On Apr 17, 9:38 pm, (Dick Adams) wrote:

> If California Common can be an ale made with a lager yeast,
> why can't lagers use ale yeast?

"California Common" (gak, can't we just call it "Steam"? This
NG is dead-- we won't get sued!) is a lager fermented at ale
temperatures, not an ale made with lager yeast. As to "lagers"
using ale yeast, well, because the most common definition
of "lager" is "beer fermented by lager yeast". You are of course
free to use any alternative defintion that floats your boat, but
it might be a lonely boat.

> The problem is that, outside of judging, the guidelines don't
> mean much.

I agree completely, but that doesn't really excuse categorizing
a unique beer as a well-defined (and very different) style. Call
it a unique style, or better still don't try to categorize it at all.