This autumn, I was evaluating a flight of American IPAs at a beer competition. Between us, the judges agreed on an excellent beer as a clear medallist. It was in-your-face hoppy and absolutely brilliant, the kind of beer that makes you smile and cheer because it’s so good. It certainly wasn’t balanced, a frequent descriptor of award-winning beers.

One of my colleagues at the table reflected on beer judges’ over-use of the word balance, and how sometimes this is not actually what you want from a beer. “People are often talking about balance as a good thing, but sometimes you just want to be surprised and overwhelmed,” he said. “Like this beer, it’s not balanced and it shouldn’t be.”

In a way, this discussion reminded me of Swedish filmmaker Jonas Åkerlund’s bold storytelling. If you don’t know, he’s also the guy behind notorious music videos for The Prodigy, Madonna and Lady Gaga, to name a few. His defiance to exist in the grey zone has also made him one of the most sought-after filmmakers in the world.

In an interview a few years ago, Åkerlund explained his creative approach and said something along the lines of; “It’s not worth it if you don’t cause a reaction. If you want to communicate happy or sad stories, they should be clearly happy or sad. My ideas are always on steroids, in everything I do.”

In Sweden, the word lagom is commonly used in everyday life. It means not too much, not too little, just the right amount – many people, including myself, also think it means boring. Good enough, predictable, not spectacular. Åkerlund’s storytelling isn’t lagom, by any means, and maybe some beers shouldn’t be either.

With balance, beer judges might refer to all the elements being where they should be, for that particular beer style, which is not wrong as such. But perhaps we also need to remember that an American IPA should not in fact be “balanced” and have “a hint of hops” – it should be intensely, intentionally bitter. Because sometimes, as my colleague argued, don’t we want to be surprised and overwhelmed by what’s in our glass?

Malin Norman Booking.com

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