The Globe and Mail on beer and food

[Belgian]

While this column underscores the glib ignorance of beer most people seem to revel in, it also makes me think we could hold this nice fellow one hell of a beer tasting. Some of it might sink in! "Dark Ale" is widely varied in texture and taste, and "Extremely Hoppy" might be a lot closer to Dogfish Head 60 Minute than Kellerbier. Imagine the effect of opening a Stone IPA and a Ommegang Hennepin for this man.

But he is writing from what he understands. Let's not be stereotypical nasty beer snobs, either. It would be mean of me to suggest what he scribbles is like writing an 'authoritative' piece on the world of French red wines based only on having had five or six cheap Beajolais Nouveaux. The reality is of course a lot bigger.

Truly. The best reader comment is the drinker of Church Key who is 'not even a beer drinker' - it shows that 'non-beer drinkers' usually don't know what it is they are not drinking. You might go so far as to say what many people think of as beer, well, really isn't beer at all. And that wonderful realization is right there waiting for anyone to discover.

[Bobbyok]

Another poorly informed writer -- who normally writes on wine, and has a limited knowledge of beers -- chimes in at today's Metro.

You cannot see it in the online edition, but the picture accompanying this item in the printed edition was the Rickard's bottle. Thank you, Molson/Coors. Presumably the company will buy a handful of full page ads before the long weekend. This must be the editors' way of chucking in a freebie.

Summer will soon be upon us and there are bound to be more of these sorts of articles.

I can't believe Rockwell gets away with that byline. He's been with the NSLC as a product manager for ages and has been bought and paid for by big producers for almost as long. I'm surprised Keith's White didn't appear in that article.

Full disclosure: I wrote an article for Nova Scotia's Occasions magazine on summer beers a few years ago. Rockwell changed the article without my knowledge (let alone my approval) and added Canadian and Keith's as recommendations. And left my name on it as the author - unlike the other 2 articles I wrote for the same issue where I went uncredited.

[SteelbackGuy]

Rockwell sounds like a complete asshole.

[phirleh]

Rockwell sounds like a complete asshole.

That song he did with "the other" Michael Jackson wasn't half bad.

[Uncle Bobby]

Of course, you've got to applaud when a major daily gives a full page shout out to dining with beer, but did anyone else feel like this feature would have been more appropriate a decade or so ago?

(CRANKINESS.)

Not that I don't agree with you, but you sure write some great cranky prose!

There are days when the spirit moves me. It feels fun sometimes -- or at least indulgent -- to write occasionally on something which stirs a bit of passion.

However if someone wants to attribute the crabbiness to other aspects of my life which perhaps are not as fulfilling, I'm willing to own up to that. (Although my family is a source of great happiness for me.)

That said, I would also understand if other users here find the crankiness a chore to read through, especially considering that the posts on BarTowel are otherwise generally collegial. If that is the case, then I apologize.

[eat]

Anyone else left a bit confused by this effort. Two pictures of beer and a bunch of recipes and something about pairing them? I must have missed something.

There isn't even any head on those beers! And what is that...Molson Canadian paired with a banana bread and Nutella sandwich?? I don't think I've seen beer looking less attractive in a photo in my life.