Losing interest in craft beer?

My wife makes be a bit social, but I'm very happy with my books and words. The thing is, I make people laugh and that is the one thing I really like about people and communion. I get kinda tired of my own jokes! I really do want to share.

 

I generally just drink at home and I'm the only beer drinker in the house, but I have also gotten into hitting some of the local taprooms that get some of the harder to find beers such as BCBS. Hard to imagine walking away from this.

 

Craft beer'ing is my top hobby for the past 3-4 years as well. I always wonder if ever one day I'll move onto scotch or wine for a bit, and my craft beer/trading will be in a lull for a few years. I always feel like it will be cyclical just like anything else. At times I'll be huge into it and at times it'll be just something I occassionslly enjoy.
But I DO feel I'll always have a "drinking" hobby- whether it be craft beer, wine, scotch or bourbon- at Any given time I'll always be "into" something

 

I could imagine someone slowing down or losing interest with regards to chasing special/limited releases or visiting the bottle shop on a regular basis, but it's hard to envision losing total interest with wanting to consume it.

 

Oh I still drink craft beer and avoid macro swill, but I have moved on to craft lagers and balanced sours and other more drinkable styles. I'm not really into the 10-20% monster stouts with everything under the sun in them unless I can sample them with a group of friends. I'm also not really into the whalezzzz bro mentality and craft beer culture in general. Not quite as enjoyable as it was, say 10 years ago even.

 

Ive lost a lot of interest myself. I just got burnt out and wasted a ton of money on beer i didn't like over several years so now i mostly just keep local and also stick with the big guys (Stone, Sierra, Founders, Boston Beer) and a lot of imports. I still love beer and drink a lot but i have no interest in trading or release parties and things like that. I get very excited though when i find new Carton beers. Their taste and experimental if you can call it that, risks are awesome. Im still trying to get my homebrew stuff together and when i do i have some nonsensical ideas that i just know will work in beer so theres that. I still have a passion for craft beer and crafting beer but the excitement has died except for select brewers and homebrewing.

 

There's a lot of shitlording clowns in the beer world. Plenty of arbitrary self serving nonsense in the name of beer and its regulation and moderation, cheap cliches, three tier systems, bottle counts etc. . .

Ground zero = online trading boards.

I hate beer.

 

I agree with others that the beer still interests me but the scene is tiresome. I was just as excited to see Revolution Anti-Hero cans in stores as I was to find Grimm IPAs at $9/12 oz pours around Boston. And I plan my Trillium trips to avoid lines rather than chase whichever DDH variant is hot in the streets that week. Even at EBF, I emphasize the social and fun aspects rather than the line waiting and "OMG did you taste Tree House, Funky Buddha, etc" part of the fest. Basically, I don't wait in line for much of anything beer related and would rather drink a SN Torpedo at a local bar than chase/overpay the newest in new beer at the usual craft beer haunts.

 

I understand, trust me. There is joy in drinking socially with my wife or my best friend, but those occasions are so rare. I have three kids so I'm also years away from books and beer which I look forward to. Cheers!

 

I didn't know beer could be this good until I found craft beer. I'll never go back to BMC. I'm just beginning to hit my stride!

 

My kids are 34 and 31 this week. They are my anchor and I'm so proud of the people that they continue to be. Of all things I love my kids completely!

 

I'm losing interest in certain aspects of the craft beer world. I'm done chasing limited releases, done with IPAs for the most part, done with barrel aged blah blah blah. But everything else will be business as usual.

 

I don't think I'll ever lose interest in the styles of craft beers I like. I occasionally tire of one style or another and will rotate my consumption but I've always gone back to that style sooner or later. But as far as styles I don't care for, I never had any interest in them so I can't lose it.

 

I think that all of the earlier points about disentangling "craft beer" and "craft beer culture" are good ones. That's largely my perspective. I love craft beer. I have no interest in ticking, chasing rare bottles, trading, etc. I do like visiting breweries, especially when I've been drinking their beer for years.

A friend of mine had a similar discussion a few weeks ago. We determined that he's a "beer bar" person. He likes 20+ taps, trying all sorts of new stuff, preferably some of it rare or hard to get. I'm a "brewpub" person. I'm happy with 5-6 beers, preferably including some lagers, and knowing that they're freshly made right where I'm sitting.

 

I'll never go back to BMC except for the occasional beer here and there. I do get a little fried on hoppy beers from time to time and just go buy a nice brown ale or the best lager or Belgian I can get my hands on. There are so few English and German beers around here at the moment, but if that improves, I can definitely see getting much more into those.
All of the wonky beer facts, stats, etc...are a mild curiosity at this point, but for me, rather than studying it, I just pick up a little info here and there. Right now I'd much rather chat about the "spirit" of great beer, than the technical side of it.

 

I burned out right after my Certified Cicerone exam. I was out for a couple months, not really drinking much beer; if I did it was solely as a beverage. No thinking about what I was consuming, beyond making sure it was craft. Mostly All Day IPA or SNPA.

However, I hit it pretty hard for 3 months in advance of the exam. If I was working, I was listening to beer podcasts. If I was at home, I was tasting and reading. If I was sleeping, which was rare, I was often dreaming about draft systems (weird I know, but one tap kept shooting foam and I couldn't figure it out).

 

So - is beer your career in some way, such as brewer? Just wondering how professional brewers fare with craft as a hobby and profession.

 

Not losing interest. Just a bit mind boggled at times with how it's developed.

 

Just because one might only be an occasional social drinker doesn't mean that has to or should exclude the flavorful beers that we call craft. If anything I think you would become more demanding about your occasional beer.

 

I like drinking beer, either relaxing at home or out with family/friends. If I'm drinking at all, it's going to be craft beer. Between usual favorites and new things coming out every week, how could I lose interest?