Stan’s Dirty 9-Letter Word
Most of us in the beer world know Stan Hieronymus, who so deftly writes the incredibly enlightening and entertaining Appellation Beer blog when he’s not writing incredible books on beer (Brewing with Wheat, Brew Like a Monk) or touring the globe with his family.
What Stan might not know is that he has very quietly and steadfastly been one of my mentors for more than a decade now as I’ve pursued being a beer communicator/evangelist. I am constantly impressed with Stan’s work, both in quantity and in quality, and with his generosity of his time and knowledge.
He’s one cool dude, too; I’ve hooked up with him for beers in my hometown of Portland while he was traveling, at JazzFest in New Orleans, at Great American Beer Festival in Denver, and in his hometown of Albuquerque for a beer or two while on assignment for my “real job.” In fact, he and I shared the spotlight as two of the first-ever recipients for the Beer Journalism Awards at the GABF a few years ago. Every time I meet up with Stan, I am reminded that he is fun, interesting, and has some great insight into the past, present and future of craft beer and home brewing.
Some pretty quaffable-looking samples.
Stan didn’t do any ‘splainin’ about his quibble with quaffable, but I am guessing some of it has to do with its infusion in the wine world. A quick quest on Google makes several references such as “(usually referring to wine) Easy to drink” and “(tasting term) used to describe a wine that is pleasant to drink but not deserving of careful tasting attention.”
Or it could be because “quaffable” doesn’t even have an entry in the online version of Merriam-Webster, the dictionary that is often considered the “official” resource for writers. (All you get is a referral to “qualifiable” instead.)
No matter the reason, Stan doesn’t like it. But, despite my affection and respect for Stan, I am going on the record as being a member of the “quaffable” camp.
For one thing, it’s a great Scrabble word (nobody’s ever tried the “not in Webster’s” argument on me — yet). And, “quaffable” is fun to say and write; I use it in my radio show, Beer O’Clock!, especially when I describe certain beers for the “Beer of the Week” segment — while “quaffable” doesn’t roll off the tongue, it does kind of wobble, which seems to fit the word to a T.
As a fan of alliteration, I love the way you can play it against other words (Kolsch is quite quaffable in Cologne, for example). But mostly, “quaffable” is a very visual word for me. It evokes hot-summer-day drinking; those times when you want something wet, refreshing and lighter on the palate that is still darn tasty, but isn’t so complex it takes your focus away from the moment. Except, of course, when you stop just long enough to realize you want to quaff another one!
What are your thoughts on “quaffable?” Should beer writers be using “wine words?” Do you scoff at those who quaff? What are some of your favorite words to describe beers?
14 Comments to “Stan’s Dirty 9-Letter Word”
Leave a Reply
Quaffable should ABSOLUTELY be used! And wine words should be avoided entirely.
One of the major problems still facing craft beer, in spite of its recent growth, is the self-professed beer geek or worse, beer snob image. which, in my opinion, is pure douchebaggery. Beer isn’t and never has been about how awesome you are for delineating Noble hops from other hops, or what kind of malt they used, or….
It is about bringing people together. Whether you are a Nascar fan or an opera fan, beer is the social lubricant that is the foundation of great people and great times.
I think using words like quaffable, a word that wobbles off the tongue, makes beer more indicative of what it is, great times with great friends. Let the wine people stick to small sips and 5 piece quartets.
Lisa, more quaffing please.
Remember, beer isn’t what you do, beer is what you do while you’re doing what you do.
Erik Boles
http://BeerTapTV.com
http://twitter.com/ErikBoles
Love the word quaffable. Even as varied as the current selection of beer is right now, if you do enough reviews, you start running into the problem of repeat descriptors. As a writer, any attempt to use unique, different, unrelated or even made up words is fine with me. I encourage it. As long as they effectively describe the beer. And quaffable certainly does that.
Erik: “Remember, beer isn’t what you do, beer is what you do while you’re doing what you do.”
If you don’t mind, I think I will use that in my beer quote of the week on Beer O’Clock!
Honestly, I don’t understand most of Eric’s points. Sorry, Eric!
“Quaffable should ABSOLUTELY be used! And wine words should be avoided entirely.” – But “quaffable” is a wine word!
“Remember, beer isn’t what you do, beer is what you do while you’re doing what you do.” – But beer IS what you do! Isn’t it?
Whatever. If people want to adopt an anti-thoughtful stance to beer, go nuts! You’ll certainly have an audience.
As far as “quaffable” goes, you’ll never catch me using it. “Drinkable”? Sure. “Palatable”? Of course. “Sessionable”? Well… absolutely.
But “quaffable”? That just sounds like an extended pinky of a word – even to me.
And just to better contextualize my initial reaction to Eric’s rant:
I entirely agree that keeping craft beer an inclusive, friendly, social thing is huge, and the right way to move ahead. I just don’t think that necessarily needs to be at the expense of knowing more about and better appreciating what’s in one’s glass.
Did not mean to cause so much trouble ;>)
Seeing the word in so many recent press releases recently provoked me. I really only meant it’s a a word I would ever use.
I like the discussion here because using words that actually tell people something is good. I grudgingly accept that “quaffable” probably does that.
On the other hand, even before the word “drinkability” was co-opted I thought “drinkable” was damning with faint praise.
This is a reminder why I’m happy Lisa replaced me – so brilliantly – on the All About Beer “Beer Talk” panel. It’s not as easy at it looks.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ratebeer, Lisa Morrison and Chad Brusse, Aaron Chamberlain. Aaron Chamberlain said: YES, love "quaffable" beers . . . RT @Beer_Goddess: Is "quaffable" a good word to describe beer? Weigh in here: http://bit.ly/9qUMEf [...]
I suppose it depends on the type of beer. This is from Wiktionary: chuggable
1. Able to be chugged; suitable for chugging.
It’s a light beer, so is perfectly chuggable, unlikely the fizzy stuff.
Quaffting or Chugging whatever suit you. Just need to get it down in a respectable manner. Chug BUD, Qauff Vortex IPA.
I can’t understand the quibble over quaffable, I quite like the word! I use it in my ratings. I had no idea (nor would I care) that it was used in wine writing. And I don’t think quaffable suggest chugging, which I associate with frat parties, or with an “anti-thoughtful” stance about beer. Something’s gotta be pretty tasty for me to call it quaffable, but it’s just got to have a body conducive to quaffing.
Sessionable is a good synonym but I don’t think “drinkable” means the same thing. I think of drinkable as meaning “I CAN drink this but I’d rather drink that quaffable brew over there.”
You could say “highly drinkable” or “goes down easily” but I fail to see what’s wrong with having quaffable in a beer lexicon.
Didn’t Snoopy always “quaff” a few (root)beers with Bill Mauldin on Veteran’s Day? If its good enough for the original Snoop Dog, it’s good enough for me. Besides, as a writer myself, I think shunning any word as a potential descriptor is a mistake. A lot of beer terminology is curious anyways. For example, why is ‘session’ so accepted as a positive descriptor? That word sometimes suggests to me the beer is light and lacking in character and designed to be consumed in mass quantities with inebriation, not taste, the ultimate goal. Yet I could have a three hour ‘session’ that begins with a nice crisp pilsen, moves on to a rich red, peaks with a balanced IPA then winds down by finishing with a monster barleywine. On another night I could have a ‘session’ that begins and ends with IPAs, enjoying the wide range of tastes available within that style. Heck, I’ve had Imperial Stout ‘sessions.’ So, when someone calls a beer a “session” beer, I know what they mean – light, quaffable (i.e. easy to drink), meant for a long evening of mass quantity consumption. I, on the other hand, think it a limiting descriptor that is, in a sense, pejorative.
I am with Stan in this instance. Quaffable sounds to me as something a hooligan fancies, when he’s preparing his next coup, when his single braincell is still working.
Whatever, there’s worse – especially in the UK, beerwriters seem to know a lot of beers that are “moreish”. Whether that means that they were drunk in the Alhambra in pre-reconquista days, that they have the colour of dark coffee, or that they are to be consumed from very large containers only, remains a mystery. Hence, I don’t like…
I also have to take issue with Erik’s statement, “Remember, beer isn’t what you do, beer is what you do while you’re doing what you do.” Sometimes, beer is precisely what I do, the focus of my attention and activity. Touring breweries, brewing my own (which I haven’t done in a good long while, admittedly), attending beer festivals – in all these cases beer is front and center, not a social lubricant.
Use it or don’t, that’s hardly why I’m chiming in here. As a huge Scrabble fanatic, I’d just like to know whether you were holding ABLE after someone had laid down QUAFF, or vice versa. OR, in a most impressive scenario, AB was on the board and you busted out a bingo by filling in QUAFF & LE.
Hey Brian — Would that it was a bingo! But ABLE was already on the board.