A Brief Commentary on Your Personal Beer Palate

I recently got some more feedback from a reader who mentioned, “I feel like I would appreciate the review more if I was drinking the beer while I was reading it.” On the one hand, I am glad that my reviews provoke one's thirst for beer, however I cannot, in good conscience, recommend that my readers to this. Why, you ask? Put simply, drinking beer is an activity based largely in personal preference. My fear is that while drinking a beer and reading a review about it, one's personal opinion will be skewed too heavily by my words (if I can presume to be so influential) and they will not be able to form their own view of that particular beer.

What then should prospective (or current) beer drinkers do in order to form their own opinion of a beer such that they gain a great deal of satisfaction form drinking beer? My response to that will be, admittedly, slightly biased by the very fact that I am writing this blog but I truly believe people need beer education in order to be able to begin to think about what beer actually is and how, quite specifically, it tastes. In putting my opinions on beer out on the internet, I assure I am not trying to convince everyone that mine is the only opinion that matters. Therefore I urge you to read my beer reviews and other ramblings, then adapt what you have learned to how you want your beer experience to be.

To develop this point a little more, allow me to give you a little bit of context. Human taste is a very psychological construction and is thus susceptible to the power of suggestion. While there are some basic tastes that I think everyone's palate and then brain can sense in beer, such as hop bitterness, malty sweetness, and alcoholic taste, the more subtle tastes are often filled in based on one's personal experiences in the realm of food and drink. An example: many people (see left) claim to taste figs in imperial stouts and Belgian strong dark ales. I can't remember the last time I ate a fig so naturally, I cannot identify with this flavor. Rather, I describe this “dark fruit flavor” as grapes or dates. This is significant because many times people try to over-analyze the taste of their beer; they have heard so much propaganda or read so much literature about beer that they convince themselves that [such and such] flavor is surely present or they should be smelling [this and that] in their beer. I would remind people that drinking beer is supposed to be enjoyable and relaxing, not an analytical exercise; if you choose to discuss what you are tasting (which I endorse), do so on the basis of how you feel in the moment and not what you think you are supposed to taste.

On that note, go kick back and relax with your favorite beer and don't let anyone tell you how it should taste!