\nLong ago, pitching an editor to keep his own Pocket Guide to Beer<\/em> series alive, Michael Jackson characterized James Robertson’s books (such as the Great American Beer Book,<\/em> published only a year after Jackson’s World Guide to Beer<\/em>) as derivative, which I think was unfair. His “great experiment” included very organized tastings that drew from a diverse group whose members scored beers on specific criteria. And they used the full spectrum when evaluating beers, so flipping through one of Robertson’s books with scores and finding a beer that received a 17 is more common than one that received 92.<\/p>\n
Originally, 90 was the highest score possible (if all six tasters gave a beer 15), but Robertson later converted the numbers to a 100-point scale because, well, that’s the American way. The Beer-Taster’s Log<\/em> included more than 6,000 tasting notes — remember that in 1995 there about 800 breweries in the United States, compared to more than 6,000 today. It is a fascinating resource, and not only because it rates four different vintages of Harley-Davidson Heavy Beer (27 in 1993, a great disappointment compared to 53 in 1990). Anyway, the notes for Hamm’s: “Bright gold, pleasant malt nose, off-dry malt flavor, short malt aftertaste with some hops in back, pleasant hot weather quaffing beer. [53]” <\/p>\n For the sake of comparison, scores for the other top-rated beers in the Paste tasting: 2. Pabst 50, 3. High Life 64, 4. Genuine Draft no score, 5. Miller Lite 48. Also for sake of comparison, some other scores: Budweiser (from A-B) 63, Bud Light 36, Michelob 74, Sierra Nevada Big Foot 49 in 1988 & 91 in 1991, Anchor Steam 63, Anchor Liberty Ale 86. Oops, I seem to have wandered away from the cheap macros.<\/p>\n But in case you are curious, the highest scoring beer in GABB<\/em> in 1978 was Prior Double Dark<\/a> from Christian Schmidt, with 87 (out of a possible 90). Hamm’s merited 45 and this note: “Pale color, light malty aroma, clean and pleasant tasting but a bit dull; the slightly bitter finish is the only evidence of hops.”<\/p>\n A Brief History of “Beer Goggles”<\/a><\/strong> From the Mansfield (Ohio) News Journal in November of 1915. And even earlier, from the South Kansas Tribune (Independence, Kansas), in 1882. What (and where) is a Beer Garden?<\/a><\/strong> Is a beer garden to be found outdoors, or can it be, alternatively, an interior third place, an arboretum with beer? Is a beer garden a real thing or is it a Platonic ideal, an imagined gueuzic nostalgia? Or is it a place indeed, once or often visited, not Bill Bryson in the woods, but Lew Bryson in a beer garden? If so, where is it? Tell us (with or without Lew).”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Background reading:<\/strong> Schnaider’s Beer Garden<\/a>.<\/p>\n – Blind tasting Pils for our local.<\/a> The Wines That Made Us (9): Blue Nun.<\/a><\/strong> The complications of language and labelling were just part of an eventual triple whammy on German wine. It’s hard to be a popular success if ordinary folk can’t understand or pronounce the words on your bottle. And for a generation raised on Commando comics, German wines sounded a little too much like barked instructions to present your papers.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n How Do We Keep Bias Out of Stories?<\/a><\/strong> As I dug through records and did interviews, I looked for evidence that knocked down or mitigated our premise. Every reporter should seek out facts that might produce a counternarrative. You don’t want to have tunnel vision.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n A thing I heard this week that has really been staying with me: "If it's clear it's not craft."<\/p>\n — Erik Lars Myers (@topfermented) March 16, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nBefore Playboy<\/em> made the term what it is today it seems there was a opportunity for a reporter to use it as a clever turn of phrase in political discussions. <\/p>\n
\n![\"Newspaper](\"http:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/images\/20180319-bottlegoggles.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n![\"beer](\"http:\/\/appellationbeer.com\/images\/20180319-goggles.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nHost Tom Cizauskas has announced the topic for The Session #134 is Beer Gardens.<\/p>\nMORE BEER; JUST THE LINKS<\/h5>\n
\n– An Unholy Fight Over a Saintly Beer.<\/a>
\n– People would rather buy beer cans than visit pubs.<\/a>
\n– Jim Koch Literally Only Drinks Boston Lager.<\/a><\/p>\nWINE<\/h5>\n
\nI can’t resist this series, maybe because the posts make it easier to confess to drinking some of these wines long ago without being quite so embarrassed. <\/p>\nOFF TOPIC, OR IS IT?<\/h5>\n
\nEleven days ago Alan McLeod commented<\/a> on reliable reporting. Here’s how ProPublica approaches the challenge.<\/p>\nFROM TWITTER<\/h5>\n
\n