Sunday, February 03, 2008

Reviewing of beer

Resolved: I will review beers with a numerical scale, no more.

For me, and maybe for others, beer is not simply a number; beer is not simply a product. Beer is thing of beauty, and a thing that brings beauty.

When it's quantified as merely a numbered score, or as a price-point, or as a demographic category, beer is rendered as a formalistic, non-aesthetic, ugly thing.

Our mothers once told us, and Michael Jackson mostly practiced: if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it. If I like a beer, I'll tell you; if not, I won't.

I revel in the alchemy, and the skill, and the science, and the joy in the making of a good beer.

But a 1 to 100 scale?

No! Life is too short for that nonsense. I will no longer pretend that beauty can be quantified. For me, and for others, beer remains a special thing.

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