Give me an experience, not a style.

Last week I had the pleasure of drinking beer for an exam. Yes, a beer exam. A little barleywine. Some robust porter. A bit of saison. And a German pilsner. I know what you're thinking, I want to take a test like that. Wrong. The test was the BJCP exam, a three hour, 10 essay question marathon. BJCP stands for Beer Judge Certification Program. The BJCP is the one governing body for judges who taste and evaluate beer. You'd think with 5 years of homebrewing experience and 1 and 1/2 years of commercial brewing experience that this test would be relatively easy, right? Wrong, again.

What, you ask, makes this test so difficult? The primary reason is this test focuses on specific style parameters. You know, things like the differences between oatmeal stouts and sweet stouts or Bohemian pilsners and German pilsners. Very specific boundaries, things I usually don't pay any attention to.

Sure, this is great for identifying and differentiating beers. However, from a creative standpoint, it is a roadblock. Whether I'm tasting beer or making beer, I tend to reject anything that confines my vision or enjoyment and try to focus on the experience itself. Yes, I'm a non-conformist. I look at beer as an exploration, a path where I get to have a vision and then navigate those flavors or aromas into my beer, not a path where a style navigates or dictates my beer.

I took the exam because I know it is important. It is pushing me and many others to learn more about our craft. And I know that being an educated consumer of beer is vital to being a great brewer. But in the end, having creative vision and then executing that vision is what pumps the lifeblood into this renaissance of beer.