Last night, another conversation about the language we use to discuss beer kicked off when Lovibonds brewer Jeff Rosenmeier said this on Twitter:
Our two penn’orth was in the form of a quick diagram (above, top) which shows how we think it works in the UK, i.e. with ‘craft beer’ as a super-category which includes most real ale, some kegged beer and (not included in the pic) some bottled beer.
The fact is, though, that none of the terms we use are perfect; they’re just blunt tools to enable conversation.
We’re both reminded of meetings we used to endure in previous jobs. Typically, six hours would be set aside to solve a problem, of which five would be spent going round the table arguing about the language: “What exactly does ‘world class’ mean? I don’t like it.”
The last hour would be spent discussing how there was no longer enough time to solve the problem and agreeing dates for another six hour meeting.
13 replies on “Words as blunt tools”
“Language is the scaffold of thought” — Me
It is a fine Venn diagram and certainly reflects how I think of the phrase “craft beer” as applied to the UK.
Which side of the red line to place certain blue beers is much much harder, but it’s not something I’ve never actually needed to do in conversation.
TBN — yeah, and the yellow and blue blobs aren’t to any kind of scale. (Also, a ‘fun’ (excruciating) argument to be had about which yellow beers are just outside.)
Yellow! Not blue.
I have cask/keg blindness…
TBN — you are pure and unprejudiced.
Very useful, paticularly for those outside the UK where there is no cask ales to be had but there is plenty of quality keg.
Doesn’t everywhere with plenty of quality keg have at least some cask ale somewhere?
There is some great cask ale in the US but it is very limited and quite hard to find. Generally only served at the brewery or a festival. Even here in California, it requires a travel commitment to enjoy some cask ale and I am guessing same is true throughout the US.
A US version of the above diagram could have a tiny yellow circle floating around squarely in the centre of the ‘craft beer’ bubble.
You might have to put it on the very thin red line, though, as I’m fairly sure some big-brand UK cask ales are imported to the US.
Ah, well, I think the above diagram is just for UK-produced beer.
Shit, i didn’t know we worked at the same place….!
Leigh — see you in meeting room 101 at 9 o’clock for the all day “Vision and Mission” meeting?