Beer Nut Says Goodbye

Sad to hear but I’m proud of Norm for making this extremely difficult decision.

 

And a fellow beer writer is taking shots at him on Twitter. You can really feel the camaraderie.

 

Seriously? That's bullshit. best of luck to the Beer Nut, errr, Norman.

 

As I read your post I knew immediately who you were talking about without being aware of it before hand. That guy is awful.

 

He really is a tool

 

Never heard of this guy until today. Reading his tweets, seems like a real douche. Can't believe 14K people follow him

 

Just to be clear, you're not talking about Beer Nut are you?

 

they're actually talking about some guy named andy crouch/beerscribe. i had to hit up a few twitters to find out who they were talking about and to read what it was that he wrote about norm. i'm totally down to name names.

 

Oh, that’s funny, I actually used to follow him on Twitter until I got sick of his pompous ass drivel posts. “Hey, look at me, I’m drinking a lager, I’m so cool.” No thanks, pal

 

I'm sure he live in Cambridge, with his holier-than-thou attitude towards Norm. He's superior to everyone, of course.

 

Correct. I don’t know Norm but wish him the best

 

I’ve followed Andy for a while & met him a few times - he’s a good guy & very knowledgeable about beer. I’ll admit his first tweet was harsh but his follow-up tweets explained his position a bit more.

I happen to somewhat agree with him, the elephant in the room of the craft beer scene is over-indulgence & alcoholism. You see it at most festivals & I wonder how beer writers can keep providing consistent content without excessive drinking. Most of us can claim on-line that we have our drinking in moderation, but take a look in the mirror to see if that’s true.

Personally I take a look at my drinking habits 3 times a year: Post New Years (always pointing to drinking less/not at all); Post March Madness (my personal big drinking time); and mid-August (cookout/beach/pool drinking). Always results in a reflective period of my relationship with alcohol & a time out.

 

Will Wormtown continue to brew Norm?

 

To your first point, he may be all those things, but his first tweet was completely uncalled for in my opinion. Don't shoot first and apologize later. Which, I don't think he ever apologized. Be better from the start. I don't know Norm, but this person took a shot at how he does his job and his lifestyle challenges. Then used that as a roundabout way to put the spotlight on the bigger, more serious issues that no one really talks about in craft.

I will agree with you that this "hobby" can mask many of the other serious issues (physical, mental, financial health, etc.) that we play off as part of the craft scene.

 

I wish I had heard of and followed him previously, so I could have the satisfaction of unfollow7ing him after his comments towards Norm.

 

Those tweets were rude, and an awkward attempt to moralize while not really providing anything novel beyond what what Norm's piece itself called for: be reflexive about your relationship with beer. Also pretty dopey because they cast obesity and alcoholism as problems people can just be "smarter" about.

Best of luck to Norm and hope he gets to where he wants to be.

 

One last post from the Beer Nut:

Beer is Not Evil

 

Brave is probably too strong of a word, but commendable is probably the right word for giving up beer in order to save yourself. It seems like an easy decision, but it is a difficult lifestyle change. Let's hope Norm finds the happiness (and health) he's seeking.

That being said, this is a season of reflection, but also of conviviality and drinking. I know it's fun to bust out those cellared stouts and load up on cases of double IPAs for holiday gatherings. I've done it before and will do it again. The elephant in the room with craft beer is that those two pours at some breweries are the equivalent of drinking a six-pack; You may have a tolerance for those two (okay, maybe three) 7% beers, but you're still probably over the limit and a cop won't agree with your self-assessment of "I'm fine." Be safe and don't put yourself and others at risk. Sure, it's a health risk, but it's also a public risk too. I wish more people would talk about these things.

Macro giants have no problem asking us to consume responsibly. Why can't craft beer do the same? It seems like a place they should be aligning with the giants.

 

Thanks Mr Buzzkill

(and well said, we have to remember that craft beer, in the end, it's just another form of alcohol, but the tastiest kind out there)