Beer Briefs was originally started with the intent of being a personal journal of my thoughts on the beers I’ve tried. Over time, I realized there was a lack of simple, accessible beer reviews out there.
So many of the beer blogs, review sites, or even the reviews posted to sites like Beer Advocate and Ratebeer are filled with very inaccessible “beer-snob” type language. This is fine if you are certain craft beer conoisseur, but even if you are, this elite, noses style of review doesn’t fit everyone’s personality and really isn’t all that helpful to many people new to the world of craft beer, or just those trying to explore new styles.
The Beer Brief Style
In short, I’ve aimed to keep the reviews of the beer I try as brief and to the point as possible, while using descriptive terms that even the most unfamiliar-to-craft-beer person will understand. The goal is for the reader to be able to nod along with or shake their head to what they’re reading, rather than sitting there perplexed as to how a beverage meant for enjoyment could be compared to chemical compounds.
The briefs are meant to be casual and conversational, not refined or highly produced (everything is done from my iPhone: I use iA Writer for taking notes and 645 PRO for shooting the photos).
The Components of a Beer Brief
The main components of a Beer Brief are:
- a photo of the beer, still bottled or canned
- initial thoughts before opening (back story on how I selected the beer or any other relevant information)
- scent description
- taste description
- overall opinion, often containing a comparison to a similar beer or a description of a time or setting in which I would see myself enjoying the beer
- rating based on a 5 point system, including quarter points, similar to Untappd (note that I am an easy grader, so it is rare to find a beer I’ve rated lower than a 3).
Who Is Behind Beer Briefs?
So, you may be wondering who would be oddball enough to start a site and log all of these things — I don’t blame you. I know that it’s a bit strange to most.
My name is Eric and I’m a web designer from Wisconsin. Fitting location for a guy who likes to review beer, right?
In addition to keeping a detailed, yet brief, personal log of the beer I’ve tasted over the years, in truth, Beer Briefs also helps me in a few other areas relating to my career. Namely, it gives me one more site to fiddle around with, allowing me to practice design and writing skills on something that’s just fun. Combining hobbies (craft beer and web design) seemed like a good idea, so here is Beer Briefs.
I hope you find the briefs I’ve written enjoyable and/or helpful. If not, perhaps you’re more of the Beer Advocate mindset, and that’s cool with me (I visit the site often and find tons of great information along with the fancy descriptions that sometimes seem over the top).