Briefly on Writing about Beer
It’s a balmy autumn afternoon and I’ve just arrived in the Oberpfalz, home of Zoigl beer. The lively squares and old churches, the cobblestone streets that cradle those wonderful Zoigl taverns, the meadows and rolling hills, the fragrance of the forest as I wander from town to town in search of my next Zoigl: all of this makes up the tableau of life in this rural region of Bavaria.
Does any of this have a bearing on the beer in my glass? Not directly. But the stuff that surrounds us contributes not only to a region’s culture in general, but also, in some small way, to its beer culture. Reflect upon it a little longer and you’ll start to notice how this culture shapes everything from the brewing process to the places where folks gather to drink their beer.
Being attentive to these cultural frames — from the Wirtshaus and the beer garden to the communal brewhouse in the Oberpfalz — helps me paint a fuller picture when I sit down to write about a particular brewery or beer region. For me, Prague and Edinburgh are virtually unimaginable without their pubs, or Munich without its beer gardens. Just going to the Augustiner in Salzburg and selecting a ceramic mug, rinsing it out, and handing it to the barkeep pulling beers straight from the barrel — it’s a ritual that never gets old. And maybe it does make the beer taste a wee bit better.