Or in other words, do medals, competitions and BJCP styles really matter ?
I posted a quote on Facebook earlier today and got some questions and feedback about it. This made me think it warrants a little further exploration and explanation.
The quote I posted came from an article on the Jester King brewery blog, titled “Jester King in Green Bottles“. To understand why green bottles are such a big deal in the beer world, I invite you to read the article, but the quote I pulled out of the article was this:
If the way I create, and eventually package a beer renders it unfit for BJCP guidelines, then I consider that a success and furtherance of creativity. I feel as though the status quo of brewing is to find a set of guidelines, create a product that fits within them, enter a competition, and receive an award. It reminds me of standardized testing from grade school. Students spend half the year learning how to take a test, and creativity is suppressed for the sake of passing test scores
Jester King Head Brewer Garrett Crowell
I’m encouraged by this quote. Personally it shows me that the American beer world is starting to come to grips with its identity and the phenomenal stuff that is being produced this side of the Atlantic. Beer existed before beer competitions existed. Beer existed before any Beer Judging Certification Program guidelines existed (fwiw there are now 93 identified beer styles, excluding the “historical beer” category). And you had good beer and bad beer. Or at least, you had well made beer that some people liked and other didn’t like, versus badly made beer.
What I found so encouraging in this quote from Garrett is that this is the attitude that many artisan brewers in Belgium have had for decades. Many make beer because it is a creative process that they enjoy. Yes, there’s still the occasional hiccup that produces something that didn’t turn out quite the way one anticipated. But unless something tastes absolutely horrible, does that make it a bad beer ? Does a beer get left by the wayside because it “doesn’t fit the style” ? Does a beer deserve no merit because it doesn’t show up on any competition circuit ? It’s not because a beer “doesn’t fit a style” that can’t be a phenomenally good beer.
Alternatively, what are we to think of a brewer who brews to produce beers that fit a strict category and leaves the creativity behind ? Granted some of the combinations presented under the label of “creativity” are just plain…well…bad. But I’ve had several others that were surprisingly good.
Medals and accolades are nice. They are good. They are a confirmation that what a brewer is doing is recognized by his/her peers. But it shouldn’t be the end all or the single goal for a brewer. Making beer should be the goal. Whether the beer fits a style and gets a medal is secondary. That the beer gets consumed and that people actually enjoy it…now that…that is a lofty brewers goal.
So what makes a good beer ?
There’s really only two things:
- It doesn’t have any really obvious off-putting flavors. Things like cooked corn or vegetable (di-methyl-sulfide), strong green apple (acetyldehyde), buttery (diacetyl) or astringency can be really off-putting. Some can be appropriate in some beers, but more often than not, high levels of these are just not appropriate and can make a beer undrinkable. In addition, bad storage or treatment of beer can add some really nasty flavors or odors as well, but one can’t really fault the brewers for those.
- You enjoy it. I don’t really see an issue with someone enjoying a beer or a style I don’t like. Too often I see the comment: “That’s a crap beer“…to which too often I respond…”that’s a crap comment“. A beer is either well-made, devoid from those things I just mentioned, or it’s not. Only those displaying those aforementioned flaws should be called a “badly made beer“. If they don’t, it’s a well made beer. I may or may not like that beer, but it’s well made and therefor not crap. It may not be my kind of beer, but as long as you enjoy it, who am I to say it’s a bad beer. So go ahead, drink it, enjoy it.
Andrew Zimmern, the host of Bizarre Foods on the Travelchannel, says: “If it looks good, eat it“. To which I would like to respond: “If the beer tastes good, drink it“