Beer Book Challenge

I was sitting at a fairly decent Indian restaurant on Christmas Eve last year in Thailand where I ordered a beer. In some ways this beer is momentous even though it was fairly terrible tasting. When I took one sip of it I decided I never wanted to drink it again. So I peeled the label off the bottle and went to find a book to paste it into and remind myself that this beer was in fact awful. Also, it reminded me of the reality of drinking really good beer and forgetting what was good and what wasn’t.

The idea to do this started about a year and a half ago when my friend Jason Kogen said that he was now obsessed with drinking high quality beer. He took me out for some micro brew pints and I was shocked how good my beer was. This experience combined with a few in Europe where I ordered a beer and I got a giant goblet of gold juice put in front of me made me realise that there was really really good beer out there you just had to find it. Before leaving to go to Japan, I did some brief research on Japanese beer by consulting the two sources I knew, Wikipedia and the Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Beer, Spirits and Liqueurs. I got a micro list of Japanese beers that I needed to try. In retrospect there is nothing ultimate about that Encyclopaedia.

So after I drank my Thai sludge and bought a book, I took it upon myself to try as many different kinds of beers as I could. Soon I realised, I needed to place some ground rules in order to make this system work.

Beer?

What classifies as a beer. Does Root Beer or Ginger Ale count as beers? clearly not. But it did bring some thought. There needs to be a clear alcohol percentage in order for it to be classifiable as an alcoholic beverage which beer clearly is. Thus non-alcoholic beer is also clearly out. Some have argued that after a certain percentage it becomes a liqueur. I tend to agree. Liqueurs start at 15% alcohol by volume.

Bottle, Can or On-Tap

The next order of business was to determine standard for drinking the beer. This is highly debatable but after much deliberation this is what I’ve concluded. The bottle must be the standard. If you have a bottle you can get a label from the bottle. This shows evidence of the tasting. A pint cannot provide such evidence. Nor do you want to be cutting cans while drunk. However, the bottle does pose some problems.

The first problem of a bottle is having the bottle not be past its expiration date; a problem that on-tap beer does not have. Second, it needs to be served at the right temperature which may be difficult; again on-tap does not have this problem, much. Third, it needs to be poured right. This is an interesting point and where cans may be superior to bottles. A widget provides the right amount of air to be mixed with the beer and assists in pouring the beer out of a can. Most bottles do not have this widget, but some do.

Even though the bottle has these problems it is important to have it first as the label is the basis for building on further review. For example, one would drink a Guinness out of a bottle without a widget, and save the label. Afterwards, if given the opportunity, one reviews the assessment from a can or from the tap.

Where the beer was made may also be an issue. For instance, people say that a Guinness outside of Ireland is not a real Guinness and especially if it wasn’t poured correctly. This is partially true. A beer is only made from the authentic ingredients of where the brewery is from. Thus, the water, malt, wheat and other aspects are unique to its area. Also, even if the beer is from that area, the transport to a new country will affect the taste of the beer. If it was in the sun or shook too much, etc. So the project is tricky.

Label:

The next issue is how to get the label off the bottle. Some are really easy and you just need to use a knife or your nail to peel it off. Others have strong glue and need more elaborate steps. The first works best on labels that have some kind of metallic surface. You can place the bottle in hot water for a few minutes. But be warned this can be dangerous as it may destroy the label if it is too fragile. This once happened to me and I had to reconstruct it piece by piece. This is not a good strategy. The other way is to clean the label and attach sellotape to the surface. Use a knife to get the air out and that should be a stronger hold than the glue on the bottle.

There are two other strange circumstances. The first is glass manipulation bottles where the bottle itself is moulded into the label. For this use a piece of paper and make a rubbing. The second is sandblasted bottles like Corona. These bottles have an image right on it that cannot be taken off. Not really sure what to do about these at the moment. I’m open to suggestions.

Book

The book itself does not have to be special. I chose a little one just enough to write 6 things in it. 1) The brewery that made it. 2) Where this brewery is from. 3) What kind of beer they say it is. 4) My thoughts on its Appearance, Aroma, Palate, Flavour, Personal Feeling, and overall enjoyment. 5) When and where I drank it. 6) Overall score out of 10.

0) Bad Zone I threw up after I tasted it

1) I nearly threw up from the first few sips and I just couldn’t drink it

2) Taste is bad and finishing it would make me sick but I had maybe half.

3) I don’t want to finish it because it’s just not that good.

4) Mid Zone The beer tastes ok but I didn’t really like it and I prefer not to drink it again

5) The beer is drinkable. Overall have simple feeling about it. Mediocre. Common

6) This is average. Fine to drink, with a meal or relaxing. Enjoyable but nothing to really get excited about

7) Good Zone Truly excellent beer, Overall enjoyment and taste is high as is the experience drinking it.

8) Incredible beer, in a league above all others and a full pleasure to drink it. May be drunk in 3-5 sips.

9) Exceptional beer, delicious in every sense of the word and drank uncontrollably in 2-3 sips.

10) The moment it touches your lips the glass stay there until there is no more.

For fun I also cover by book with the neck labels. I hope I can have a nice collage with I’m done book one.

Glass

A beer needs to be in its appropriate glass. I’m nowhere near the authority on this. More on this as I learn more.

Prioritise the search for beer.

As I am currently in Japan, I will be focusing on Japanese beer for the time being. There are a few standard, mass produced beers and an unknown amount of microbreweries. Outside of Japan you will be hard-pressed to find microbrewer beer from Japan. Heck it’s hard in Japan. My friend gave me this map to guide me. I’ve been systematically crossing out what I’ve found. Whoever made it did some cool research as some of these beers are hard to find. I will attempt to post every Japanese beer I find as I have not found one website that accurately covers this topic. Maybe I’ll be famous for doing it.

SO I challenge everyone and anyone to become a critic of beer. There is more beer out there than you can know. And you have no idea how good or not they are. Why drink the same beer all the time when you can drink new beer.