Trying constantly to improve the skills of the sommelier, Giuseppe Vaccarini, in his new work, opens the door to beer, by means of tasting and the ideal pairing. This guide is an essential reference for the professionals of the restaurant industry and an extraordinary tool of promotion and valuation of beer as a drink contributing to the pleasure at table.
"In 1998 I wrote a small book entitled: Sommelier, the job of the future because, during my work experiences in various countries, I had perceived the necessity in the restaurants to have at its service a charismatic character with thorough knowledge and skills in gastronomy. To make it short, we then defined the modern sommelier who, beyond passion, must be endowed with two new qualities: strength of conviction and communication skills so that all the drinks become accessible to the consumer, without forgetting skills in the management of his service because the latter provides an important income to the establishment.
And, incredible, it is exactly what the job became these last years!
Today, now this first step is passed, i.e. the recruitment of youngs in a continuously developing metier, it turns out that often the training and education lack general and precise directives in terms of methodology which would facilitate the knowledge and the sensory evaluation of most of the drinks among which beer.
This book is organised in chapters to underline the precision with which the beer is produced and with which the sommelier, as much as the beer lover, has to treat it in any gastronomic situation.
Perceived as a bitter drink, beer was long associated to male figures, but more recently, the beer also managed to convince a feminine public, sensitive to the flavours of hop flowers and the delicate tastes.
Besides, the consumer of beer is not any more attached as in the past to a single brand particularly put forward by the advertising. He shows an increasing gastronomic interest, passing easily from a brand to another. A trend the sommelier has to underestimate in no way.
In front of this new sensory requirement, two great families of beer stand out: on the one side, light, thirstquenching, containing few alcohol, with a delicate structure; on the other, those more structured, developing more aromas and a better gustatory balance, particularly adapted to an exciting gastronomic adventure.
We undoubtedly are going to a tasting product that requires an ultimate improvement in the manufacturing process. The raw material that enters in the composition of this drink is analyzed with such a precision that the most precious and most hidden aromatic properties are revealed. The quality and the hygiene are drastically respected by the breweries to guarantee the ageing, the duration of the product, its resistance to oxidation but also the constancy in quality, etc. Farmers, brewers, barmen and sommeliers all contribute to the success of this drink. An evolution which implies a new technology which suggests that the golden drink still has beautiful days ahead.
Finally, we do not have to forget the increasing number of beer lovers, sommeliers—the beginners and confirmed ones—because this book aims at supporting their upgrade absolutely fundamental to live well in our times.”
Giuseppe Vaccarini
Editions HOEPLI, Milan, 2015
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