I have to confess I'm a sucker for a
gimmick. When I see an array of new beers to try my first instinct is
to go for the edgiest style-busting beast of a beer possible. I'm
wooed by their roguish charms, their rebellious nature and the
aspirational cool factor that such a 'fuck you convention!' beer
offers. Perfectly executed examples of traditional styles just don't
get a look in.
This is all well and good but it's left
serious gaps in my technical beer knowledge. If you were to give me
two bottles of Kölsch
and ask me 'which of these more faithfully represents the style?'
I honestly couldn't tell you. I could give you a subjective opinion
on which I thought was the better beer but not an objective
assessment of their adherence to the recognized style guidelines.
To address this problem I want to take
a tour through the world of beer styles, stopping for a while at each
one to enjoy the view. I don't want this to be a regimented
whistle-stop tour but more of a gentle flânerie.
I've decided to use the 2008
BJCP style guidelines as a reference point for this journey, namely
because they offer an easy to access list of commercially available
beers for each style. I'll record all the beers I try here as well as
any other interesting information I find along the way.
First
style: Saison
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