go in there and he gives you crap about it ask him if beers styles are all set and stone and essentially “dead” of is it still evolving? How would we ever get a style like an American IPA or even a Belgian Tripel if we brewed with the exact same ingredients and techniques as someone two thousand miles away?
sigh I hate that sort of Homebrew shop employee. They really do a great job of ruining the hobby for so many people.
It’s almost always the guy who’s the “frustrated expert” type. Smart, but underachieving. For those hours they’re at the shop though they can sound and feel like they’re in the Royal Society and the customer a mere dumb petitioner. Even worse is the sort of aggressively volunteered “you’re stupid” sort of advice that occurs with a regular basis.
The local shop employees can be a force for education and delight or a force for horrific soul crushing. The trick is to find the former and not the latter.
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said “… I drank what?”
Good thing pro brewers don’t listen to buffoons like this.
What about that time you got caught naked with a bowl of jello?
I definitely wouldn’t subject myself to a LHBS employee nor any other business employee to that type of treatment. I would complain to the store owner and if that didn’t work I would probably take my business elsewhere.
That’s BS.
Assuming you have an alternative, I’d take my business elsewhere and make sure his boss knows why.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to pull a pint of dry-hopped Helles to console myself over the fact that I’m apparently not a pro brewer.
Sorry, but that guy is a turd. The best part about this hobby is experimentation and finding those ingredients/processes that make the best beer for YOUR taste. Even in competitions beers win style categories using some non traditional ingredients. I would have probably gotten into a bit of an argument at that store… 
Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?
This. I’d also let him know that when I want his opinion, I’ll give it to him. 8)
You are chris knight, arent you? I hope, so I’m wearing his underwear.
Did you want to borrow my pajamas?
Ok, ok… as much as I hate to admit that Chris Knight and company were an early primary motivating factor for me to attend the post-secondary institution that I did… we’ve sufficiently derailed the OP’s thread about sucky LBHS employees.
Back to the topic at hand - there will always be the guy with a little power and little knowledge who will try and keep you in line. There will always be the staunch traditionalist who attempts to keep things “right” (and look at the Death of German Brewing topic in the Pub for how well that plays out).
The real key for anyone is to figure out if the person holding up a flashing “don’t” sign is a tinpot dictactor, an amateur martinet using their authority to stand in your way or if they’re someone experienced trying to warn you “yeah, I’ve done the whole Smoked Beer made from nothing but Peated Malt, don’t”. Fortunately, the tonal difference is usually enough.
I agree.
Although a real nazi attitude will often times make you forget about reasoning and you’ll fall off the deep end. As you mentioned the tone and body language is usually the key factor.
Jut say (In your best Cheech and Chong impersonation) :“Style? Yeah, I got Style…FREESTYLE MAN! My friends dig my beer…that’s MY style maaaaan… Now, you gonna get my gocery list together or I gotta sing it out loud to you?”
I would have questioned him. Something along the lines of, “Show me the brewer rule book you are
quoting from. I didn’t know that brewing was a strictly regimented process that squashes dreams of
ingenuity and adaptation.”
And if he had quoted BJCP guidelines, I would have said “Judging not brewing guidelines.”