Hype vs. Reality

80% is too high for taste. I say reverse them.

 

80% is hype.
Would Heady Topper be that good if I could go to my local beer distro and pick up a case anytime.
Would Sulpin be alot better if Ballast point only made it and two other beers and could only get it say in a trade.
It's called Capitalism

 

If the Heady was still fresh and the Sulpin was still 8 months old and on a warm shelf, I don't think my perceptions would change, even if availability did.

 

But if HT could be had all over the place they'd be a mass-production brewery, and I don't think you can assume all other things would remain equal in the transition from small to large.

Still, I have no doubt that we tend to enjoy things more when we've had to put more rather than less effort into obtaining them.

 

Label and Beer Name mean absolutely nothing to me. 15-20% possibly for the lack of access.

 

After having had near 15 cans of Heady, I can honestly say I don't really feel like I'm missing out by being outside of it's distribution.

Fresh Dreadnaught, Alpine's Bad Boy, Kern's CITRA, and Pizza Port Poor Man's DIPA on the other hand....

 

Unless you're blind tasting them, there is no separation. Hype is part of the overall experience.

 

Hearing or reading a beer is highly sought after or is rated exceptionally only sets the bar higher for it for me. Sometimes it lives up to the reputation, sometimes it doesn't....but generally speaking in my experience if a beer has a bunch of positive reviews it at the very least ends up being a solid beer.

 

Seriously, if I've spent a bunch of money/time to trade for/obtain a beer, it had better be a lot better than anything I can get locally. If anything, I am negatively predisposed. One of the things I enjoy most about Heady is that in 2 hours and 35 minutes I can get a lot of it, much more reliably than I can get any other really good DIPA.

 

50-50 I'd say, to answer your question. Which I don't consider all that bad of a thing. The overall experience is what I'm after and what you listed is a part of that. I tend to like hard to get beers with sweet labels and cool names. Unless the beer sucks, then I'm just pissed

Indeed. Just look how many people listed "the hunt" in their top three. http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/why-do-you-drink-beer.97134/

Too much hype = bad, but I'd probably enjoy beer less without the hype aspect.

 

Hype may get you to try a beer that's all.

 

Couldn't agree more. For me, I really really wanna try certain beers, simply because many people seem to thoroughly enjoy them, but as soon as that beer goes into my glass, MY senses are in charge, and what I like is king of the opinions I form.

 

For me, lack of access likely plays a small role in that drinking that beer is more "special" than drinking any of the plethora of beers on shelves here. When my buddy sends me a fresh pack of Two Hearted its still a really good beer, but it might be just slightly better because of my lack of access.

As others have said, hype plays the opposite role. Hype gets me to try different beers but, to borrow a quote from 40 Year Old Virgin, "You're putting the (beer) up on a pedestal." The bar gets raised a little bit higher

 

in addition to the desperation i get sometimes when a beer gets hyped up i already get an expectation that the beer will be excellent. very infrequently does the flavor live up to it's expectation, especially when it's spoiled by hype. also, hipsters add hype to beer that's not that great and jack up the costs. damned hipsters.

 

For hype to even exist you have to be a part of it and beleive it.

 

I don't know about all of that. Stone Enjoy By had a lot of hype, but it was pretty bad. I don't think hype adds anything but disappointment if the beer is mediocre.

 

Yes, Heady would be, I pick it up weekly, now you know.

;-)

 

KBS - mega hyped. Reality is that it is really fucking good!