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Pagoa post script – Zunbeltz (and style nazis)

In my post two days ago, I reviewed two Pagoa beers – now the third, “Zunbeltz”, which describes itself as a stout.

Again, this seems to get real bad reviews on Ratebeer, and I can’t really see why.  It’s got bags of flavour, toasted malt, coffee and chocolate notes and a lovely long finish. This is easily one of the tastiest beers in Spain and would stand up very well against a British mild like Oscar Wilde.

And perhaps this style “confusion” explains the bad reviews - it hasn’t really got the body to be a stout, which is what the reviews seem to focus on.

While I can’t get as worked up as some bloggers about overclassification of beer – I think it’s quite useful for homebrewing if you’re trying to copy a particular favourite – I think in this case, it has resulted in a good beer getting some very bad reviews because it’s not “true to type”.

Or alternatively I’ve had a taste lobotomy since being out here…

Anyway, it is definitely worth trying, and I won’t even qualify that with “if you’re in Spain”. 

Boak

3 replies on “Pagoa post script – Zunbeltz (and style nazis)”

I must say I was disturbed when I first read Michael Jackson’s Beer, and he lists “fidelity to style” as a key factor in assessing the quality of a beer.

Having looked at Beer again, here’s the section I’m referring to. It appears on page 22 of my edition, in the “Tasting Beer” chapter.

“…In a formal tasting, for a beer or wine club, a score-sheet is a hasty aide-memoire. A simple system is to have scores for: Fidelity to style (if it is labelled as a Pilsner, wheat beer, or ale, is it a good example>)…”

I don’t like it one little bit!!

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