Subject: Digest for the period 8/14/2007 - 8/15/2007 Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 01:03:17 -0400 Table of contents ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Real Beer (Dan Kromke) 2. "real" (robert paolino) 3. Call to judge Schooner 2007 (terry mayne) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Dan Kromke Date: Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:33:43 -0400 Subject: Real Beer My problem with the REAL BEER reference is only that REAL is undefined. Why not just say "Well Crafted Beer, Mead, and Cider"! Dan Kromke Society of Northeast Ohio Brewers (SNOBs) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: robert paolino Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 02:02:02 -0500 Subject: "real" Lyle C. Brown wrote on Sat, 11 Aug 2007 20:32:38 -0400: > Bob Paolino states: > > "But to hear some of the objections to the use of the modifier, "real," I > hope the advocates of deletion are also lobbying folks in Britain and Canada > to change the name of their beer appreciation/education societies to > "Campaign for Ale."" > > I think you miss the point there, Bob. CAMRA INTENTIOANLLY uses the term > "real" specifically to distinguish from pressure kegged beers. It is exactly > this distinction that would seem to carry over to our own organization. I > really doubt anyone is seriously suggesting the RBJCP should only judge hand > pumped ales. No, I don't misunderstand it. Yes, I was being partly tongue-in-cheek with the suggestion that those who want to strip the distinction away from the BJCP would do the same to CAMRA. But note that they did choose to say "real" ale. If all CAMRA were about were "live" beers v. filtered keg beers and nothing else, they could have just as descriptively called themselves a Campaign for Cask Ales (which, incidentally, needn't be handpumped...gravity pour is no less "real"). But CAMRA was also founded as a political movement. If the term "political" bothers you, then call it "cultural," or if even that language is too strong for you, just call it "consumer advocacy" if you must. But whatever you call it, it was a response to a frightening trend toward bland, indistinct beers. The specific facts don't match exactly in all respects between the UK and North America, but homebrewing and craft brewing in North America followed as a reaction to increasingly bland and indistinct NAILS. Remember that what is now the BJCP was an offshoot of homebrewing and the AHA (and let's not forget the HWBTA ;-) ), and calling something "real beer" was an affirmation that both the product and the philosophy behind it is indeed different from the mass marketed largely uniform fizzy yellow product sold in 30packs. It might be one thing if the BCJP's origins were different and no one had ever seen the need to distinguish it as "real" beer. Were that not the case, it would probably be fine just to say "beer." But that's not the "real"ity we have, and deliberately to backtrack and remove the "real" sends the wrong message. Some have referred to the alleged "snobbery" or "elitism" of it, perhaps thinking that if you paint one side with that kind of language, you get to shut down the debate. But, at least from my perspective, snobbery and elitism are the last things on my agenda. My goal isn't to keep "real" (or good or whatever) beer to a select few. I want us to be advocates and to work toward making flavourful (subtle, assertive, and anything in between, but still full of flavour and character) beers the norm, what the majority of the market wants. I want us to spread the word through advocacy and education rather than concede to some idea that all beer, no matter how flavourless and bland, is of equal merit. That doesn't exclude crisp, light-bodied lagers, but rather to assert that the cultural context matters as part of "real" beer culture. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: terry mayne Date: Tue, 14 Aug 2007 09:05:04 -0700 (PDT) Subject: Call to judge Schooner 2007 This is are first call for judges for Schooner '07 www.theschooner.org September 15, 2007 Racine, WI Judges recieve free ticket (no glass) to Great Lakes Brew Fest, free lunch, Kringle, and a shot at a cool raffle prize. Please contact Judge Director Terry Mayne `at` judge2007@theschooner.org ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Important Subscriber Information ***** To post a message to JudgeNet, send it to judge`at`synchro.com. Send plain text only, no HTML, MIME, encoded text or attachments. Make sure you use a meaningful subject. Quote only as much material as is needed for context. To manage your subscription, go to http://synchro.com/judge/subscriptions.html or send an email to judge-request`at`synchro.com with the subject: help judge. JudgeNet is also available as an NNTP newsgroup, go to news://news.synchro.com/synchro.judge