Why do some brewpubs post OG?

[dierythmus]

I've been to some brewpubs/breweries that post each beer's OG along with the ABV. What is the point of this? From reading these posts, OG is only used to determine the potential alcohol level, and that can only be determined by comparing it to the FG. Is that right? If so, why would someone care about the OG of a brew and nothing else?

 

[rklinck]

If the beer has a high OG but not a high ABV, you would know that there were lots of unfermentable sugars and the beer would taste sweeter. Of course, most people would have not idea about this.

 

[Darwin18]

OG by itself doesn't tell you very much except where the wort started out. If they post the OG and FG then you have some real information at hand. I suspect they're posting their OGs in a way that's comparable to "Mine is bigger than yours..." in regards to their competition.

 

[solbes]

I see some relevance to OG. It tells you how much malt was used to create the beer. In some situations I would be much more apt to drink a couple of 1.048 beers (if I'm driving for instance). If I'm sticking around for awhile or have a ride, I would love to try out a few 1.075 beers. They are generally more interesting and can have a lot more complexity. The bigger beers also allow for more hops without upsetting the balance of the beer, so its pertinent for IPA's especially.

The ABV allows you to sort of figure out how well the beer attenuated. Usually just beer geeks will figure this out. With OG and ABV, I would post FG as well.

 

[mrdauber64]

I'm not 100% sure but for me if a beer has an OG of 1.065 but only has an ABV of 6% that would tell me that the beer would have more body and possibly more residual sweetness which would be good in an Oatmeal stout or something similar. But if I saw those same numbers for an IPA I wouldn't be interested because I like my IPA's to be fairly dry.

 

[the_trout]

its a marketing ploy.

 

[motobrewer]

so you know what you're drinking?

a 1.050 -> 1.010 beer (5.2% abv) beer is much different than a 1.070 -> 1.031 (5.2% abv) beer.

if they give you FG and ABV then yeah you can probably figure it out but it's nice to have the extra information.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

I'd rather know the FG and ABV - I don't really care where the wort started but more so where the beer ended. A high FG will tell me there's going to be residual sweetness regardless of the ABV, with the basic assumption that the brewer is capable of actually brewing. An FG of 1.030 is going to be sweeter across the board, regardless of the ABV. An OG of 1.06 could ferment out dry or could come out sweet and malty, you wouldn't know based off the OG.

I'm all for more information, but if you're only giving ABV and one of the hydrometer readings, I think the FG would be superior.

 

[JonM]

My neighborhood brewpub puts OG, FG and degrees Plato on their chalkboard. Why? I don't know, but I'm sure those numbers started a number of conversations between the bartender and customers who now know a little more about how beer is made.

 

[dadshomebrewing]

its a marketing ploy.

^^^ this

it would be interesting to see if they ever change the value of OG between batches

 

[motobrewer]

how is it a marketing ploy? is posting abv a marketing ploy? Is posting IBU a marketing ploy?

 

[Jayhem]

All the beers I've brewed whether they were light OG 1.044 or Heavy 1.075 OG IPA's have all finished between 1.010 and 1.016 for me.

Unless it's a milk stout or something sweet you can get a pretty good idea what the ABV is by the OG alone.

 

[brycelarson]

Because beer drinkers like information. It's minimal to include in the menu - and some people might be interested.

 

[Maweni]

Next time you are at this brew pub ask them

 

[dadshomebrewing]

how is it a marketing ploy? is posting abv a marketing ploy? Is posting IBU a marketing ploy?

for the same reason that Caribou Coffee posts a trivia question every day, and gives you a dime off a cup of $4.00 coffee if you get it right.

it fills space on a white board with something, and get's people talking about it (like in this thread), and makes people in the pub ask questions like 'what is OG?'


also... isn't nearly everything that is EVER written on the board in an eating/drinking establishment pretty much marketing?

 

[motobrewer]

marketing, in terms of giving information to the customer? I don't see how it's a "ploy". we're gonna give you information to...better educate you about the beer! ha! we got you good!

 

[dadshomebrewing]

yeah, that's right.

you got me.

there has never, ever, been anything done with marketing that BOTH provides information, and causes a customer to ask questions, or engage with the staff, and thereby purchase more products, has there

 

[JonM]

It's for the benefit of these people - not for us.

www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/funny-things-youve-overheard-about-beer-346883/

 

[motobrewer]

yeah, that's right.

you got me.

there has never, ever, been anything done with marketing that BOTH provides information, and causes a customer to ask questions, or engage with the staff, and thereby purchase more products, has there

i love how every brewpub/brewey is now an evil marketing mastermind.

 

[dadshomebrewing]

um, marketing is not evil

it's part of communicating with a client, and engaging them, and perhaps selling more product.

 

[the_trout]

for the record, when I said "its a marketing ploy" it was without malice. Marketing is not by definition bad. Its a tool used to get you to buy a product as is cost, quality, ease of use, ect...

 

[motobrewer]

ploy, noun:
a : a tactic intended to embarrass or frustrate an opponent
b : a devised or contrived move

.

 

[the_trout]

thanks for correcting my mistake.
it seems I should have said its a marketing tool.

 

[JordanThomas]

I'd rather know the FG and ABV - I don't really care where the wort started but more so where the beer ended. A high FG will tell me there's going to be residual sweetness regardless of the ABV, with the basic assumption that the brewer is capable of actually brewing. An FG of 1.030 is going to be sweeter across the board, regardless of the ABV. An OG of 1.06 could ferment out dry or could come out sweet and malty, you wouldn't know based off the OG.

I'm all for more information, but if you're only giving ABV and one of the hydrometer readings, I think the FG would be superior.

You get the same info whether they post the OG or the FG along with ABV. But the point is you will get an idea of how sweet the beer will be. Plus, I believe it was dogfish head who pioneered the whole marketing of "high-gravity" ales.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Agreed - but in my opinion it takes less math to see a high FG and realize it's going to be a sweet beer vs. seeing an OG and an ABV and doing some calculations.

 

[JordanThomas]

Agreed - but in my opinion it takes less math to see a high FG and realize it's going to be a sweet beer vs. seeing an OG and an ABV and doing some calculations.

While that's true, I think my point about the whole "high-gravity" marketing is the reason for posting the OG, not the FG.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

I will definitely give you that... "look how much gravity we had in this here beer!" The one that bothers me is that they'll list FG, OG, ABV, degrees Plato... but not many list IBU. I don't subscribe to the "more hops equals more better" mindset that a large portion of the craft-brew market is heading towards and I'd like to know if what I'm drinking is a beer or strained and fermented hop water...

 

[JordanThomas]

I will definitely give you that... "look how much gravity we had in this here beer!" The one that bothers me is that they'll list FG, OG, ABV, degrees Plato... but not many list IBU. I don't subscribe to the "more hops equals more better" mindset that a large portion of the craft-brew market is heading towards and I'd like to know if what I'm drinking is a beer or strained and fermented hop water...

Yep. I like to see at least one of the gravities, the ABV, and the IBU. I think it's because we brew beer, though. We secretly think we could brew something similar with those few items and the types of grain/hops they use. :fro:

 

[DrunkleJon]

Yep. I like to see at least one of the gravities, the ABV, and the IBU. I think it's because we brew beer, though. We secretly think we could brew something similar with those few items and the types of grain/hops they use. :fro:

Well, we pretty much do. Look at all of the clone recipes made with minimal ingredient information.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Hahaha... Honestly, I don't drink other people's beer with the intent to replicate it, with one notable exception. My thought - they went through the time and effort to develop and brew the beer. If they're willing to share the recipe so I can do it, great, but if not - I'll just buy theirs. My exception is the Southern Pecan Ale brewed by Lazy Magnolia - I can't buy it anywhere in my time zone and they won't give away the recipe, so I've done my best to replicate it.

The real reason I like to know one of the gravities, the ABV, and the IBU is that it tells you almost everything you need to know about the beer. Craft brewing has taken so many liberties (and this is a good thing) with styles and flavor profiles that the simple name / style doesn't tell you a whole lot any more. If I know the style and those 3 items we mentioned, I can determine what the beer will taste like and know whether I should try it or avoid it.

So, to answer the OP's question - it's all about informing the drinker so they can make informed decisions about what they're going to be drinking... hopefully they know what to do with the information!

 

[barmyarmy]

It's information. Any knowledge that makes you less ignorant is always a good thing.