Current Taster ProfilesBEER BEACON TASTINGS ARE BLIND. The tasters only know the style of the beer ahead of time. Information about each beer is revealed to the tasters after they've submitted their comments and rating.
PLEASE NOTE, the tastings are not a traditional "judging" style review. The Beer Beacon appreciates beers from the perspective of the consumer, providing readers with beers to seek out and offering brewers feedback from typical craft beer drinkers. Tasters are intentionally choosen so that they represent a the range of the craft beer market - from home-brewers and beer snobs to "Joe six pack" and "Jane-I'll-try-something-new." Our tasters like beers that conform to style, that turn tradition on its head, and that please somewhere in between.
GERG
Gerg is a raging drunk who somehow discovered real beer and stumbled his way into the industry. During his time spent being the former head of an area beer department and utter ignorance as to how beer is made (he still believes it's done by magical elves), he developed a more simple approach to share his knowledge with the everyday beer drinker. Unfortunately, he'll probably say something stupid in a poor attempt to sound witty than impart any actual wisdom.HOP JACK
Hop Jack is an experienced professional brewer who works for a local microbrewing outfit. As his handle implies, Hop Jack is a self-proclaimed "hop head" and prefers his micros nice and bitter, the more IBUs the better. Hop Jack appreciates varieties other than an American Pale Ale, however, and will readily award 5 mugs to a beer that he feels is a good representative of a particular technique or style.
MAGISTRATE
Magistrate is a long-time Beer Beacon taster who is also an accomplished homebrewer. Not surprisingly, he is a textbook "beer geek" and is able to appreciate a wide variety of beer styles. Magistrate is particularly fond of the more agressive "sipping" beers, such as barley wines, imperial pale ales, and imperial stouts, but will happily award 5 mugs to any beer that adequately conforms to basic style guidelines.VINNY
Vinny is an established businessman who appreciates the wide range of sensibilities held by microbrew consumers. He is an experinced taster who facuses on three aspects of the experience (aroma, body and finish), and favors beers that achieve harmony among these elements.Updated 10/2008
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