Comments on: Globalization versus local versus variety

By: Thinking and Drinking, Locally and Globally | stlhops.com

Thinking and Drinking, Locally and Globally | stlhops.com — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 20:54:07 +0000

[...] Stan Hieronymus’ blog Appellation Beer, there was some discussion about the variety of local beer versus global beer. One of the things I found most interesting is the ferocity in keeping a nation’s beer [...]

By: Loren

Loren — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 18:04:14 +0000

See. He’s a freaking genius.

BTW…did he say when his Double IPA is coming out?

By: SteveH

SteveH — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:58:19 +0000

“It’s about flavor and enjoyment, and not being whacked over the head.”

Wotta concept.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:42:52 +0000

Loren, Phil also recently said:

“I’d like to see us taking more of a European approach – more about balance, subtlety, subtle complexity, instead of the beer-as-hot-sauce approach. It’s not about machismo: it’s about flavor and enjoyment, and not being whacked over the head.”

Of course I wish he showed a better understanding of hot sauce.

By: Loren

Loren — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 16:14:24 +0000

Phil Markowski said it best in an interview from ~1999.

“I think America is the most exciting place to be a brewer,” Markowski says. “We are not held back by centuries of tradition. We can pick the best aspects of the classic brewing nations and do something that is uniquely our own without feeling guilty about it. We Americans also tend toward irreverence, and irreverence feeds creativity.””

I think a little of America’s irreverence is just spreading to other parts of the globe and more and more brewers are feeling free to explore their own creativity. What is wrong with that, so long as they maintain roots to brewing good beer. Not “trendy” beer. Big difference.

By: Up Nort

Up Nort — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 14:35:13 +0000

Ron, I heard you were a well balanced person — had a chip on each shoulder. I would not want to change that, so yes I retract that statement. I chose my words poorly, chip on the shoulder is too beligerant a phrase, I should have written something like ‘have a slight bias against X, or slight preference for Y over X.’ The problem with internet communication is that it can make us sound more foreceful than we mean to be. Ooh boy that ’soulless’ statement, which neither of you made, really got my ire up, and probably shut down some critical thinking facilities at the same time. I did not intend to offend.

By: Ron Pattinson

Ron Pattinson — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 11:27:25 +0000

Up Nort, I see you retracted your chip-on-the-shoulder comment about Stonch. Does that mean you still think it applies to me?

There are so many chips there already that I didn’t think that I had room for a new one.

Jeff Alworth, Arthur Guinness never did invent Irish Stout as we know it today. He was dead long before it was created. It only dates back to about 1950.

By: Jeff Alworth

Jeff Alworth — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 16:32:28 +0000

Before I completely misrepresent the US, it should be noted that there are vast stretches where the only beer you can buy–on tap or in the Quickie Mart–is produced at 10-million-barrel breweries. The US brewing culture is one of pockets. But within those pockets, it is quite rich.

By: Stan Hieronymus

Stan Hieronymus — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 10:51:40 +0000

You've got quite a challenge ahead, Stonch. Portland, Maine - featured yesterday in the NY Times - and Portland, Oregon, are 3,200 miles apart. Both lively beer cultures, but quite different.

By: Stonch

Stonch — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 08:06:14 +0000

Jeff:

“Where I hitch up when I hear non-Americans describe the US beer scene that I become suspicious.”

I think that’s a key point. I will hold my hands up and say I’ve never visited North America, let alone a US brewpub. Therefore I reserve judgement on American beer culture.