In Reply To #1 Eventually we're going to have descriptions of the styles we use. However, BeerPal doesn't use a very technical list of styles. They're meant to be more user friendly since 98% of the people wouldn't know how to assign a new beer to a style, plus the BP Crew had to assign styles to over 10,000 beers and it would be impossible to define detailed styles to a beer only based on its name. Every beer website and organization has a different set of styles, unless they're referencing someone else's list. Many are drastically different and often biased due to the culture they were created in.

In reply to #2 and 3 Thanks, those notes did help!!! I have a question about temperature of beer though. I have noticed there are some beers that taste better as they warm and some taste better out of the fridge, some at celler temperature, is there a general rule of thumb about temperature?

In Reply To #4 Personally, I like to let a beer warm up when I review it. Usually this means not finishing for at least a half hour after pulling it from the fridge, or some times as much as an hour! In my opinion, letting a beer get warmer only makes the flavors more apparent, though also sweeter. This is why adjunct laden beers like Coors advertise cold beers. Well duh, most beers would be refreshing (like water) if they were so cold that your taste bud's sensitivity were dulled. The nice advantage of taking time to drink a beer and warming it up is that different flavors seem to emerge at different temperatures. A complex beer will morph into many flavor profiles while a simple beer will not. I think the people who drink their beer in 10 or 15 minutes really miss out on what a beer has to offer. As far as the standard goes, however, I think many of the craft brews suggest serving in the mid to upper 40's F. The fridge I keep my beer in is in the upper 30's, so I usually let my bottles sit (out of direct light) for 10-15 min or so before popping them open. You also get a better head if you pour them in the 40's compared to the 30's.

In Reply To #2 What Heinous crime against the Gods did you commit to bring you among we the damned? Find an interest in over sexed women, travel, bier there aint no money in it and it will lead you to an early grave.

The restaurant I used to work at used to marinate their Ribs in a beer sauce...smelled awful while they were cooking, but they tasted pretty good. Aside from that I mostly just pours some swill on the burgers once in a while. This message was edited by Crown Royals at 2/28/2005 2:23:08 PM.