Interesting comments in passing on Twitter just now. Win was praising a style of beer when Stan wrote:
Just how many favorite styles do you have? Should there be a limit? MT @winbassett "one of my fav. styles"
Quips ensued. Lord, how they ensued. But the point is an interesting one - to what degree does the particular actually reflect upon the general. For me, this beer frames my disinterest in anything with "imperial pilsner" on the label. Yet gakky Rabbid Rabbit bore so little resemblance to anything else claiming to be a saison that it came across as a mistaken formulation. A cousin to the idea "the enemy of the good is the excellent" is the idea that over familiarization with specific examples weakens applicable classifications. It just does not trip off the tongue as well. Except for that... mantra.
Jonathon summarized neatly: "beer is my favorite style." Is that not the point. That it is all in one together? That a good beer is just good? Or would you rather, when not ticking, have a mediocre milk stout over a better pilsner because milk stout is your favorite style?
Comments
olllllo - July 23, 2012 12:58 PM
Can I rely on you to summarize all of the #twitterbeerconcernsoftheday because that would be awesome.
Jeff Alworth - July 23, 2012 2:35 PM
I sometimes ask people to play a thought experiment. Imagine that you were only ever able to drink five styles of beer for the rest of your life. No cheating and saying "ale" or "German," either. Which would you go for? It's a slightly different variation on the inquiry you're making here.
I bring it up because I posed the question to Stan once, and he said, "saison." Easily the best response I've ever gotten and illuminating to boot.
Alan - July 23, 2012 4:11 PM
But if I was only given the weepy mess that was Rabbit Rabbit after making Stan's choice I would be off beer for life. Is it not fair to say that one could have meant Saison Dupont and clones or at least variants thereof? Would even Fantome qualify? But I'm not sure saison really is a style so much as an expression of a region.
Jeff Alworth - July 23, 2012 11:57 PM
My thought experiment allows any beer within style. Fantome: yes. Also Bink Blond. But I'm feeling expansive. As for style versus expression, I won't fight you on that one.