No one goes into a restaurant and requests 'a plate of food, please'. People do not ask simply for a 'glass of wine', without specifying, at the very least, whether they fancy red or white, dry or sweet, perhaps sparkling or still. More often, they trouble to decide whether the red should be American or Australian, Italian or French, from Burgundy or Bordeaux, and choose a vineyard and year. When their mood switches from the grapes to the grain, these same discerning folk often ask simply for 'a beer', or perhaps name a brand, without thinking about its suitability for the mood or moment.

What the British call 'plonk' and the Americans 'jug wine' is often well-made and good value, but there is more to the grape than that. It is well understood that there are 'fine wines', but less widely appreciated that beer can be equally varied, complex and noble.

The similarities between wines and beers are far greater than the differences. Wines begin with fruit and (usually, but not always, the grape), while beers start with grain (customarily, but not necessarily, barley); both are made by fermentation; and many of the flavour compounds naturally formed are shared between them. Distil wine and you have brandy. Distil beer and you make whisky.

In many European countries, wine is taken for granted. The Italians, French and Spanish make wine; the Germans and Belgians, British and Americans revere it.

A more significant factor might be that warm southern European countries grow the grape, and other round, soft, squashy fruits such as tomatoes and peppers. Cool northern lands grow resilient grains and underground vegetables such as the potato and turnip. Wine is at home with a more sensuous cuisine than beer.

Wine was not born with a vocbulary; that came later, with the help of writers such as Saintsbury and Simon, Lichine and Johnson. Any wine-writer who has ever enjoyed beers (and most have) will confirm that some are drier, others sweeter; this one firm-bodied, that soft; one hints at pears or oranges, another at coffee or chocolate. This is not a difficult language; anyone with an interest in the tastes of foods and drinks already has a smattering of it, and it is the easiest way in which to appreciate beer. Wine-makers and brewers often prefer chemical descriptors, but those hardly reflect drink as a pleasure.

The uses of beer
People who drink only the most conventional beers have failed to understand that there are different brews for each mood, moment or purpose.

Some people drink beer to get drunk, though it is an inefficient means of doing so. Although there are far stronger beers, the great majority worldwide have an alcohol content of 3-4 percent by weight, 4-5 by volume. At those strengths, beer is the least potent of the world's alcoholic drinks, less than half as strong as most wines and with little more than a tenth of the potency of most spirits. In several countries, beer has been promoted as a drink of moderation.

Beer's greatest use is as a sociable relaxant. A sociable beer must not be too strong, and needs a touch of hoppy dryness to make it moreish.

Other people drink beer to quench a thirst. Wheat beers are the most refreshing. Standard lagers are often put to the this use, but do the job less well because they are too sweet and too gassy, and therefore bloating.

Anyone who has done a hard day's work knows that a beer is a restorative. Medical opinion may vary on the scientific justification of this view, but a great many doctors appear to enjoy a beer after work. A sweeter beer, for example a dark lager or mild ale, or one of the creamier stouts, seems to do the job.

Some beers sharpen the appetite and others are well suited to accompany foods.

Excerpt taken from 'Michael Jackson's Beer Companion'