Comments on: Tradition is a guide and not a jailer http://appellationbeer.com/blog/tradition-is-a-guide-and-not-a-jailer/ Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:38:58 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Stan Hieronymus http://appellationbeer.com/blog/tradition-is-a-guide-and-not-a-jailer/comment-page-1/#comment-480 Stan Hieronymus Thu, 15 Jun 2006 00:05:19 +0000 http://appellationbeer.com/blog/2006/06/14/tradition-is-a-guide-and-not-a-jailer/#comment-480 Donavan, I agree that Phil's discourse on style was spot on. I worry what limits we might put on brewers by always asking "what style is this?" and making immediate judgments. But I also think that the work that Michael Jackson and Fred Eckhardt did in describing styles more than 20 years ago was an important element in the craft revolution. "Oh, that was a pale ale (or a stout or a porter) - I like that." In a similar vein, wine consumers have certainly taken to buying wine based upon the name of the primary grape rather than some French appellation they don't understand. The important thing is to think of styles as families and what Jackson and others have gone as descriptions rather than definitions. And when you get a beer like Allagash Curieux you realize the word style doesn't belong in the same sentence with it. Donavan,

I agree that Phil’s discourse on style was spot on. I worry what limits we might put on brewers by always asking “what style is this?” and making immediate judgments.

But I also think that the work that Michael Jackson and Fred Eckhardt did in describing styles more than 20 years ago was an important element in the craft revolution.

“Oh, that was a pale ale (or a stout or a porter) – I like that.”

In a similar vein, wine consumers have certainly taken to buying wine based upon the name of the primary grape rather than some French appellation they don’t understand.

The important thing is to think of styles as families and what Jackson and others have gone as descriptions rather than definitions.

And when you get a beer like Allagash Curieux you realize the word style doesn’t belong in the same sentence with it.

]]> By: Donavan Hall http://appellationbeer.com/blog/tradition-is-a-guide-and-not-a-jailer/comment-page-1/#comment-478 Donavan Hall Wed, 14 Jun 2006 17:39:15 +0000 http://appellationbeer.com/blog/2006/06/14/tradition-is-a-guide-and-not-a-jailer/#comment-478 You could also paraphrase Maugham's line as "Syle is a guide and not a jailer". Recalling Phil Markowski's brief essay on beer styles included in <i>Farmhouse Ales</i>, that helped me get away from the shackles of style. Being a beer Aristotlean, I was never quite satisfied with the assumed Platonism of our community. The mystery, of course, is in the thing (in this case, the beer) rather than the ideal form---and if more forms are discovered than we are all the richer for it. You could also paraphrase Maugham’s line as “Syle is a guide and not a jailer”. Recalling Phil Markowski’s brief essay on beer styles included in Farmhouse Ales, that helped me get away from the shackles of style. Being a beer Aristotlean, I was never quite satisfied with the assumed Platonism of our community. The mystery, of course, is in the thing (in this case, the beer) rather than the ideal form—and if more forms are discovered than we are all the richer for it.

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