One Way For Good Beer To Get A Bad Name

Another odd statement about beer from The Globe and Mail's drinks columnist, Beppi Crosariol, whose first beer column raised eyebrows in May:

I quibble with wine, and not beer or spirits, for good reason. Beer and spirits are made from crops whose flavour is much less weather-sensitive, such as barley and corn. A can of Budweiser is indistinguishable from any other can. Ditto your bottle of Smirnoff.

He made this statement in last Saturday's column as a tangent on the proper point he is making about variation in wines from year to year. Year to year and even bottle to bottle variation is something that makes wine interesting but, let's be frank, the proper comparator for a can of Budweiser is not the sort of wine that displays such variations but Andre's Moody Blue, Baby Duck or some other industrial product that allegedly includes some part grape juice. Repeating the idea that repeat seasonal craft beers do not vary or that cask to cask variation does not occur with quality real ale displays a lack of understanding that is a bit surprising - just a quick scan of Smuttynose's brewers notes confirms how it works. As many or more variables, including the quality of raw ingredients, goes into making craft beer as fine wine.

Finding out about that, one would think, would be on a drinks columnists to-do list. And maybe before discussion of the wonders of the new Coors Lite can.

Comments

Lew Bryson - July 3, 2007 11:09 am

http://lewbryson.blogspot.com

Very well said, Alan. We've always got to remind wine and spirits folks -- and ourselves, headed the other way -- that you've got to compare apples to apples, not caviar to a can of tuna. The can of tuna is perfectly safe and nutritious...but it ain't caviar.

Alan - July 4, 2007 3:22 pm

Another interesting point floating around the BBC today about EU changes to wine making regulations:<blockquote class="smalltext">...Other proposals that have raised the hackles of European wine producers include banning the use of sugar in the fermentation process. This could change the very essence of winemaking in cooler countries such as Austria, Germany and Britain, farmers argue. It could also face fierce opposition from France, where cane sugar is traditionally used to make champagne...</blockquote>

Stan Hieronymus - July 8, 2007 10:06 am

http://www.appellationbeer.com/blog

Alan - At the Facebook group site you've got the headline on this "Can a wine writer ever get beer right?"

That's the question I wanted to answer. The answer is "Yes, if ..."

I would hope that somebody who writes primarily about wine would approach beer in the same way. That he or she starts by understanding or learning a little about the relevant background - maybe it is style, maybe technique, maybe some difference in ingredients - before writing. And, as we keep repeating, also talk about what is in the glass.

It would seem that Beppi Crosariol needs to read more of Eric Asimov of the New York Times.