Beer Compurgation

Whilst placing a recent beer order, my cursor hovered over an interesting sounding beer brewed in the Belgian Tripel style. The brewery wasn’t from Belgium but this was their take on that category of beer. There’s nothing wrong with that; interpretation of borrowed styles is 75% of what I drink these days. It was a brewery I greatly respect too so why wouldn’t this be good. Then I noticed the price – nearly £10. Well, I’ve paid more for beer in the past, so… But then I thought, why don’t I just buy a Belgian Tripel from a great Belgian brewer instead? And why wasn’t that my first thought? It’s been apparent to me for a while that Belgian, and German beers for that matter, have become anachronistic in the British beer market. Styles change, and beer is not immune to this, but the more they sequester the greater the loss to our choices. My first world beers , those great eons ago, were the classics; Leffe, Hoegaarden, Erdinger etc and I owe them much to the evolution of my tas...

I may as well get this grandiloquence over with now as it will only build over the next few weeks as Euro 2012 approaches. I’ll try to be brief and inoffensive. I’m a big football fan and I always have been. I was long before I was reaching drinking age and discovered the wonders of beer variety. I was long before beer had politics and when I still believed it was only something to enjoy. Unfortunately, there seems to be large numbers within the beer community who, don’t simply dislike football, but resent it and belittle those that don’t. There are a lot of stereotypes to beer enthusiasts; namely that they are trainspotter sorts, with great beards and a poor dress sense. I suppose there are stereotypes to football fans as well. This is why I find it so disgusting that there are so many prejudiced people around determined to force these stereotypes on everyone. Are we not allowed other interests away from God’s nectar? Or is there a limit to what hobbies are permitted. Personal...