Beer Tasters
A
few days ago, my mercurial boss and I were having lunch at a seafood resto. At
a table beside us, there were people who seemed so carefree drinking beer. I
mean, who would not get untroubled when people drink beer at the middle of the
day?
Somehow we
were amused at the sight. Until my boss told me of how he knew someone with a
job of tasting beers. (I was sure they were not the people beside us.) He said
that there were actually three of them and their job consisted of just tasting
beers. Exciting huh?
Aside
from the job being so easy (though I’m not sure about this, I wonder whether
those particular people have a beer belly or not) and exciting, it fascinates
me to know how one tongue represents the taste of a million. Three tongues
actually. Who would ever know if the taste of the beer they approve to be so is
also the taste that the majority of people would like? For it to work magic,
the bulk of the task must be left for the marketing people.
But it
interests me more how these three beer taste testers were chosen for the job.
There must be some chemists who presented them with three glasses of beers (maybe
five even or ten) and then they were asked to identify the beer in each glass
and the percent of alcohol that each contains. Pretty much like identifying the
Do note or Sol note on the piano keys. And then identifying the sharps and
flats. Hhmm….
It makes me
think and it leads me to one conclusion. Drink beers and memorize the taste of
each one! Who knows? I might get the job of tasting beers in a couple of years!
I already can differentiate the taste of a super dry from a strong ice. Cerveza
negra from a red horse. Carlsberg from a pale. My only problem would be to
identify the alcohol percent in each beer. Or is it even possible to do this
just by tasting? Can alcohol percent be measured just by tasting? Questions to
keep me busy with.
And I remember
that I have more preference to smoking as a vice rather than drinking beer.
Aahh, I must leave this thought for another day of pondering. And frankly
speaking, I hate to see the face of my boss everyday but at least he gives me
an idea of a possible alternative career!
