Sometimes, we find the greatest news in the most surprising of places. Flipping through the channels last night, I see that some new cable channel, Up, is now showing reruns of one of my favorite shows of all time … Ed. And then earlier this week, I stumbled across some great names in the beer aisle of the local grocery store.
Walking through Publix, looking at the mix-a-six section, I saw a pamphlet called, “Beer: A Guide to Selection at Publix.” Skeptical by nature, I slipped it in my pocket and figured I would later sit back with a fine pilsner and scoff at their sophomoric attempt at defining beer and beer styles. Ok, so … I was wrong. I’ll borrow a line from their opening missive, “We want to help you find beers you love … that way, you can try more suds and get fewer duds.” My thoughts exactly – that’s the whole reason we started this blog journey. We want to help people find their favorite beers and expand horizons into newer choices and broader flavor profiles. Okay, Publix, I’m listening.
The next two pages break down the major types of beer … starting with the basics. All beer is broken down into ales and lagers. And then they give a quick description of the differences between the two. It has a color-coding system with logos associated with each of the 14 styles they define. But the real magic happens when you head to page 5.
We have spoken in the past about IBUs (International Bitterness Units.) Publix now provides a
bitterness ranking and a malt sweetness ranking for each beer on display. For John Q. Beerdrinker, the onslaught of new choices and emerging craft breweries can be overwhelming. These labels, although a bit simplistic in this blogger’s opinion, aim to help shoppers wade through the myriad choices and hone in on those that fit their preferred flavor preferences.
The most savvy of beer connoisseurs may not benefit from this brew ranking system, but the majority of people out there could use this to make shopping a pleasure. Well done, Publix. Well done.
