Craft Beer's Post-Snob Era is Here

Beer snob? How about discerning palate. Hop over load sure, that's why there are seasonals. One doesn't have to drive, wait in line and have FOMO to enjoy beer. Go to the store, or bar, enjoy. Repeat as needed. Why do you think pale lagers are the most popular style of beer?

 

“recovering beer snob”

Maybe we have ‘discovered’ the target market for Night Shift Nite Lite beer?

Cheers!

@Sixpoint @masterob8 @BillManley @RobH @AlcahueteJ

 

Because they fit within the “refreshment category” as Jennifer Yuengling would articulate it?

Cheers!

 

So they were totally misguided from the get-go. Welcome to the real world, I guess...

 

I do see a lot more industry people hanging at Bierstadt rather than Falling Rock during GABF these days.

 

Adult beverages

 

My experience with industry folks is that they never really fell through the beer snobbery trap door to begin with.

 

I'll be a.beer snob (so-called) until they unwrap my cold, dead fingers from around the stem of my snulip. I mean, really.

Now I'm off to bake an unseasoned chicken breast and cook up a batch of plain white rice for lunch. Paired with a glass of water, no lemon.

 

I am reminded of an exchange between George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld where Jerry is deriding George for laughing at Kenny Bania jokes:

Jerry: Like what, Ovaltine? Why do dogs drink out of the toilet? Shopping carts with one bad wheel?

George: That's true, that always happens to me.

Jerry: You think that's funny?

George: I don't know, I like stuff you don't have to think about too much.

Permit me to suggest that there is a little bit of George Costanza in all of us!!

Cheers!

 

To paraphrase: "I got bored of unique flavor profiles and interesting drinks, so I now drink aluminum water. Since the world revolves around me, I'm gonna find some like minded people and just assume that it's a huge trend."

This is a ridiculous concept from a niche group.

This is the most arrogant and self serving paragraph I have read in a long time. People can like complex beers, or revert to lighter beers, or drink whatever they want without being a prick about it, the author should take note. Questioning someone's maturity because they wait in line for a special release is ridiculous. SHEESH

 

Yes, this idea of "beer you don't have to think about" is weird. There are thousands of craft beers you can buy at a store or bar and drink without any additional effort. It doesn't mean you have to revert to drinking Bud Light.

 

You don't want to ruin your discerning palate for your next beer tasting I assume.

 

There is also a price threshold. I used to buy a bomber a week. I havent bought one now since CBS came out last November.

There are more great beers now than ever. But having wed or weeded through all of the crap throughout the years has sort of left me feeling like I never want to experiment or have a need to be that guinea pig, like my younger days.

I used to want to visit every new brewery in town and in places I was visiting. I'll visit a few but I have gotten past that crazy phase. There are probably more that I haven't visisted in my 20 miles radius than places I have visited. I guess you can say, the FOMO is out of my system. After just one beer, the buzz is all the same anymore. Enjoying good company with good beer is where its at most times.

I wouldnt say Ive come full circle and want the ICE just to catch a buzz like my younger days, but my craft intro days with Shiner Bock, Fat Tire, and Boston Lager and their subsequent reintroductions have been eye opening as of late.

We're moving into interesting times.

There is also the hobbyist angle. People who go all out with whatever they are doing. They usually have 10-15 old hobbies hidden away in their garage or storage units. Addictive personalities. Now that craft beer is no longer exclusive to them and only 1 out of their 10 friends, they move onto other hobbies.

A lot of them weren't in it for the love of the beer. More so, the hype and lines and something bigger than themselves. I've seen dozens who were ticking and trading like crazy go strong for 3-4 years, only to give it up and move onto other things. It trips me out and that fear is all too real when breweries renovate and expand based on these trend jumpers

 

And there has always been a difference between being a "beer snob" and just liking better beer. You can be enthusiastic about good beer without being pushy, judging, or elitist.

I like flavorful beer, but at most rugby post-game socials the host team is serving free adjunct lager. So that's what I'm drinking that day.

Some one is drinking Natty Light at a party? What do I care. But if they ask me for a better recommendation, then I'll nerd out. It's easy not to be a dick if you just have some basic social skills.

 

I can remember the days I'd drink something as different as Guinness Draught and get the same sort of judging look from the BMC drinkers at my local. Pendulum swings both directions.

 

In reference to the article, I've been noticing more and more of this recently too. I haven't yet wrapped my mind around whether it's anecdotal or a real trend.
There seems to be a growing swell of backlash around craft beer. Right now, I see the 'backlash" as jokey and ironic, but there may be some meat to it. Look at some of the caricatures painted of craft beer drinkers and brewers (bearded, plaid-wearing, tattooed "makers"...all of which, I'm guilty of.) There's certainly a picture conjured of the "craft beer" type...accurate or not.

Some of this has been building for years. One of my major criticisms of the craft beer movement has been the fact that somewhere along the way, we lost the drinking occasion. What I mean by this, is that we made our craft beer bars and frankly, even some of our beers, too precious, too finicky. We lost the simple joy of going to the local, grabbing a table with your friends and spending the afternoon watching a baseball game, or bullshitting, or just hanging out for hours. Drinking all the while. And at the end of it, not being either: broke, shitfaced, or both.
I enjoy having beer be the icing on the cake to my life. The thing that makes occasions a little bit better, not having beer be life in-and-of-itself. If given the choice to go to the best craft-centric bar in the country to drink my beer in proper glassware, and speak in hushed tones about the subtle nuance of the barrel influence, or going to a local beater tavern, getting a pint of something tasty, but easy so I can have a good night out with my friends... well, that's not much of a choice for me. The beer is the star in the former, but the experience is the key in the latter. In a perfect world, the tavern will also have a good, low ABV "daily-driver" craft beer which would be the best of both worlds.

I think this is the reason we're seeing craft brewed Light lagers, and AALs, and Golden Ales, and Session IPAs, and Mexican Lagers, and even pilsners to some extent come into the limelight. The pendulum is swinging back.

It IS possible to love beer, but not hold it too precious.

 

But, as observers predicted, they eventually got tired. They overloaded. They grew up. And they stopped wanting to think so hard about beer.

In other words, "They weren't really craft beer fans to begin with." They were, instead, people that drank craft beer because they thought it made them look cool. In all my years of drinking craft beer I have never gotten tired of it. Not even close.

 

Sounds like you are exaggerating, but if you're not, who in the fuck does this? You're making it seem like you can't drink great and/or rare craft beer and also have a good time while doing so. Pretty sure that you can drink craft beer and not be a douche about it.

 

The main issue with this article is that it assumes "beer snobs" will have a vocally negative opinion on those who drink lower ABV beers, especially AALs. While those people exist, I find that more "beer snobs" just enjoy drinking well crafted, flavorful beer.There's absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying flavor and intensity in a beer, and it certainly doesn't make you a prick.

The age demographic that this article focuses on also didn't have nearly the selection in stores/locally that we do now, so when they were going through their "palate fatigue" and were burned out from chasing limited releases they couldn't just go to the store/local brewery and get a world class beer (the majority at least). They had to settle for AALs and such. I'll be a snob for as long as I'm drinking beer; I love flavor, I love barrel aging, and I love intense beers. I'll BMOB to parties and events that permit it, but I'll never put anyone down for what their drink of choice is.

I'd rather not drink than drink an AAL or even something with a really low ABV and with not much flavor/complexity. Not because I don't "understand the subtle nuances of a mellow brew", but because a "mellow brew" isn't my cup of tea.