The "Fake" Expert.

Rule #1 in a bar ignore what folks say. Many are drunk or near there.
You be amazed but many still never heard of web sites about beer.
I do not get why you chat with someone at a bar, then be surprised you disagree or don't like them...
The rest of your post I did not understand very well. so are you saying reviews are good or bad?

What's the point? you dislike lairs? well duh.

Still he is right no one can you TELL you, what beer you LIKE, now can they? There is no right answer, or there not be 4000 breweries making so many different examples of each "type" of beer.

 

It happens.

 

for the most part it sounds like you were a willing participant.

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Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Kinky Friedman

 

What about a beer distributor that calls 22oz. bottles "bomber bombs".

 

Agreed. Duvel is overrated. Not bad, but overrated. Anyways, if you want to know what a beers are "good", beeradvocate and similar websites are great starting points to find the perfect brew for you. But also remember to listen to the word of fellow craft beer drinkers you know. Case in point; a beer-lovin' friend of mine recommended Moose Drool. I think it gets an Average/Good rating on this site. Personally, I love it. All in all, reviews do you help to pick the "right" beer (and save money from buying every ipa in the store), but your own personal pallete should play into your purchase more.

 

tl;dr

 

You sound like the kind of person that will smile to someone's face and then talk shit about them behind their back.

 

I pretty much object to everything you say here. After 40 years of drinking beer across this country and many foreign countries I have still not consulted the beer gurus on this site or any other before I buy beer. It's not that I "don't trust reviews", it's that no matter how many people here like a beer that's absolutely no indication of whether I'll like it or not. Each person's tastes are very individual, if we all "liked" what everybody else on this site liked we be nothing more than a herd of sheep doing what we're told to do.

 

No one cares. Don't be a braggart.

Agreed.

Bingo and that's what is fun about beer!

 

why cant people just answer a question without picking apart every little word and sentence? I dont think your required to post anything if you dont like what the op said. be nice gersh dernent

 

Eh, I agree with your so called "fake expert". Taste is subjective and people should try what they want and decide for themselves what they like and don't like. Some of my favorite styles of beer for example are English brown ales and smaller English bitters, and if I chose what to drink based solely on the "experts" on BA I would have never discovered these styles of beer.

 

A fairly prominent figure in the craft beer movement (can't remember who) recently said that we need more beer guides (i.e. people like Michael Jackson) and fewer beer "experts" (i.e. self-styled connoisseurs). I tend to agree.

 

Duvel is a lovely beer in its own right, my cavil with it is that it's bland for its strength.It drinks like a 4.5% beer but it's 8.5% and with just one pint I'm at the DUI limit.
You're right though, taste is very subjective.That's perhaps why there are so many different brews available-there must be few people who can't find a selection of beers to their liking.

 

I have a friend who at one point wouldn't try a new beer unless our friend, who knows a lot about beer, recommended it.The guy who knows about beer, insists that Germany makes the best beer in the world BY FAR. I disagree and I have a feeling many other beer geeks would.

Two years ago, during my transformation into a beer geek, I bought a 12 pack of Pabst Blue Ribbon based on the reviews on this site, along with a jug of Seagrams Vodka because I was a on a budget. Surprisingly good reviews for something so cheap. I found it to be disgusting. I mean seriously every can was a chore. Stupidly, I made a thread asking why the hell it was rated so high, which wound up causing an emotional outburst from some of the other posters, where even one of the MODERATORS basically told me if I didn't like the rating I could leave. HA!!

Some people I know don't like BA as a source because according to them, people on BA only like beers that "have a lot of hops". Yea because Imperial Stouts and Belgian Strong Ales are the hoppiest beers on the planet.

Then you have BMC drinkers, some of who are almost offended or grossed out at the thought of trying something different. A female friend of mine once tried a sip of Golden Monkey and told me it tasted like ovaltine. OVALTINE.. A cheap chocolate malt drink. Had she not been my friend I would've called her an idiot. Another friend of mine took a sip of Duvel and said it tasted like Budweiser with a little fruit in it.

I don't know what it is about beer that makes people so stubborn, touchy and argumentative. But that's the way it is. Bottom line, try your best to be tolerant of all opinions, no sense in getting worked up about beer. Just enjoy it.

 

I always say built a relationship with someone who loves craft beer. For me I could do that buy going to concerts and striking a conversation with someone about craft beer. Then the door is open.

I always remain quite for the most part here, but I was really hoping to meet more people to drink with but I believe I can be different then your average person to approach. I have been a metal head and a serious death metal guitarist for years, and though I have never changed nor believe in doing so, I am the friendliest person to meet and I take care of people I meet. Call it that Italian charm that never dies but tis so with me

If you live in the Philadelphia or South Jersey Area and see a dude with a death metal t-shirt and built (heheh) that is me! I am always around Westmont, Collingswood and Center City!

 

If I didn't have BA I probably would have never tried Ten Fidy. When starting out in craft beer before reading a lot of lit, mostly on BA; I thought beers in a can to be cheap. Reading on-line lit and reviews of different canned beers informed me I was wrong, and that craft brew can be GREAT in a can. I would now put Ten Fidy at the top or near the top of my RIS list. THANKS BA!!!

 

OMG, there are people who don't blindly follow the rest of the sheep on this website?

 

Using a great resource to educate yourself doesn't make you a sheep, it makes you knowledgeable. There are lots of beers on here with great reviews that I don't like, but it does save me the time and effort of figuring out which beers to try and wasting money on beers I can read a description about before hand.

 

sorry but familiarizing yourself with other people's opinions does not make you knowledgeable about anything beyond what others like/don't like. there is no substitute for experience.

BA is a great resource, particularly for communication of one's thoughts & what's the latest. but absorbing & regurgitating those thoughts is not going to make one Albert Einstein. jmho

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Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.

Kinky Friedman

 

I didn't mean you know all about a beer just from reading about it. I was more or less focusing on knowing about beer styles, releases, glassware...etc; things of that nature. I agree that you won't truly know about a beer until you taste it. Just saying for a beginner the beer 101 sections and other resources on the web are beneficial.