Some highlights, lowlights and observations on the year just past:
- I was heartened to see the cresting of the alcopop trend in 2003, and am looking forward to the gradual demise of the category. If you're still drinking those calorie- and sugar-laden "adult ready-to-drink beverages," let me offer this one piece of important information: alcohol + sugar = hangover.
- As the year grows to an end, word out of Belgium indicates that traditional lambics may be under attack, this time from government bureaucrats seeking to achieve EU levels of standardization. This is the same kind of mindless bureaucracy that's threatening many of Europe's finest cheeses, and all the more reason to rally behind the makers of traditional lambics in 2004. (Please see December's Feature for more on this.)
- On the North American front, at least in general, I'd say the view towards the future is good. The naysayers might continue to claim that quality, craft-brewed beer has run its course and will soon slouch into decline, but I see more great beers from more innovative breweries all the time.
- And on that note, thank goodness for insane American brewers, many of whom seem determined to push the boundaries of brewing as far as physically possible. Even if you're not the type of beer aficionado who craves massive alcohol, curious flavourings or huge hops, you've got to admire the spirit of brewers who doggedly explore as many fringes as they can. (And see this month's Events section for details on a Boston fest where you can sample many of these 'extreme' beers.)
- Certainly one of the most persistent and annoying beer stories of the year was the so-called movement towards downmarket beers like Pabst Blue Ribbon. The media can keep repeating that tall tale all it likes, but that doesn't make it true.
- Through my involvement with beerbistro, a new beer cuisine restaurant in the heart of downtown Toronto, I've seen plenty of evidence that there still do exist people who drink beer for taste, rather than for alcohol.
- Yet sadly, as starkly illustrated by the rise of a new market segment of largely flavour-free, low-carb lagers, there are still way too many people who don't.
- To the ever-growing list of people who just don't "get it," let us add New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, who this past summer declared that while it was perfectly okay for wine lovers to enjoy a glass or two of red or white in Central Park, people who might want to crack open a beer on the beach were breaking the law. Repeat after me, Mr. Mayor, a person who chooses to enjoy an ale or lager is not necessarily more inclined to create a public disturbance than the individual who elects to sip chardonnay or pinot.
- Speaking of not getting it, raspberries to the Ale Street News reader who wrote in to that paper to chastise beer scribe Michael Jackson for including political commentary in his column. In the United States, as in many other countries, alcohol and politics are inextricably linked, and if you don't believe me, just ask anybody in the brewing, wine making or distilling industries.
- On the positive side of the ledger, kudos once more to Fritz Maytag for having been named the Hudson Valley Foie Gras Outstanding Wine & Spirits Professional at the 2003 James Beard Foundation Awards this past spring. (Here are the details.) And cheers to the Beard folk for honouring one of craft beer's true legends.
- And finally, back on the trend trail, my local newspaper, the Toronto Star, declared in their December 27 edition that a dining trend to watch for in 2004 is beer and food pairings. I, for one, very much hope that this is one prediction that comes true.
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