What Is a Good Beer?

Charles W. Bamforth

I (and others) have written at length about beer quality.^[1] But what exactly does it mean to the consumer? Most importantly does anyone have the right to stamp their judgment on what constitutes a good product from a bad one? It is the way in the world of wine with the likes of Robert Parker and Jancis Robinson pontificating on what is and what is not a superlative purchase, thereby at a stroke launching the cost of certain vintages to otherworldly amounts.