Judging beer, a necessary evolution or populist beer wank? This week the RNA hosted the QLD Beer Awards. A community and education focused exploration of beer. And while WT beers don’t often fit within prescriptive stylistic parameters, I personally believe such awards are an intrinsic property of beer progression.
Taking expertise from a cross-section of the industry and applying it to extant tipples is a fantastic, unbiased avenue for assessment. Garnering feedback from peers, within a framework of parameters is a fantastic litmus interpolation of how you are travelling as a brewery. And while it doesn’t make or break brands, over time, you can see the importance it has on the industry.
It’s rare that you’ll find such a room full of the prevalent decision makers within an industry. And it’s here that introspection and discussion leads to influence. And so styles iteratively evolve and boundaries are pushed. Thus, novel styles emerge in the guidelines and relevant products are assessed. It also keeps the industry honest in terms of production techniques and flavour faults.
Judging beer is always a privilege, allowing us to get better as brewers and consumers. And while any specific result can be debated, the overall progression of the industry is intrinsically linked to the quality of judging.
Needs more body, silver medal.
Taking expertise from a cross-section of the industry and applying it to extant tipples is a fantastic, unbiased avenue for assessment. Garnering feedback from peers, within a framework of parameters is a fantastic litmus interpolation of how you are travelling as a brewery. And while it doesn’t make or break brands, over time, you can see the importance it has on the industry.
It’s rare that you’ll find such a room full of the prevalent decision makers within an industry. And it’s here that introspection and discussion leads to influence. And so styles iteratively evolve and boundaries are pushed. Thus, novel styles emerge in the guidelines and relevant products are assessed. It also keeps the industry honest in terms of production techniques and flavour faults.
Judging beer is always a privilege, allowing us to get better as brewers and consumers. And while any specific result can be debated, the overall progression of the industry is intrinsically linked to the quality of judging.
Needs more body, silver medal.
