The article is extremely negative against Belgian beers, and beer in general. How is an article that puts forth the notion that beer is garbage a good article? How can anybody claim that Cantillon is sweeter than champagne? Cantillon is suitable for diabetics, for crying out loud!
The writer is dismissive of some of the world's best beers and readily admits to not even liking beer? How can someone who doesn't like beer talk about a beer trip to Belgium?
Pretentious, wanna-be wine snobs with tin palates should not be allowed to write about beer. Take that article, subsitute Belgium and Belgian for France and French, then substitute beer for wine and brewery for winery. It would never have been published.
Finding no fault in this article is accepting that beer is a gutter beverage to be consumed by unsophisticated slobs and wayward youth.
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Mill Street in the news ...
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Mississauga Matt
- Posts: 270
- Joined: Thu Mar 21, 2002 7:00 pm
I think Josh is right. Had the article been along the lines of “I went to Saint Julien, and you know, this duxieme cru Bordeaux stuff is really gawd-awful … I much prefer a white wine spritzer or a Baby Duck,” it doesn’t get printed.
The article confuses the hell out of me. It’s in the travel section, but is it a travel article? It’s unlike all others I’ve ever read. Admittedly some can be quite kiss-assy in content, but this one is quite hostile to Belgian beer and at times impatient and bored with Belgium.
The author strikes me as one of those people who likes home cooking and therefore should stay at home:
“Went to Belgium. Had their crappy beer to appease my son, and unfortunately my editor forced me to write about it. Other parts of the trip I enjoyed, but a lot of it gave me the creeps because Belgium can be so unlike home.”
This is a travel writer?
As a beer lover, I feel I get off easily because I’m merely offended by the authors stupid observations, but I’m heartened by the fact that she comes off looking like a no-nothing dork.
But if I’m Belgian or I work in the Belgian visitors bureau, I’m mad as hell and on the phone drilling the Globe for such a damaging article. Beer is one of the crown jewels of Belgium. Who the hell would want to visit after reading this article, beer lover or otherwise?
The article confuses the hell out of me. It’s in the travel section, but is it a travel article? It’s unlike all others I’ve ever read. Admittedly some can be quite kiss-assy in content, but this one is quite hostile to Belgian beer and at times impatient and bored with Belgium.
The author strikes me as one of those people who likes home cooking and therefore should stay at home:
“Went to Belgium. Had their crappy beer to appease my son, and unfortunately my editor forced me to write about it. Other parts of the trip I enjoyed, but a lot of it gave me the creeps because Belgium can be so unlike home.”
This is a travel writer?
As a beer lover, I feel I get off easily because I’m merely offended by the authors stupid observations, but I’m heartened by the fact that she comes off looking like a no-nothing dork.
But if I’m Belgian or I work in the Belgian visitors bureau, I’m mad as hell and on the phone drilling the Globe for such a damaging article. Beer is one of the crown jewels of Belgium. Who the hell would want to visit after reading this article, beer lover or otherwise?
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dhurtubise
- Posts: 269
- Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2001 7:00 pm
I thought it was more of a "this is an account of my trip to belgium with my beer loving son" article rather than a "belgium beer trip" article.
By the way, lambics are more sweet then champagne. Their finishing gravity is usually around 1.000 while champagne goes down to 0.900.
Anyways, that's just food for thought. As far as I am concerned this was not a hardcore beer article or meant to be. For a hardcore beer article on Belgium this one fails miserably. But it does not pretend to be anything but an article on her travels to Belgium. She spends most of the time describing historical sites then she does about the circumstances of her "beer travels".
Anyways, those are my 2 cents worth.
By the way, lambics are more sweet then champagne. Their finishing gravity is usually around 1.000 while champagne goes down to 0.900.
Anyways, that's just food for thought. As far as I am concerned this was not a hardcore beer article or meant to be. For a hardcore beer article on Belgium this one fails miserably. But it does not pretend to be anything but an article on her travels to Belgium. She spends most of the time describing historical sites then she does about the circumstances of her "beer travels".
Anyways, those are my 2 cents worth.
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Josh Oakes
- Posts: 480
- Joined: Tue Jun 26, 2001 8:00 pm
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dhurtubise
- Posts: 269
- Joined: Wed Dec 19, 2001 7:00 pm
I can understand why someone who does not drink beer, who samples a big lambic based beer for the first time might compare it with champagne.
I can also understand the basis for perceiving the beer to be "sweeter". Afterall, another component of the drying effect in the beverages is carbonation levels. And as spritzy as the lambic style can be, Champagnes tend to have more carbonation. Either way, whatever perception of bitterness comes to the person sampling the beverage is entirely his own: How could I ever argue with you what you tasted in a particular beer?
I would not take offence to someone else giving accounts of his or her perceptions of a product, regardless of her level of expertise. Did she not state at the begining that she didn't drink beer in the first place? I would say that that is an overt invitation to take her opinions with a grain of salt.
By the way, I agree with your points about sourness and hop bitterness contributing to the perceived sweetness of a beverage. But did you know that hops in Lambics are purposely staled specifically to avoid introducing bitterness. All they want from those flowers are the preservative qualities of the beer.
I can also understand the basis for perceiving the beer to be "sweeter". Afterall, another component of the drying effect in the beverages is carbonation levels. And as spritzy as the lambic style can be, Champagnes tend to have more carbonation. Either way, whatever perception of bitterness comes to the person sampling the beverage is entirely his own: How could I ever argue with you what you tasted in a particular beer?
I would not take offence to someone else giving accounts of his or her perceptions of a product, regardless of her level of expertise. Did she not state at the begining that she didn't drink beer in the first place? I would say that that is an overt invitation to take her opinions with a grain of salt.
By the way, I agree with your points about sourness and hop bitterness contributing to the perceived sweetness of a beverage. But did you know that hops in Lambics are purposely staled specifically to avoid introducing bitterness. All they want from those flowers are the preservative qualities of the beer.