This is the eBook version of the printed book.

This Element is an excerpt from Beer Is Proof God Loves Us: Reaching for the Soul of Beer and Brewing (9780137065073) by Charles W. Bamforth. Available in print and digital formats.

An expert meditates on beer quality: from the bottle to the bubbles and beyond.

What exactly does beer qualitymean to the consumer? Does anyone have the right to stamp their judgment on it, like Robert Parker pontificates on wine? Let us journey from the container inwards and dwell on attitudes towards what is and what is not beer quality.