A Break from South Africa

Over the past month or so I've taken a lot of time to study the essence of what it means to be a 'beer advocate.' Some of the Google definitions of advocate include “someone who speaks on behalf of another”, “to speak or argue in favor of” and “a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea”.

Sounds fine. But my present advocacy is not represented in any of the definitions above. I'm realizing that in order for one to be a beer advocate, one must go to great lengths to avoid the temptation of soley promoting a favorite style or specific beer. Much like a true gourmet's quest to experience all that food has to offer, a beer advocate must go to great lengths to experience all that beer has to offer, regardless of predispotions, critical opinions, or pundit profundery.

With that in mind, I've established a number of goals for myself:

1) I must experience beer from a historical perspective or, to put it another way, learn to love the beers of history. My tendencies to gravitate toward ultra-malty belgian strongs or extreme IPAs and fruit beers have lead to a very narrow understanding of what good beer is. In fact, I can't remember the last time I experienced a quality English Bitter, Bavarian Wheat, or Scottish Ale. These styles may not be overloaded with hops, fruit purees, or special spices, but that's not their goal. Their goal is to simply produce quality beer that reflects the demands of the local pub-goer. These beers are basic and great - they don't require high alcohol to mask the impurities of their brew. And, they've been doing it the same way for hundreds of years. Shouldn't that be enough to gain my allegiance?

2) Get on the lager/pilsner train. Beer geeks look down their noses at the lager style most likely from their distate for the American Light Lager that dominates the marketplace and has ultimately helped give beerheads the image of redneck NASCAR-loving types with shotgun racks in their Chevy. I'm certainly guilty of that. But lagers represent the greatest example of simple, refreshing beer. So, with this in mind I tried my first Prima Pils last night. It was wonderful. Light, dry, hoppiness at the back. Sure, it wasn't as complex as a belgian dubbel, but it doesn't try to be. And why does it need to be? Beer isn't defined by complexity, it's defined by style. I need to appreciate the idea of 'style.'

3) Never refuse a beer regardless of what it is. So yeah, if you offer me a Bud I'm going to try it. I may hate it and spit it back in your face, but I'm going to try it and evaluate it. Does this mean that beer geeks cannot or should not be critical of bad beers? Of course not. Bad beer is everywhere and it needs to be called out. But in order for beer geeks to call it out THEY NEED TO TRY IT!

So that's it. End of rant. I'm looking into beer tasting classes or something to refine my palate. Any suggestions?

Now, after all that passion and grandstanding about getting away from focusing on Belgians, I should let you know that Mike and I are brewing a Rochefort 8 clone next weekend. We're even nerdy enough to use additives in distilled water to match the water make-up in Rochefort, Belgium. Should be really good. We're using the real Belgian Candi Syrup that all the trappists use. This became available on the US market within the past 5 months or so and is supposed to be the key ingredient in creating the complexity we desire. We'll see.

Next on the list may be a nice light summer wheat, something that'll be ready in May/June and can be enjoyed in the hot sun with some nice cheese and fruit. Our Demara Belgian Strong is fermenting nicely and will be ready for bottling in mid-March. Mike is concerned that it is too hoppy although I think that'll mellow with bottle-conditioning.