How would the beer world be different without BeerAdvocate?

We would still have great breweries, but without the hype and marketing of this site (or any site like this currently existing or imagined) there would be fewer of them and their distribution footprint would be much smaller.

-Craft wouldn't be at roughly 10% of the beer marekt.

-Sierra Nevada and New Belgium wouldn't be opening second breweries in North Carolina.

-Europe and the rest of the world would still posit this question: "What do American beer and having sex in a canoe have in common? They're both f***ing close to water."

This site has done an excellent job and service of doing exactly what they set out to do: advocating for beer. Cheers.

 

I would not even be into beer right now. BA is what got me to appreciate and explore beer after I gave up on it in college.

 

I don't think there would be anything different, except that everything would be different. Sorry, the philosophy posts got me into a tautological contradiction loop.

Haha used to get my tips on good beers in the lots at Dead and Phish shows. Better info here, easier and more reliable. If there ever is an actual fine beer culture in this country, the Bros. will certainly need to be recognized as a founding part of such a culture's success.

 

My liver would be would be a lot happier.

 

Just when I thought my self-implied level of beer geekdom was pidgeonholing my drinking enjoyment. I stand corrected. (Good gawd, man!!! )

 

I'm not even going to say it

 

Jean has said that Cantillon wouldn't currently be in business if it weren't for all of the international interest in their beers and they are grateful for it.

 

I wont go to the extent many have saying that this site has saved breweries or is responsible for a huge increase in demand because to find out about the site in the first place you are more then the social beer drinker. Even those who may have stumbled upon it trying to find a beer bar, store, rating are already more curious and bigger beer fans then most.

I personally would not know about all the great regional brews around the US or be able to see what everyone else is paying for the same beer.

At the same time the biggest positive about sites like this is also the biggest negative because im less likely to go to the store and pick an interesting beer to try.

There are many beers listed in these threads that most rave about but it is very difficult sometimes to stay unbias when tasting something for the first time when you already or told how good it is.( Like reading a book picturing a character then going to see the movie and it changes the visual you had)

So im grateful for the suggestions but it does take away some of the moment when you first take a sip of a special beer and you have that eye opening moment

 

There was only 7000 westy bricks? Thats crazy!

 

A lot less informed and more or less regionally isolated.

 

Well the Folks at Cantillon would be pleased. They hate the type of publicity this site and RB brings to them, as do the monks at St Sixtus.

There can be no question that this site has unnecessarily made whales out of beers that was against the original brewers intention. I mean why would you keep a Fou Foune for 10 years ?

However I have made friends on this site which supersedes all the above.

 

I would have purchased a lot of mediocre beers and have tried far less great beers. I doubt I would have ever visited Cantillion or Russian River brew Pub.

I wouldnt check the bottle dates on every IPA I buy.

I probably wouldnt have started home brewing, if I did, I would be much worse at it.

It would be much easier for me to buy Nugget Nectar and Flower Power.

 

I hit 2 big beer festivals before spending significant time on here. So I would still be hunting for good MI beers. I'd also be watching a lot more youtube beer reviewers.
Thanks to BA I get info on many more beers, breweries, events, whales, and lots of laughs. Some of you fuckers are hilarious. Some are just dicks. I wouldn't have it any other way.

I'd also be richer and spend more time on golf forums.

 

So then; the next logical question would be:

Has BA done more to mess up the economy than help it?

Point being; are the hours wasted at work, that could be used productively doing ones job, setting the economy back further than if we did not know about as many craft breweries and, thus, said breweries were not as successful and contributing less to the economy?

 

I would no longer have beer ****! Seriously, I have learned more in the past 30 days on this sight, with all of you, than I have in the past two years since I learned there are even more tastier beers than Guinness and Newcastle. Thanks and Cheers to this site, the Bros and all of you.

 

Huh??

 

I wouldnt view beer as Pokemon and "gotta have them all"

 

They simply don't get it. People chasing Blaebeer, Fou Foune and the like. People on RB and BA have made something from there beer which they don't like and have never previously been exposed to. I got that straight from the horses mouth. Jean told me that he visited America and he was treated like a filmstar. He didn't expect this and he doesn't like it. He is an ordinary guy with a life long love of Lambic beer. He hates the publicity

 

This, and agreed with the rest of your post as well. Though I've been into drinking better beer for a few years now, I only came across this site earlier this year after it was recommended by someone who's knowledge of the craft scene was much greater than mine. So while BA isn't responsible for my interest in craft in general, I can say it's definitely helped increase my knowledge of just how many great beers are out there, and is responsible for this becoming more of a hobby to me now than simply just drinking beer.

 

I think the biggest effect is that marketing would play a much more substantial role in beer sales. Right now there are plenty of companies with piss-poor marketing who do great because people already know the product is good. A company like Maine Beer Company stands out. Fantastic beer. Terrible label. It gets lost on shelves, isn't very descriptive... I'm fairly confident that ne'er a Maine Beer was purchased because someone saw the bottle on shelves and decided it looked good.