How Did You Learn So Much About Craft Beer?

Make sure everybody you know knows you are delving into craft beer. Also tell anyone who may at some point give you a gift that you want beer from now on. I am amazed by how many people (including a lot of non-beer drinking relatives) bring me beers I have not tried and come across beer-centric information that I have not seen.

 

For me, it's been a combination of curiosity, time and experience (drinking the beers).

BA is, of course, a fantastic resource. But it's not the end all, and I'm not even talking about other beer sites. I've learned from this site, from Facebook groups, from Brewers, from bottle shop employees and bar staff and not least of all, friends.

And most importantly, I'm never done being curious. There are always topics where I think I know something, only to find out I was completely wrong or only bad part of the picture. The journey is the best part.

 

What is this "craft"? There is only beer.

 

I used to agree with that; these days I'm not so sure.

 

Catholic School

 

Well my mom is kind of snobby and it rubbed off on me a little I guess. I knew from drinking Coors Lite in high school that THIS could not be good beer. So before I turned 21 I was doing A lot of research on BA, reading about different styles, browsing the top 250 to see what I should try and buy when I turned 21. I bought a few of different styles, at first I didn't like most of them. Too complex! But with time the palate refined.

 

If you want to be familiar with different beers, first become one with the breweries and the styles of beer. Then you will be able to form an opinion. Ask the local bottle shop, some people help a lot. Also, try to drink a different beer every time you go into the store, thats my goal.

 

I dunno - remember when, not long ago, Schell's didn't count as a so-called craft brewer because they made too many adjunct lagers? The definition has been too fluid for me to pay much attention to it. Sure, there's traditional brewing and then there's Big Beer - but I don't know about "craft."

 

I just meant that 'craft beer drinkers' these days tend to be too narrowly focused to be seeing the whole tapestry that is 'beer '.

 

Ah, yeah. I agree entirely.

 

I always thought "they" were saying crap beers, then I got glasses!

 

People saying homebrewing taught them about craft beer are giving that too much credit. There is a big difference between craft and the craft.

 

Seems like a lot of really knowledgable people home brew.

 

Yes, this! When I'm at a bar and they have something I've never tried on tap, I'll almost always give it a go.

 

Hey, man, don't set 'em up like that if you don't want me to swing.

 

In my business travels and a few vacations, I had the good fortune of finding myself in Canada, the British Isles and in Europe. This allowed me to drink a variety of styles or forced as it turned out, to sample many from these locations.
Several years later finding myself in the Pacific Northwest and meeting others of similar interests, started talking to many craft brewers. I really have to thank so many who gave me the time and shared their experience/knowledge with me.
I started brewing my own and now working on taking this back to the original style of Ale''s made in Europe and British Isles. (Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England) recreating these somewhat complex Ales for my own enjoyment.
My current batch is an Oak'ed Irish Red Ale that is just now finished fermenting.
I have to thank the internet and forums such as this that filled in so many blanks..

 

It's correlation, not causation.

Take me for example. I've been homebrewing for years since I was 15. Back then the beers I drank were Corona, Bud Light, Keystone Light, and my homebrew. I knew next to nothing about craft beer.

Even later when I stopped drinking those macros, I barely drank any craft beer because I brewed 95% of all I drank.

Knowing what goes into a beer is a very useful piece of information that you learn when you brew, but this helps me to understand Budweiser about as much as Heady Topper. In other words, I would know about beer, not craft beer. I wouldn't know the beers or breweries to look out for or understand the hype around a BA Stout if I know how to brew a killer Oatmeal Stout-- it just doesn't help in that case.

I learned much much more about craft beer when I downsized and couldn't brew for over a year. I had to go out and buy beer instead of making it myself. I got to try whats out there and make opinions on them that were much more valuable than if I, say, cloned a beer I heard about instead of actually drinking it.

Homebrewing got me first interested in craft for research purposes, and I sampled as much as I could to learn what I liked to brew etc. But the stuff I learned in that period pales in comparison to what I learned when I couldn't homebrew. That's because when I realized what I liked etc I just brewed it instead of tracking down latest releases of popular brews in that style.

It's like saying a hobbyist filmmaker knows about the film industry or classic film. She might, because most likely her interests coincide with that too. But her home films made in her basement don't teach her anything about the latest Spielberg film.

 

i first went after beers rated highly by the "Bros"
then after i tried a few in each style i started to see which styles of beer i liked most.
after that i was trying highly rated beers in particular styles

all the while i was reading articles, blogs, and brewery websites to learn more

 

Seriously, read here and anywhere else. After that, go to wherever your state or province allows beers sales and purchase. Make you own conclusions. Be happy.