An Insider’s Guide to the World’s Greatest Drink
By Randy Mosher
We all know how to drink beer, but how many of us take the time to really taste beer? How often do you notice and appreciate the color, clarity, and foamy head of the beer in your glass? When was the last time you really thought about the perfect food match for that bittersweet and citrusy Double IPA you pounded with friends at the bar? Can you recognize umami in your beer? After reading Randy Mosher’s newest book Tasting Beer, you may just start to think differently about the world’s oldest adult beverage.
Beer is finally coming into its own, or maybe coming back into its own as Mosher explains in the brief history of beer at the beginning of the book. While wine has long been viewed as a beverage worthy of savoring, debating, and eulogizing, beer has been seen as a simple and inferior drink. But beer once held a status similar to wine. Mosher cites many examples of the glorification of beer, like the Sumerian Hymn to Ninkasi, as he walks the reader through a brief and amusing history of beer and brewing from the ancient world to the current craft beer explosion. It wasn’t until after World War I when changing tastes, ingredient shortages, brewery consolidation, and economic considerations precipitated the deterioration of beer into the pale yellow lager that is now considered “beer” in most of the world. But Mosher makes clear that all that changed in the early 1980s with the birth of the American microbrew movement. Beer can once again take its place next to wine as a beverage worthy of “tasting.”
In 239 pages Mosher provides a primer of beer and beer appreciation. He explores the science of taste and smell, debunking the old tongue map
that we all grew up with and bringing us up to date with the science by adding umami (think savory or meaty flavors) and fat to the list of perceivable flavors. He offers a thorough sensory vocabulary of beer, identifying the main ingredients of beer and describing the range of possible flavor and aroma contributions of each and how these individual contributions add up and present themselves in a finished beer. In the chapter titled Tasting, Judging, and Evaluation, Mosher writes about the importance of the tasting environment, lays out a simple beer tasting process (smell, look and sip, taste with your nose, analyze and score), as well as explaining the different processes and criteria one might use in different beer tasting contexts such as judging for competition or evaluating for quality control. The final chapters present a breezy survey of the major style categories with descriptions and examples to taste. His explanations of the historical development of some styles are particularly good and point out just how often economics drives the creation of new beer styles.
Mosher’s writing style is both in-depth and easy to read. He writes with an engaging humor that is a bit like listening to your favorite uncle who happens to be a leading scientist and historian. Tasting Beer is a must read for anyone seriously interested in beer and isn’t too intense for those with a more casual interest. One thing though is certain, after reading Tasting Beer you just might approach your next beer with a little more respect.