Judge the Beer in the Glass
From time to time, I will write about beer styles. There are some two dozen major style groups each of which can be subdivided into half a dozen or so sub-styles. Each major beer style has characteristic flavors, colors, and aromas. Each example of a style is just one brewer’s interpretation of that style.
I’ve been sampling beers for many years now and have tried multiple examples from every major style group — though I’m far from sampling every beer available; a life time of tasting wouldn’t even get you close to trying everything available (with more than 800 different kinds of beer brewed in a little country like Belgium alone, the extent of Beer World is truly vast). What I have learned in my travels in Beer World is to appreciate the beer in my glass. What I mean is that I listen to my beer. (I think listening to beer is something that the beer writer Fred Eckhardt pioneered.) When I say “listen” I don’t mean literally sticking my ear down in the glass. Listening to the beer is to drink it with an open mind as well as an open mouth. Experience the flavors in the beer. Try to discover what the brewer is trying to communicate with the beer. Experience the aroma and flavors on their own terms. Don’t think about whether you like the beer or not, just experience it. Drinking a beer is a form of communication that involves the senses of taste and smell. For that communication to be successful, you must first listen.
When I write about a particular beer I will be judging primarily that beer on its own terms. I will be listening to what that beer is telling me. I will be as attentive as possible to all that that beer has to offer. Only secondarily am I concerned with whether a particular beer is a good example of its style. Brewing to a particular style is something that brewers do to compete. By brewing to a style the brewer demonstrates their mastery of the brewing process, but as a beer drinker you don’t have to worry about whether a particular beer matches a particular style. In fact, as a beer drinker, you probably want the brewer to break the rules and deliver something different and interesting to your glass rather than yet another example of a Porter or a Stout. It’s in the variations of the styles that makes drinking different beers fun and exciting.
Of course, you can have your personal preference for one beer over another. I do have beers that I like better than others. I can’t honestly say that I like American Light Lager, but when I do drink an American Light Lager I can now appreciate the beer in my glass and judge it on its own terms. Bud Lite and Miller Lite are finely crafted beers. They have their own distinct flavor and aroma that can be appreciated by the thoughtful drinker. Whether I like the beer or not is irrelevant to my appreciation of it. Liking a particular flavor and aroma combination is a bonus, but I will never reject a beer as a bad beer because I don’t particularly like it. I am suspicious of assessments based on likes and dislikes because my own taste has been developing and changing since I started drinking beer. A beer I don’t like today, I might actually like some five or ten years down the road. That’s why I’ll avoid evaluating beers based on whether I like them or not. What you’ll get from me is a subjective but thoughtful evaluation of the beer in the glass.
