Pivní Filosof - Beer Philosopher

Interesting. Almost at the same time, two blogs, a Yank and a Czech, responded to a the reaction of the other side of the counter to the same "problem". Jeff, in Beervana, has been carrying out comparative blind tastings of mass produced pale lagers. In one of them , the samples of Stella Artois and Beck's turned out to be lightstruck. One Jack (whom I mistakenly thought to have some relation to ABIB) left a comment saying that it was not fair to include in a tasting a bottle that had been abused. Meanwhile, in this neck of the woods,  Pivníci published the results of their survey on PET bottles 1 . At the end of the post, they tell that they had received outraged e-mails from owners or brewers complaining about their beers having been evaluated from PET bottles, instead of on tap at this or that pub. Both  Jeff's and Pivníci's response could be summarised as "if you know the container can be a problem, why the fuck do you sell your beer like that?...

As you might have noticed, beer reviews aren't a usual feature of this blog anymore. The few that I post serve mostly to illustrate a point or another . The main reason is that I got bored of writing tasting notes and later fleshing them out for a post. I got tired of having some kind of self imposed obligation to dissect every sip of every new beer in search of things that show up over and over again; not only because I find that to be a waste of time and energy, but also because I realised that it can become an obstacle to properly enjoy a beer. Now, when I drink a new beer, I prefer to let it speak than to force the words out of it, and if there is a sensory element that stands out, I trust my memory to be able to keep it safe in case I need some day. There is also another problem with beer reviews. On the one hand, we have the use of some very detailed descriptors in tasting notes, what can marigold, treacle or rose water mean to someone who's never seen any of that? On ...

Though I still believe that the issue with prices is not much more than a fictitious controversy , mainly because nobody is under any obligation to buy a beer they consider too expensive, there are some attitudes by brewers and sellers that bother me. For example, this: This quote is very similar to the one that closes the "I'm a Craft Beer Drinker" video (that seems to feature more sellers than drinkers), "Life is too short to drink cheap beer". Both are perversions of originals where the word "Cheap"has replaced "Bad". This way, the authors of "I'm a Craft Beer Drinker" (seller?) and the poster above (signed by a brewery) are openly implying that cheap beer is bad and, therefore, only expensive beer is good. I've got no problem if brewers (and sellers) try to convince me that the price of their products (or services) is fair, that it's related to the quality, even if they justify it with abstract added values...

This Twit by El Jardín del Lúpulo got me thinking about a couple of things that have been discussed more than once in blogs and forums, but which are always worth getting back to. Me encanta la cerveza. Siempre bebo Cruzcampo Glacial a -2ºC. Es lo mejor. #TuiteaComoSiTuvierasParálisisCerebral — El Jardín del Lúpulo (@Jardindellupulo) April 5, 2013 ( I love beer. I always drink Cruzcampo Glacial at -2ºC. It's the best. #TwitLikeYouHadBrainParalysis) Before carrying on, I'd like to make clear that I believe that that hashtag is nothing but a joke. Unfortunately, though, there are not few craftophiles who actually believe that those who drink Cruzcampo Glacial, or another similar beer, are morons. This attitude (that I must confessed to having shared in the past) is something that is bothering more and more in the beer world. By themselves, beer tastes don't make anyone more sophisticated, ethic, let alone more intelligent. In fact, if we are speaking about morons, it...