Stephen Beaumont on
Beer Enjoyment
The Five Steps to Beer Enjoyment
I was a beer lover long before I became a beer writer and my preoccupation with the discovery of new brews has provided me with many an hour of great pleasure and relaxation. During that time, I have consistently relied on these five basic points of beer enjoyment to guide my beery adventures. Some of these may seem a trifle repetitive after reading the above section, but I believe that they are worth emphasizing.1. Try everything you can get your hands on
When you are out for the evening, either at a bar or a friend's place, sample several beers instead of just sticking to one brand for the evening. Many multi-tap bars and brewpubs will offer small glasses of draught for tasting at bargain prices, so take advantage of their generosity, and bear in mind that bottled brews can always be split between two or more tasters. Just remember that the goal here is to sample many beers, not drink ravenously of each, and don't forget to tip the bar staff accordingly for their extra effort.The same principle can also be applied to beer purchased for home consumption. Instead of buying a six-pack of one brand, select a bottle or two of several different beers. The obvious advantage of doing your beer tasting at home is that you can space out your beers over days instead of hours, and by buying different brews each time you visit the store, you can be assured of always having a variety of beers available. Sure, not all of them will be great and some may even be bad, but at least you will be able to say that you have tried them!
2. While travelling, always look for the local beer fare
This should be the most basic tenet of every beer aficionado, yet its logic sometimes escapes even the most dedicated beerophiles. With brewing becoming increasingly regionalized, there is a good chance that the beer you see on a trip may never make it as far as your home town, so it only makes sense to try it while you have the opportunity. This may require a little sleuthing - local breweries are sometimes so small that not even the natives are aware of them - but a knowledgable concierge or bartender, or a local entertainment guide, can shorten your quest.As one who frequently travels solo, I have found that not only do such beer hunts help me in my business, they also keep me occupied and leave less time for loneliness. Naturally, I still miss my wife terribly while on the road, but somehow a good beer and a friendly bartender in a pleasant setting makes the whole situation just that much more tolerable.
3. Think about your beer
Drinking beer is easy, thinking about beer requires a bit more commitment; where the act of drinking involves nothing more than raising a glass to your lips and swallowing, thinking entails contemplation and consideration. There are many facets of enjoyment in a beer and, in order to explore them all, you need to take some time to peruse all of its elements in a leisurely fashion, from colour to aroma to taste and aftertaste. True, there will be times that you wish only to enjoy a good beer without dwelling on it too extensively, but there will be more times -- and more rewarding times -- when the quiet appreciation of a beer will yield the greatest satisfaction. It's a little more work than just drinking, but the rewards are worth it!4. Involve all of your friends
This is very important; drinking on your own, like dining alone, is depressing at the best of times and it becomes even more so when you unearth a great new beer and have no one available to share in your discovery. Getting your friends interested in craft beer, then, rewards you with tasting partners and gives them the benefits of a world of beer tastes and treasures - your world. It also opens the door to beer tasting parties, brewpub crawls, beer dinners and general group-based beer enjoyment.A potential side benefit to converting your friends to craft beer is that once they have discovered the joys of the beer world, they, too, will go beer hunting whenever they travel and, out of gratitude for your beery guidance, perhaps even bring back unfamiliar bottles for you to taste. For this reason, it is particularly important to focus your beer missionary energies on friends who travel a lot in their business.
5. Get informed and stay informed
The craft beer industry is a nebulous thing, constantly changing and evolving as it grows bigger and stronger and it is for this reason that reliable information becomes your most potent ally in your search for ever better beers. If there is one absolute truth in the beer enjoyment game, it is that you can't taste beers that you don't know exist.Books, especially beer guides, are a good start in your beer information quest, but they are by their very nature limited in how current their information can be. It is best, then, to supplement your library with beer magazines and brewspapers. You may also find it beneficial to lobby your local newspaper for a regular beer column or, at least, more frequent mention of developments on the local brewing front. After all, why should wine get all the good press?
A Taste for Beer © Stephen Beaumont, 1995
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