Category: Beer Smack

We’ve heard from both consumers and brewers alike: “I don’t get involved in discussion because of all of the negativity.” And we think that sucks.

Beer geeks, enthusiasts, connoisseurs. They’re all the same, more or less, but unfortunately, far too many confuse these passionate types as being “beer snobs.” Even worse, some label themselves as beer snobs.

Yes, you read correctly. We hate tap takeovers, and we’re not alone. There’s a growing number of people who believe that these takeovers are doing more harm than good.

One fact that many consumers tend to ignore is that a “craft” beer isn’t good by default, nor is a beer good simply because it’s “local.”

Don’t compromise your holiday beer and food potential just because all the cool kids will be sipping some obscure Saison with dry turkey and suggested you should too. Be creative. Have fun.

Most save their predictions for December and January, but we wound up channeling our beer spirit guides a bit early.

First, and foremost, our users are consumers. Subjectivity inevitably comes into play, and with it, human error. We are not a body of professionally trained judges conducting reviews in strictly controlled environments.

The American Shaker Pint Glass, sometimes called “Conical,” but lovingly just “Shaker,” died recently due to unknown causes.

Some great beers unfortunately get tagged with horrid labels—ranging from boring to sophomoric, to sexist—while mediocre beers get wrapped in a packaging tale that’s much more interesting than the beer.

These beer fest survival tips could mean the difference between having an epic time… and a “fail” time.

Recent boycott trends target the big breweries of the world and anyone who deals with them. Should consumers punish companies that deal with large breweries, even if these same companies support craft beer, too?

Let’s face it: Beer is business. And those who can’t separate the beer from the business will be in for a very rude awakening in upcoming years, as the industry continues to mature and the natural evolution of business comes into play.

It’s our duty as BeerAdvocates to criticize the entire beer industry, not just the mass-producers of the world, and anyone who claims to care about the beer industry should be doing the same.

Despite how it tastes, mark our words. The return of “generic” cheap beer is coming. In fact, it’s already here.

For us, a craft brewer is like obscenity. No one needs to strictly define it for us. We’ll know a craft brewer when we meet one and try his or her beers.

As we move into 2011, we promise to put the “advocate” in BeerAdvocate by continuing to explore new and better ways to support, promote and defend good beer.

We’re so damn frustrated with the vast majority of restaurants that strive to offer quality service, food, wine, spirits and cocktails, but let their beer selection fall flat.

One of the biggest growing complaints from users on our site is price gouging. Unfortunately, there’s not much we consumers can do about this, except act with our wallets—or rather, not act with them.

Instead of blindly supporting something because it’s been labeled “craft,” how about we simply support brewers who make good beer with good intentions? And that’s “good” as defined by the consumer, not others who might have a vested interest.

Can craft brewers cut it quality-wise as America’s palate becomes more discerning and less forgiving, especially in light of rising beer prices?

Let’s remember that beer is the world’s ultimate social lubricant. It brings a lot of different people together for the same reasons. So let’s keep it fun, approachable and inclusive.

We always answer, “What’s your favorite beer?” with, “The next one.” Because we’ll never truly know.

At the end of the day, isn’t it just about good beer? And by “good,” we mean what tastes good to you.

We’re so proud of Boston and thankful for what it’s done for us that we’ve decided to curate Boston Beer Week.