Are Beer Nerds Ruining Craft Beer?

If I didn't have any guidance from my local bottle shop employees, who are now friends of mine, I would still be drinking corona light.

 

It sounds like the author is taking issue with people who exhibit aggressive anti-social behaviors -- giving people trouble for a lack of beer knowledge. No doubt such people exist within the craft beer community. They exist in every community.

But let's be serious -- most craft beer people are proselytizers. And by that measure, they would much rather hold your hand and try to induct you into the craft beer community.

 

You've come a long way for a ghost.
We all must continue to stay out of the "light." Don't look at THE LIGHT!!!

 

When I get a chance to speak to BAs at bars, restaurants or my local brewery, I have had many positive experiences. It's great to talk beer with people and I don't feel bad when it seems the other person has more knowledge than me or vice versa. I don't scoff at people ordering a Bud or a Coors Light either because for years I drank those as well. I don't know or care if I'm a nerd or a snob. It is truly a great time to be a beer drinker right now and can't we all just revel in it?

 

I hope not.

 

Articles like that ruin craft beer. He's getting on the same high horse that he says is ruining craft beer.

 

I love that they say "it seems that trying to constantly label a craft beer drinker’s status within the beer community is asinine", yet that is the entire purpose of the article... How asinine is that?

 

Beer nerds are the minority when it comes to beer drinking so I don't understand how we could be ruining anything... Most craft drinkers aren't beer nerds

 

I think this applies to most things:

Generalizations about a group are stupid.

There's assholes that ruin everything. Citing that entire group as such is bullshit.

 

I think the real problem is perhaps the lack of friendship this author may have experienced with "beer nerds". If you love beer and you love talking about it than do your best to educate people, but don't be a dick about it. Chances are high that you're talking to someone with different taste buds so don't shit on them for liking something different than you. Let them know why you prefer something else and discuss why you prefer it to what they got but hell it's their money let them spend as they want!

 

what jesskidden said ... i stopped reading at the point where the math expert couldn't decipher the difference between 15 and 25

*goes back to geeking out on beer*

 

How can somebody write so much without saying anything?

 

Nerds ruin everything.

 

If anything they are improving the quality and upping the standards for beer! Beer nerds created the double IPA and look how that turned out

 

fucking nerds

 

It does seem to me that there a lot of people in the industry working over here who share his sentiments and are a bit fed up. Lot of people are obviously welcoming of beer nerds. It seems like if you mention a beer being infected or give any critical remark of beer plenty of people will shush you because you don’t know enough to say anything. Beer shouldn’t be criticized etc. beers have started coming with manuals at some place, on one occasion I have been stopped from drinking a beer because I wasn’t doing it in the right order, way etc. People are highly critical of rating, ticking is just a hobby not a critique for me & I doubt that it harms the brewer given that there are about 15 people in a country of 11 million affiliated with a rating site. There is too much focus on education for me, saying yes to the question as to do you know what a lambiek is, is apparently not a valid reply. As such I have been explained what it is 15 times or so in the past 6 months.

Personally I think that beer nerds are just a small minority. If someone is writing a review or asks about an ingredient. You think that th is is inappropriate just ignore them and all will be fine. I won’t cross-examinee anyone.

As to beer nerds not being open to newcomers, this has not been my impresson. If there are some that aren’t it is because people are different. A hobby is not indicative of your personality down to the point that you are allowed to think negatively of all participants.

 

There are people like that, don’t really worry about them. If they want to spend a lot of money in order to be able to brag that they have 10 cases of Heady Topper so be it. People like that enjoy negative attention probably even more than positive. Just shrug and don’t care, there is no need to encourage people like that.

 

Pretty much agree. However, I read the article and was somewhat offended. I consider myself somewhat of a beer nerd with slightly snobbish tendencies. I learned long ago when someone asks me what the best beer out there is, to reply "Whatever YOU like is the best beer for you". However, when someone asks me what my favorite beer is, I reply, "It depends on the style of beer I'm in the mood for". I can talk about the chemical structures and reactions in beer making but I don't.

 

Its the tickers you have to watch out for.

 

Fucking tickers !