I spent yesterday in a classroom. Not just any classroom, mind you, but one in the School of Hospitality and Tourism at Toronto's George Brown College, and rather than being in the student's chair, I was the one at the front of the class.

     What put me there was beer, but curiously enough, the reason my students were listening to me was wine. Because, you see, the class I was teaching was a part of a course for prospective sommeliers, during which they will spend countless hours and days studying the complexities of the world of wine and a mere morning and afternoon learning everything they can about beer. If that seems to be a bit out of proportion to you, well, join the club.

     I'm not a stupid man, or at least I don't think I am, and I recognize that the demand for information about beer is unlikely to ever equal that for wine. But I am also aware of two very important facts: a) That beer is a subject every bit as complex and finely nuanced as wine; and b) That an ever-increasing number of fine dining restaurants are expanding their list of beer offerings to previously unimagined degrees. Put those two things together and the single day these would-be sommeliers spend on beer - scarcely more than half a day, in the case of some who left early - would seem to be very much on the short side.

     So the question then arises: How much is enough? What do I want my server or bartender or sommelier to know about the ales and lagers they have on offer? Well, for starters, how about the following?

     1) When I ask where a beer is from, I don't want to just know if it's domestic or imported, but also what brewery produces it, if said brewery is large, small, medium-sized or a contract brewing operation, and even, when relevant, if it's known for a specific beer or beer style.

     2) When I ask what a beer tastes like, I'd like more than "bitter" or "sweet." After all, a sommelier wouldn't explain away an expensive bottle of Californian Cabernet with "it's a dry red," so why should I expect any less information about a Belgian ale? I'm not after an essay, but some basic descriptives would be nice.

     3) If, as all too often happens, the beer list contains scant information, I'd like the server or sommelier to warn me before I accidentally order a sweet, 9% alcohol spiced ale as an aperitif. As a dedicated professional, they know what attributes are present in an appropriate aperitif wine or cocktail, so please carry those over to the beer selection.

     4) When I'm ordering a meal in a decent restaurant in a part of the world where I may not be familiar with the local beers, I'd appreciate a little help with choosing a beer that will partner well with the dish I've selected. Again, it's guidance any diner could reasonably expect with wine, and so when beer is chosen instead, the same knowledge should be made available.

     There, that's all I ask. In the end, it's not much more than some basic knowledge about what's available on an establishment's menu and, I think, hardly an unreasonable request. In fact, when you get down to it, it's really just good business sense.

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• A Year in Beer & Food January 2008
• Cooking Up My Last Supper December 2007
• The Best of Beer Fests? November 2007
• My First Visit to Oktoberfest October 2007
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• Turning St. Patrick on His Head March 2007
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• Twelve Months of Beer January 2007
• The Year in Beer Blogs December 2006
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• Why Can't Somebody Explain this Beer to Me? October 2006
• Ten Years Can Be a Long Time September 2006
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• Light, fizzy beers are losing popularity July 2006
• Beer & Health June 2006
• Tallking Tin May 2006
• Consider the Cocktail April 2006
• The Future of Big Breweries? March 2006
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• Looking Forward in 2006 Janaury 2006
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• Great News for Good Beer June 2005
• Flogging A Dead Horse May 2005
• Hey Molson-Coors, What Do You Have Against Taste? April 2005
• Beer and Food Pairing Gains Popularity! March 2005
• Bud for the Cocktail Set February 2005
• Looking Back and Looking Ahead January 2005
• Holiday Wishes December 2004
• The 2004 Great American Beer Festival November 2004
• The Empty Words of Beer October 2004
• A Visit to the Griffin Brewery September 2004
• Oh Look, It's Another Major Brewery Merger! August 2004
• Interview with John Sleeman July 2004
• Creating a Blend June 2004
• World of Beer turns 40 May 2004
• Eighteen Ways to Improve Your Beer Life April 2004
• Drinking Old Beer March 2004
• Drink Local or Drink Quality? February 2004
• 2003 - The Year That Was January 2004
• 2004 - The Year of Lambic December 2003
• Perspective on the Premium Beer Market November 2003
• So What Makes a Bar Great? October 2003
• Random Reflections at Summer's End, September 2003
• Why I Drink Beer, August 2003
• American Beer Month: Controversial Again, July 2003
• The Case for the Complexity of Beer, June 2003
• Enough of the Lowbrow Chic Already!, May 2003
• A Beer Called Lambic, April 2003
• Of Snow and Barley Wines, March 2003
• Lament for a Brewpub, February 2003
• What We Didn't Get Done, January 2003
• More Belgian Bliss, December 2002
• Joanna Blythman is an Idiot, November 2002
• Brakspear and the Name Game, October 2002
• Taking a Taste of the Midwest, September 2002
• Oregon Brewers Festival 2002, August 2002
• In Praise of Expensive Beer, July 2002
• Le Mondial de la Bière, June 2002
• Beers that Go to the Dogs, May 2002
• In Praise of the Pub, April 2002
• A Great Restaurant Town, True, But a Magnificent Beer Town, March 2002
• Right Beer, Wrong Weather: Imperial Stouts in New York, February 2002
• What I've Learned About Beer, January 2002
• Deceptive Names, Deceptive Drinks, December 2001
• The Truth About Dutch Beer, November 2001
• A Very Personal Message from Stephen Beaumont, October 2001
• Smell Your Beer, September 2001
• Travel Karma, Great Beer and the Oregon Brewers festival, August 2001
• Switzerland after Samichlaus, July 2001
• A Tale of Three Bus(c)hes, June 2001
• Announcing a New Great Canadian Beer Guide, May 2001
• Beer Belongs at the Table, April 2001
• A Bevy of Barley Wines, March 2001
• Why Craft Beer is Here to Stay, February 2001
• Y2Beer -- The Year in Review, January 2001
• No Age Verification Necessary, December 2000
• A Tale of a Tasting, November 2000
• In Praise of la Belle Province, October 2000
• The Premium Beer Drinker's Guide is Here!!, September 2000
• The Downside of Beer and Brewing, August 2000
• So Why Do You Drink Beer?, July 2000
• The Summer Joy of Wheat, June 2000
• In Defense of Beer, May 2000
• Ten Days in Belgium, Part II, April 2000
• Ten Days in Belgium, Part I, April 2000
• Ten Days in Belgium, Introduction, April 2000
• A World of Stout, Mar 2000
• The Glass From Which We Drink, Feb 2000
• The Year As It Was: Brews, Fests and Damn Foolishness , Jan 2000
• New Years Eve, Dec 1999
• Beer in the Land of Stout, Nov 1999
• Visiting the World's Best Beer Fest, Oct 1999
• The Secretive Charm of the Bière de Garde, Sept 1999
• The Mixed Marriage of a Beer and a Cigar, Aug 1999

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