The Bar Towel

Mum, do I hafta play with Beppi...?

...But he wants me to drink Shocktop....!

Beppi, my Mum says I can't play with you.

I read the print version yesterday and didn't think it was too bad an article. He got the cloudiness from protein haze part right, which most people miss.

The tasting notes, on the other hand, had me cocking my head. Clove in Blanche de Chambly? Banana in Hoegaarden? Everyone's taste buds are different, true, but really...?

Steve Beaumont wrote:I read the print version yesterday and didn't think it was too bad an article. He got the cloudiness from protein haze part right, which most people miss.

The tasting notes, on the other hand, had me cocking my head. Clove in Blanche de Chambly? Banana in Hoegaarden? Everyone's taste buds are different, true, but really...?

Frankly I did not think this one was too bad either. Most of these beers are worthy locals which merit some attention.

But his modus operandi is to drop one or two truly repellant, novelty macros in the middle of a review of an otherwise respectable list. In previous summers we have seen endoresements of Bud Lime, Dos Equis, Carlsberg, and most recently Molson M. In this particular article, Beppi likens Shocktop to Muskoka Weissbier (mistakenly noted at "Muskoka Weiss") and a handful of others.

I have gone on about Beppi's reviews in previous posts ad nauseam. I think he is uninformed. I also suspect that he is occasionally crooked in his choices because he equates crappy beers with very good ones. That said, the reviews themselves tend to be generous and enthusiastic.

As for being uninformed, here are a couple of quotes from an article in March of this year on some of Beppi's pet peeves:

Beppi wrote:It's a fact I learned decades ago working on the quality-assurance line for a major brewing company. You can tell for certain when two glasses of the same beer or bubbly are served side by side and one remains frothier than the other. Dear restaurateurs: Rinse your glassware. Now rinse again.

Beppi worked for a brewer? Do tell. If that's the case then Beppi should be aware of head retention, right? Or maybe not if he worked for a macro. And

Beppi wrote:Pretentious beer closures. What's up with all those new beers sealed with a champagne-style mushroom cork and wire cage? Is a reliable, easier-to-remove crown cap not pretentious enough for you? If we wanted Veuve, we'd buy it.

Don't crap on my Deus, Beppi.

So what's to complain about, especially if a number of worthy beers (and their brewers) get some deserved attetnion? Let's hope that credit (and sales) accrue where credit is due.

I was trying to avoid crabbing again about the review by inserting the link into something clever, even if it betrayed my lack of esteem for the review and the reviewer. Whoops, I did it again. Mea culpa.

I don't buy his "If we wanted Veuve, we'd buy it" argument.

So it's ok to cork and cage a $60-$120 bottle of Champagne, but not a $20-$30 bottle of beer?

What's the difference? As if the cork and cage is so much more work to get off anyway. What a crock.

Has he ever thought that maybe, just maybe, some people DON'T WANT TO BUY VEUVE! Maybe, just maybe, SOME PEOPLE DON'T LIKE CHAMPAGNE! Maybe some people want a beer!

FTR, I canceled my subscription to the Globe and Mail because of his articles. Well that and Margret Wente.....but he had a part in it!

It's nice to see him trying but he could stand to be a bit more informed. Most weizen beers are not cloudy because of protein haze - they're cloudy because of yeast. It's not always the case, but look at some of the krystalweizens - they're perfectly clear and yet they are the same base as the hefeweizens. His tasting notes are essentially just him pointing at stuff on a flavour wheel and saying "Yeah, that sounds about right".

If you want to read a mainstream wine reviewer doing a much better job of it, look up Eric Asimov's stuff in the NY Times. He actually seems to enjoy beer and when he doesn't know something, he consults with someone who does - wow, what a concept! The problem is that unless you're going to drive to Buffalo, most of the stuff he talks about just isn't available here.

Some kristalls will show a protein haze, Joe, although it is much more common in Belgian-style wheats. I've known versions of the latter style to be centrifuged for yeast removal and still come out very cloudy, the unmalted wheat they call for tending to throw much more protein haze than does the malted wheat in the Bavarian style.

And to his credit, Beppi is talking about all wheats at once and writes: "...it’s the suspended wheat proteins and specialty yeasts that contribute to the beer’s hazy appearance..."

Only read his stuff for a laugh. Beppi's a hack.

Maybe we should all invite him out for a night at Volo or C'est What and help him along.

Tapsucker wrote:Maybe we should all invite him out for a night at Volo or C'est What and help him along.

If I can negotiate a night away from the kids with la bosse, I would happily do it. Not that I am particularly knowledgeable about ingredients, the brewing process or tasting. But I know what I like and I am familiar with a couple of key styles of beers.

I would own up to my barracking of the guy if he would show some good faith and say to some of the guys on these forums, "Teach me...!" Perhaps even write a column starting with the words, "I am here at Volo/BB/CWhat/Some-other-place with some of the most knowledgeable people...etc., etc. Steve/Ralph/George, why does this taste so nice?"

You get the picture.

SteelbackGuy wrote:I don't buy his "If we wanted Veuve, we'd buy it" argument.

So it's ok to cork and cage a $60-$120 bottle of Champagne, but not a $20-$30 bottle of beer?

What's the difference? As if the cork and cage is so much more work to get off anyway. What a crock.

Has he ever thought that maybe, just maybe, some people DON'T WANT TO BUY VEUVE! Maybe, just maybe, SOME PEOPLE DON'T LIKE CHAMPAGNE! Maybe some people want a beer!

I think we've been trolled, Lemmy. The cork comment was a low hit.

Also it proves Beppi has never really fallen in love with beer, has never really explored it to the degree his feigned enthusiasm would seem to suggest. "What - corks in beers? What's next, vintage dating and bottle re-fermentation?"

Some enterprising person ought to pitch the Globe a beer column.

saints_gambit wrote:Some enterprising person ought to pitch the Globe a beer column.

You touting yourself for another job?