"Complex" is a Useless Beer Descriptor

I'm on board. Flavors can layer, clash, meld, mesh, play-off on another, etc.

I feel like "complex" is crutch when the reviewer is unable to parse the individual flavor components or come up with an apt analogy for what the beer tastes like in its totality.

Alternatively, it functions as a way to communicate that the beer is not mono-flavored. Which is fair. But, to this, I say, "Use your words."

 

Agree. If the term "complex" is used by itself, it means only that the reviewer is unable to describe aroma, taste, palate, whatever. I'll attempt to describe it in terms of my own experience, and whether I like the beer or not.

 

I think 'complex' is a useful descriptor. Saying a beer tastes like apples and peppery spice doesn't tell me whether a beer is good or not. Most descriptors fall into this fallacy. 'Complex' offers a qualitative way to expand upon the individual flavours (or, more likely, cover all the stuff you can't quite figure out). However, just because you can list off ten different individual flavours does not mean a damn thing in reality.

 

I like the way some beer tastes.

 

I personally have used the word complex in quite a few of my reviews. And for me personally, it is usually complimentary, and mostly specific to taste - meaning that I'm able to detect several distinct flavors within the beer. So in my opinion, "complex" is a valid descriptor, providing that the reviewer provides the details that describe and define the complexity. But to each his own... Cheers!

 

Its a general term...you're thinkin too much...

 

This is really a complex issue.

 

I will say that I've hade so many beers, that were pretty complex. Anyone who tries to simplify my drinking experience needs to explain to me how they are so sure they know where I am coming from as a beer drinker. Everyone's taste buds are their own. I've had thousands of beer over the span of 30 years & can still be quite surprised/delighted by beers & how the present themselves.

 

Is "complex" only a term that can be applied to good beers?

 

No, that's not what I was trying to imply, I was trying to imply that complex isn't any more useless than picking out individual flavors when it comes to telling whether a beer is good or not.

Then again I would say that 'complex' speaks more to a beer's quality than 'chocolate, hint of coffee'.

 

I most oftenly use complex when a beer's flavors extend beyond what I can confidently put my finger on. For example, if I'm drinking something that has a lot of fruity flavors, but I can't specifically identify the fruit I'm tasting, I'll say that it has a complex fruit profile or something along those lines.

I also use it when I can actually identify what I'm tasting, but the flavors exceed the "expected". I don't want to sit there and list every single thing that I kinda sorta tasted.

 

I sat at a bar today and overheard a Rep tell the employee that Miller Fortune was "Complex" I laughed out loud thinking about this forum!

 

BA Perennials, most Side Projects I've had immediately come to mind here. Sure I've had multiple stouts, but BA 17 had layers of tastes going on. Sure I've had plenty of saisons, but Le Saisonneir was ever changing from start to finish & cold to warm. They are complex beers.

 

"Complex" is just a starting point in describing the beer. In the same way that you'd describe a movie as "action packed" or "slow" or even "stupid", the description just encapsulates what you think of the beer. If your view is that it's simple, you're obviously not going to write a ton of tasting notes about it. Using "complex", I agree, isn't enough to say just by itself but it DOES convey that the beer is going to give you more than a couple of flavors and that's perfectly useful information. People who drink BudMillerCoorsPabst obviously have no interest in complexity, so there's a bit of snobby shorthand involved, too, which is also VERY useful.

 

I think 'complex' - in the sense of "flavors and textures in greater number and intensity" - was useful when the craft revolution came down the pike to put craft brews into perspective with bland macros. Now that so many beer enthusiasts are becoming educated in flavor profiles and have so many craft brews to explore, the word is a little less helpful, though hardly worthy of banishment. As for the article, I deeply resent the author's proclamation that beer drinkers feel inferior to wine drinkers. For myself, I just don't like that crap.