Drinking With The Judean People's Front

Is it a porter or a stout?

Is it cask or keg?

Is it bottled conditioned or filtered?

Is it LocAle or imported?

Is it Goldings or Galena?

Is it whole cone or pellet hop?

Is it all malt or with adjunct?

Is it micro or macro?

Is it to-style or new-wave?

Is it barrel-fresh or barrel-aged?

Is it bright as a button or opaquely hazy?

Is it handpump or electric pump?

Is it traditional or modern?

Is it what I always drink? Is it what I've always been searching for?




The next time you find yourself asking one of these questions, stop.

Ask yourself: is it good beer?

The answer to that question is the answer that matters.
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8 comments:

  1. Kristy22 May 2011 at 11:18

    well said that man!

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  2. Curmudgeon22 May 2011 at 11:26

    Is it craft or industrial? [ducks]

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  3. Tandleman22 May 2011 at 12:26

    Is it just a way to conveniently blur lines?

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  4. Adrian Tierney-Jones22 May 2011 at 13:42

    agree in parts but there is bad beer, on a similar level, would you say here’s a plate of food, what is it, it’s food, all food is good, centuries of classification and connoisseurship are swept aside — it’s food.

    Maybe the the beer of the future will be a powder added to water, it’s beer after all. ;-)

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  5. Pete Green22 May 2011 at 15:37

    You're right that those questions shouldn't lead to the conclusion "bad beer" in and of themselves.

    However, the answers to those questions might be perfectly valid justifications of the conclusion "bad beer" when taken together.

    "Good or bad" is a value judgement, and all of the things you've mentioned influence it.

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  6. Reluctant Scooper22 May 2011 at 20:43

    @Kristy aye thang yew!

    @Curmudgeon good one. Though I'd argue that all commercial brewing is an industry, if only a cottage industry.

    @Tandleman lines needs blurring. They need size nines stamping all over them. They need a big fat wet belly smearing them.

    @Adrian it's about *good* beer first and foremost. Categories second. I'm tired of people who only drink beers dependent on their answer to the other questions rather than the quality of what's put in front of them.

    @Pete the answers to the long list of questions shouldn't influence whether a beer is good or bad. The arbiters for me are quality of process and expectation of product.

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  7. Anonymous24 May 2011 at 19:36

    Good post. Can't help but think that something or someone has wound you up?

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  8. Reluctant Scooper25 May 2011 at 07:21

    On the contrary, I've been wound up for so long that I'm finally winding down :-)

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