The Highest Form of Beer? (An attempted Beerage)

When you don't blog for over a week, there is always the danger that one will lose the essential thrust, the purposeful desire.  Here then is a sketched discussion, as a means to stimulate the creative juices once more.

I was sipping a sour beer this evening in the Post Office Vaults, a Petrus Aged Pale to be precise.  It was delicious, but then again all "Sour Ales" are, aren't they?  And if indeed this is the case, are Sour Ales an inherently prestigious style of beer, a style which is automatically enjoyed by beer fans because of their provenance and heritage?  Perhaps, in order to obtain status within the beer drinking fraternity, appreciation of the more 'refined' beer styles is a sort of marker on the path to enlightenment, a bit like moving along Scientology's Bridge to Total Freedom or whatever.

Now this is an interesting discussion in itself, but what I really wanted to have a bash at here, was a sort of rough outline of where some beer types might feature in a hierarchy of styles.  If the average lager lout thinks John Smiths Extra Smooth has too much flavour, then Lager must be lower than John Smiths according to a/the/my theory of beer appreciation.  But then again, even lager fans recognise higher forms of lager - Becks or Peroni, as opposed to Carling or Stella Fosters.  The status quo is constantly rocked by trying new beers.   All beer fans have gateway beers - beers which perhaps move them a notch up the beer hierarchy.  For my part, I tried Hoegaarden and it made me want more flavour.  Later I tried Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and it opened my eyes to new hops.  See what is happening here?  One's palette is developing and this leads to appreciation of styles which are seen as 'better'.  But what is the prescribed/recommended consensual route up the ladder?  And what's at the top.

Using my general observations and with an eye on the Ratebeer rankings, here then is my peerage, or, if you will, my beerage.

1. Abt/Quadrupel

2. Gueuze, Barley Wine, Belgian Strong Ale

3. Imperial Stout

4. Sour Ale, Doppelbock, Double IPA

5. Tripel, India Pale Ale, Smoked, Berliner Weisse

6. Saison, Dubbel

7. Kolsch, Alt, Lambic (fruit), Porter, Stout

8. Marzen, American Pale Ale, Belgian Wit, German Hefeweizen

9. Bitter, Mild, German / Bohemian Pilsener

10. Pale Lager

11. Low Alcohol

(n.b. levels are indicated by numbers, with most prestigious at the top, duh.  Styles which are of roughly equal standing, stand next to each other, duh).

So how does that look?  An initial examination for sure, but does it strike a note of sanity, or is it complete cobblers?

p.s. If someone could put this into a Powerpoint style organisational chart, I'm sure this idea could be presented in a much more illuminating way.

p.p.s. Someone (maybe lots of people) have probably had this same discussion, many times before.  A cursory Google search didn't reveal these discussions, but if they do exist, and I have subconciously pinched these ideas, then I apologise.  

Important beers on Dan's journey. No.1 Sierra Nevada Pale Ale

As I have marched relentlessly through hundreds of beers, there are certain ones which mark turning points in my evolution; after which things will never be the same again.

I believe that Sierra Nevada Pale Ale is one of those.  Way back in 2003, following a trip to Vancouver and Seattle, I returned to the UK full of excitement about the American Craft brewing scene.  Unfortunately however, examples of the US scene just had not made the long trip across the Atlantic.  Except for Sierra Nevada.  It was the first beer to regularly pop up in accessible locations, including Waitrose.  The Waitrose thing was particularly exciting, as I could nip in and grab a bottle just before my Monday night ping-pong session at Hall Green Library.  These things leave a lasting impression don't you know.

As for the beer itself, it was a revelation: light, refreshing, but packed with hops - the type of hops which just didn't exist in British brewing at that point.  In 2004, when I got the chance to try Stone Arrogant Bastard in California I came to realise the difference between the largeness of an IPA compared to the more delicate hop balance of an American Pale Ale such as SNPA.  That same year, 2 of my favourite 'at home session' beers were SNPA and Goose Island IPA - I remember both of these lads easing the pain of England's exit from Euro 2004.

Even as recently as 2007, the discovery of SNPA on tap at the Fighting Cocks in Moseley was a heartwarming find.  On tap it was fresh, juicy and lethal, but the hipsters lapped it up.  To see SNPA on tap, in branded glasses a few yards from my flat, gave me a really positive sense that the craft beer revolution had been continuing apace, even while I was in a beer hunting hiatus.

I'm supping a SNPA as I write this, and I must admit it just doesn't have the same excitement for me now: the hops are subtle and slight compared to the beasts I prefer, along the lines of Great Divide, Oakham or Kernel.  Even so, it's a beautful sight to see the iconic green label, and somewhere in the mists of time, my heart still skips a beat.