You know that beer (and food matching) is starting to make headway when you see terrific articles like this appearing in mainstream media.
I don’t know of James Smith and with the few ‘beer writers’ in Australia I suspect he’s not a ‘specialist’ beer writer. (Willie Simpson is about the only one who can really claim to be a beer writer as if it’s a full-time occupation rather than a sideline.) But it’s a wonderful piece that conveys how good beer can be and how well it matches with food – a surprise to many.
It’s a funny thing but there is a section amongst beer writers who fume when a non-beer writer writes about beer. I don’t know what the motivation is for this view, but I suspect there’s more than a little bit of the “one true church” about it. You need the high priests to interpret the Gospel of Beer. Outsiders can’t possibly know the truth about beer and the masses need guidance from the ‘Church’ to live a life in beer.
What crap.
The thing about beer is that, unlike wine, it doesn’t have those sorts of divides. It’s not owned by an elite cadre, it is for everyone. More importantly, the more widely it is written about – particularly in such an enthusiastic piece – the better it is for beer. I wish more mainstream journalists would write about it.
7 responses so far ↓
twoglasstaste // November 17, 2009 at 12:01 pm |
Wine is not “owned by an elite cadre” :) any more than beer is. Botique wineries and micro brewers are in the same boat. Sure wine has a snobbish history – but it is a drink for everyone – or at least it should be. Remember the 5000 drank wine with their loves and fishes.
Beer snobs are on the rise now as well so you may be facing down the same bad public image in a few years.
BeerMatt // November 17, 2009 at 12:16 pm |
Jim, you are not – and never will be – a wine snob. Your blog says it all…”I can only offer my opinion – not the “truth” and so you are automatically excluded from the pointed finger in this post! If there were more wine ambassadors such as yourself, wine would be more fun and beer would be more widely accepted. If you look at the glossy wine media though, there is a prescriptiveness about it that often leaves lay people scared to venture an opinion on wine lest they be revealed as being “wrong”. I think this study is very illustrative.
As to the 5000 drinking wine, there are those who claim that if you read the ancient aramaic, the bible says Jesus turned water into “strong drink” meaning beer but it was that the Romanesque wine snobbery that transcribed it as wine. I don’t hold with that view, but I do agree with the suggestion that Jesus turned water into wine as his first miracle because turning water into beer was too hard for a beginner.
twoglasstaste // November 17, 2009 at 1:56 pm |
It has been said it takes a hell of a lot of beer to make wine. Thirsty work…
Ian Watson // November 17, 2009 at 5:00 pm |
… and a hell of a lot of coffee to make beer…
Prof. Pilsner // November 18, 2009 at 12:25 pm |
I was having a few quiet ales with James yesterday afternoon. Whilst his business card just says ‘Freelance Journalist’, his gig is definitely beer. This bloke has been banging at the door of The Age for over a year now trying to convince them to have a dedicated beer spot every fortnight or even every month. We all wish him sucess!!
Cheers
Prof. Pilsner
Steve // November 19, 2009 at 10:03 am |
Hey BM,
Not only did James’s article get a double page feature, it also scored the entire front page of Epicure.
James is a passionate beer man (who recently arrived in Oz from England) who only two or so months ago got another front cover/double page feature on home brewers in Epicure. I don’t know of any other journalist who is getting that much beer copy in mainstream press these days..
I’m with you though: who cares who writes about beer as long as it’s written about (and especially in the mainstream press with all its eyeballs)!
Karen // November 21, 2009 at 12:52 pm |
Hey Matt, ditto what Steve said. James is absolutely nuts about craft beer, has a vast amount of knowledge already given how little time he has been here, and is working hard at getting stories in Epicure on craft beer which is awesome for us Vic brewers, he is already an expert on beer & has pretty quickly become totally up to date on the Vic scene. He also has some pretty ambitious plans for a project of his own regarding craft breweries. Go James, cause what he is doing is great for craft beer. You can follow him @thecraftypint on twitter