Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog - It Conceals Its Lardiness Well
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What do we mean when we say we want a boozy beer to really taste boozy?
In yesterday’s review of a Colchester Brewery porter we mentioned our delight at discovering it had only 4.6% alcohol which was*perhaps the immediate prompt for this from The Beer Nut:
"That's really strong but hides it brilliantly!"
"I love how it tastes strong but is actually low-ABV!"
— The Beer Blogger's Paradox
— The Beer Nut (@thebeernut)
April 13, 2017
Trying to think of an analogy, the best we could come up with was this: when you eat a 2,000 calorie pizza, you want to taste those calories. So, when*people say ‘It was 9% but had the body and flavour of something half the strength — so drinkable!’ it sounds like*‘…but the cheese was so well concealed I was able to eat an extra six slices.’ Which might make sense if you’re bulking up for a marathon, or have a lot of cheese to dispose of for some reason (hey, that’s none of our business) but otherwise, just seems barmy.
An amazing, rich-tasting dessert that turns out to have barely any fat? Great news! Something that seems virtuous*but turns out to have a load of hidden filth? Gutted. (The*1993*Seinfeld episode*‘The Non Fat Yogurt’ plays on this very premise.)
Alcohol isn’t good for us. It can, and often does, make us feel like death the day after. We’re willing to accept those downsides for a sufficiently thrilling, deep, mind-blowing beer. Otherwise, we’ll just drink a lighter, simpler, less intense, and probably cheaper beer and swerve the hangover.
But maybe what people really mean, as per Twitter discussion yesterday, is that they want the good things booze brings to beer — body, richness, headiness — without the*burn. In which case the fat analogy works: a hugely calorific meal should taste luxurious, silky, unctuous, and all those other words we use to put a positive spin on fat. It shouldn’t taste greasy or oily, like hour-old battered cod from a chippy that doesn’t manage the temperature of its fryers*properly.
Things cooked in lard taste great but no-one wants to eat it with a fork.
It Conceals Its Lardiness Well originally posted at Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog
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