Hype is not a flavor...

You hit on a few things here, some I agree with, some I don't. I agree that some people buy things for the exclusivity of it, but I'm not sure that I agree that enhances the experience.

Certainly there are many people out there who obtain rare beers for the sole purpose of letting everyone else know that they have had that beer. You kinda see it with KBS right now. People buying multiple cases at $5/bottle rubbing it in the faces of those only able to obtain a single bottle at $10.

It also applies to single rare beers. Is KBBS 200 times better than KBS? Certainly not. Is it rational to trade an insta-cellar for a single beer? Nope. A main motivation for people doing things like that is just so they can say they've had that beer. This is not something particular to beer culture, however. There are (many) people who want things JUST BECAUSE other people can't get it. Cars, watches, wines, the list goes on.

We live in an era of ticking and FOMO. Does that lead to a better experience? Based on how angry some people get at being shut out and how angry some people get with others obtaining more than their supposed "fair share", I'd say no. If the inability to obtain a rare beer (just so you can tell people you've had it) leads to anger and resentment, then you're beering wrong.

I use EBF as an example. We're in this huge room, surrounded by world-class beers and world-class breweries, many of which have no lines. And here are people waiting in the Tree House line for 20 minutes for their two ounce pour of hype. Is that an enhanced experience? Not for me, since I prefer actually enjoying beer over standing in line and I prefer discovering new, great beers/breweries over ticking.

I know this has been long, but circling back to hype for a minute...you just know that many standing in that line are doing so just so they get to tick and tell other people that they got a hyped beer. And many people who go to all the effort or engage in irrational behavior just to tell others about the rare beer they got aren't going to admit it was a waste or not worth it. They are going to hype it up of course and rate it the same as the herd. What's the point of telling others you got this rare beer if you don't also tell them how awesome it was?

 

I think you're painting a picture that's too black and white.

 

Stealing that

 

It taste like hopslam.

 

I feel like it has a lot to with your expectations or how much you invest in it. Blind tasting is best but honestly when a lot of people talk about how great a beer is or whatever, I won't lie it peaks my interest in something that may not have been on my radar before, but I don't then expect to have the same experience I just want to see for myself so I feel like I don't fall into the trap of having high expectations for hyped releases.

No beer can live up to our power to over complicate, analyze, and describe them. We have become adept at elevating beer beyond what it is and we need to stop, this is where verbous and extremist language gets us.

 

Beer Zen is walking right past stuff that is highly rated because you know you really don't care for them.

 

The thing is... no one is going to say:

My favorite hop profile is Nelson Sauvin, Citra, and Hype

So a lot of posters are missing the point of the thread. Of course hype will likely lead you towards trying a beer you didn't otherwise care about. There's no debate about that.

But do we have any biases and/or peer pressure towards liking whales/BA 95+ beers etc. because the machine says we're supposed to? It's really more of a self-reflection exercise.

For myself, I will say that hype has probably influenced my tastes in some way. Those psychological studies weren't just made up, so I'm not going to dismiss those effects. But I (and maybe all of us) am not that self-aware to say "Hype made me like ____ beer a lot more than I actually do."

 

I won't debate but will politely disagree. Mature age doesn't mean one has acquired self awareness but it does mean you've had time to learn and what I've learned is I ain't buying a damn thing I already know I don't care about.

 

Hype influences my purchasing, sure, but not my taste. I sought out Fou because of hype, but enjoyed School of Certain Victory more because it was just more pleasing to me.