Knowing I love beer, my cousin bought me a book rating the world’s beers for Christmas. Now, I was a little put off noting that Klein trashes Corona, which I like, and pretty much follows the pattern of trashing lighter beers, and praising heavier beers. He also refuses to rate light beers. Whatever, reading it pretty much makes it obvious he’s a beer snob. Still, I enjoyed reading the book.
That is, I enjoyed it until I decided to try what he rated as the best beer in the world; Sam Adams Triple Bock. I bought this beer against the advice of friends, including good old MaxLeader. Now, I’m a huge Sam Adams fan, and I remain so even after tasting Triple Bock.
Granted, I’m a sucker for packaging too. I bought the bottle of Triple Bock along side a bottle of Grolsch, which does have just about the coolest boottle of any beer in the world. Sam Adams Triple Bock comes in a slightly smaller dark blue bottle with a cork. Hmmm. Pretty cool.
So opening the botte, the first thing I smelled was overpowering Sour Molases. Already I’m a little put off. The website suggessts serving it in a snifter, so I poured a little into a snifter and tasted. And wretched. Boy, it’s nasty. Almost like a port that’s gone to vinegar. Best beer in the world? No freaking way.
Two things came to mind…
The first was an English professor I had in college. The second is spicy food. I’ll explain.
An English professor I had freshman year in college said that James Joyce’s Ulysses was the best English Language novel ever written. So I went out and bought a copy and struggled with it for a while until I went back to him. He was not surprised that I struggled with it. He explained that most people find it unreadable. I asked him if most people can’t read it, then how can it be the best? he went on a long rambling explanation of why it was the best, but he made the point that precisely those things that made it unreadable also made it the best novel written in English. It was at that point that I realized he was full of shit. I just nodded and pretended to get it until he was done, then I left. Got a “B” in his class if I remember.
As for spicy food, I have a lot of friends who revel in spicy food. Several of them equate spicy with quality. If I make salsa, or cook Mexican stuff, and it’s not hot enough, that means it’s not good. Personally, I like spicy food if I’m in the mood, but I also enjoy mild subtle flavors. When we go out for Sushi, one friend who fits this pattern takes double the Wasabi, and coates each piece in wasabi. What’s the point? Sushi’s a delicate taste, and you’re paying for it, so why do that? Might as well put Wasabi on a cucumber. It’s a lot cheaper. You aren’t even tasting the fish when you do that.
Anyway Klein reminds me of these two things. The prof seemed to think that Ulysses was the best BECAUSE it was such a mess. Spicaholics like Spicy food, and don’t really care what’s behind, or under, the spices. I think Klein rates Triple Bock so high because it’s such a freaking BIG taste. But BIG tastes can also suck.
You see this same thing in reading about Scotch on line. Many people rave about the BIG scotches like Laphroag from Islay (which I love) and put down the subtler, milder drinks like Glenfiddich (which I also love). Glenfiddich, in fact, takes a pounding among whisky writers because it’s so popular and easy to find. Somehow it’s more manly to like the bigger harsher tastes I guess.
