Comments on: Seamus Campbell, my co-author, on what it’s like to be a beer critic http://blindtaste.com/2010/04/27/seamus-campbell-my-co-author-on-what-it%e2%80%99s-like-to-be-a-beer-critic/ A critical review of food, drinks, culture, and cognition Wed, 11 Apr 2012 04:30:40 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: The Lost Arts Of War http://blindtaste.com/2010/04/27/seamus-campbell-my-co-author-on-what-it%e2%80%99s-like-to-be-a-beer-critic/#comment-35703 The Lost Arts Of War Mon, 09 Aug 2010 00:25:26 +0000 http://blindtaste.com/?p=644#comment-35703 <strong>The Lost Arts Of War...</strong> ...an interestin post over at . . .... The Lost Arts Of War…

…an interestin post over at . . ….

]]> By: Akilah Fiala http://blindtaste.com/2010/04/27/seamus-campbell-my-co-author-on-what-it%e2%80%99s-like-to-be-a-beer-critic/#comment-33886 Akilah Fiala Sun, 25 Jul 2010 17:11:18 +0000 http://blindtaste.com/?p=644#comment-33886 Lindsay should to be performing a lot more than ninety days in prison, anything less and I think is to total diss towards legal program. She's already getting off free of charge just mainly because she's a superstar. It completely sends a harmful message, specially on the kids that adore her as a role model. I am learning now that she will possibly only wind up serving fourteen days of her 90 day time period. I guess driving while plastered is not really so bad after all- the stuff these celebrities get away with is pathetic. Lindsay should to be performing a lot more than ninety days in prison, anything less and I think is to total diss towards legal program. She’s already getting off free of charge just mainly because she’s a superstar. It completely sends a harmful message, specially on the kids that adore her as a role model. I am learning now that she will possibly only wind up serving fourteen days of her 90 day time period. I guess driving while plastered is not really so bad after all- the stuff these celebrities get away with is pathetic.

]]> By: Tim Dellinger http://blindtaste.com/2010/04/27/seamus-campbell-my-co-author-on-what-it%e2%80%99s-like-to-be-a-beer-critic/#comment-21508 Tim Dellinger Tue, 27 Apr 2010 15:04:39 +0000 http://blindtaste.com/?p=644#comment-21508 What exactly should we be searching for in an ideal European pale lager? Supremely refreshing bitterness, or balanced hop character and greater complexity? With all due respect, you're not really breaking new ground by asking these questions. Discussed since ancient times, written about famously by Jackson in 1977 and Eckhardt in 1989, and then extensively codified by organizations such as the Beer Judge Certification Program and the Campaign for Real Ale, beer style might be an interesting conversation, but it doesn't really need stimulation. Likewise, the notions of intersubjectivity and variability in human experience have long ago been addressed, as the scientific method was applied to tasting panels. You may have noticed that food and drink are big business, and that there's lots of academic literature on these subjects? In these modern times of highly engineered foods/drinks and amazing quality control, and of Netflix/Pandora/etc. not just mentioning that people might have different taste as consumers, but actively advertising their recommendation engines to address the issue, it's hardly a surprise to people that the issue exists and is a matter of discussion among the buying public, with plenty of meta-discussion about the phenomenon in the popular press by e.g. Malcolm Gladwell (coffee, ketchup, mustard). So I'm not sure who your target audience is here. There's an entire craft brewing industry trying to educate the casual beer drinker about the notion of "good" beer. That's their whole business model. (And a successful one at that.) And they've found that most people are not, in fact, capable of being educated. What exactly should we be searching for in an ideal European pale lager? Supremely refreshing bitterness, or balanced hop character and greater complexity?

With all due respect, you’re not really breaking new ground by asking these questions. Discussed since ancient times, written about famously by Jackson in 1977 and Eckhardt in 1989, and then extensively codified by organizations such as the Beer Judge Certification Program and the Campaign for Real Ale, beer style might be an interesting conversation, but it doesn’t really need stimulation.

Likewise, the notions of intersubjectivity and variability in human experience have long ago been addressed, as the scientific method was applied to tasting panels. You may have noticed that food and drink are big business, and that there’s lots of academic literature on these subjects? In these modern times of highly engineered foods/drinks and amazing quality control, and of Netflix/Pandora/etc. not just mentioning that people might have different taste as consumers, but actively advertising their recommendation engines to address the issue, it’s hardly a surprise to people that the issue exists and is a matter of discussion among the buying public, with plenty of meta-discussion about the phenomenon in the popular press by e.g. Malcolm Gladwell (coffee, ketchup, mustard).

So I’m not sure who your target audience is here. There’s an entire craft brewing industry trying to educate the casual beer drinker about the notion of “good” beer. That’s their whole business model. (And a successful one at that.) And they’ve found that most people are not, in fact, capable of being educated.

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