More excited to communicate getting beer than how it tastes?

Folks commenting on getting and not what it tastes likes is unfortunately very common. At times folks can be helpful to let you know it's out or where it can be obtained. Other times it's clearly a "show and tell."

What gets me a little more irritated and of similar ilk, Beer advocate threads can be loaded with criticism of beer folks have never had. A little bit of the Facebook/Twitter gotta post/look at me vibe, unfortunately.

 

You hit the nail on the head there.
The beer reviews, New Beer Sunday, and, to a lesser extent, WBAYDN are where beers are reviewed. That's how the site is set up.

The general forums and beer specific threads are meant to carry on conversations; how psyched you are to try it, whether or not you liked it, was it worth the hype, etc, but not to review or rate a beer. When the OP says he scored some reply asking how he liked it. When the OP says it was good/bad hit the reply button and ask why he did/didn't like it.

Unlike most other beer sites BA is kinda, sorta split into two parts; the forums and the reviews. Members and visitors looking see how a particular beer rates will go to the ratings & reviews rather than search threads. Members who want to discuss a particular beer will go to the forums.

You mentioned the Bell's Vanilla thread. It sounds like those posters were doing what they were supposed to do. Did you check to see if they had reviewed/rated that beer? If they didn't hit the reply button and ask them to do so.

 

The threads you refer to are general discussion, where they might compare notes on what they found where, and for how much. This usually isn't bragging, though if you're looking for it that's what you'll see. The reason they don't talk much about how they liked it is because that's done on NBS, WBAYDN, and/or reviews. We'd like to see what you're finding too, and the place for that is on the Beer Haul thread.

 

I dunno but in 25yrs there's going to be some laughable collections unearthed "in the bunkers" of BA beer, Bourbon, California Cab... from people who kept buying and buying (and buying) as "investment", never opened them (or even tasted them ), and are passed on to kids being born now who haven't a clue what this "not spiked seltzer" stuff is. Hopefully it will be correctly stored and there will be a legal resale market in the USA by then, because the amount of awesome stuff that is being bought and stored, with no intention of opening it, is really starting to bum me out.

You could get hit with a bus tomorrow morning...
smoke'em if you got'em, yolo, bottom's up, etc.

 

5 years ago, hell, even 3 years ago, yes. Absolutely. I think those are few and far between now though. Just too much (good) beer available these days. Take a look at cases of KBS, Zombie Dust, Hop Slam, and Nugget Nectar stacked up chest high.

 

Unfortunately, the culture has become such that you get clout from getting something, not from providing feedback. Besides feeding trade value, I think part of why ratings for certain beers and breweries being as high as they are on various platforms has a lot to do with people being afraid to ostracize themselves by saying something negative.

 

I worry about what would happen if a health issue came up and I couldn't drink any more. I really should drink my cellar back down again...

 

The primary purpose of obtaining a heavily hyped beer, in most cases, is bragging rights. Enjoying the taste of the beer is a secondary consideration or not a consideration at all, given how many of such beers end up as bottle share contributions, as trade bait, or languish in cellars far past their peak.

 

Go to the NBS & WBAYDN? threads where everybody is actually drinking the beer, & usually saying what they thought of it.
Avoid the Post a picture of your latest beer haul (2020) thread , if that aspect bothers you.

 

I get excited when I pick up a beer and I sometimes like to share where I got it and the price in case others near me are interested. But because of my schedule I don't always pick it up and then get to drink it on the same day and days can occasionally pass before I do get to try it. I do try to circle back around in the same thread or some of the others but occasionally that just doesn't happen.

I actually appreciate price/location more than tasting notes in many ways because our palates are so different and I've found so many times over the years that my palate is rarely like the majority's. And the hunt can be pretty fun and rewarding.

 

People have to justify spending $25+ to themselves one way or another. Even if they didn't like it, they couldn't openly admit to it being bad (due to the beer being infected, or any other problem for that matter) and that they regret paying what they did to their "followers".

 

It could provide a vicarious thrill or spur some friendly competition. Look, I think the "whalez-hunting" aspect of the craft beer scene is a silly and wasteful distraction, but it's clearly a source of enjoyment for some people. I do think it's one of those phenomena that loses its appeal upon exposure to scrutiny.

For the record, I recommend that you skip NBS and WBAYDN along with Post A Picture if the bragging bothers you. Yeah, people often write about the taste of the beer, but many of them clearly are doing so to show off what they've scored and talk up the product, not that there aren't some thoughtful and honest takes, usually for the less highly regarded beers. Those threads are very much a part of the social media hype machine for craft beer.

 

Please ignore Mr. Islay, @BWichmann74 as he is a deeply insecure and pompous blowhard who treats these forums as nothing more than a place to lord his perceived superiority over everyone else.

I can't speak to WBAYDN myself, but New Beer Sunday is a *fantastic* thread that represents the best of this website. It is in fact a place where some of the most laid back, in depth, and friendly beer discussions take place without any of the empty posturing or self serving judgement that the above poster revels in.

Hope to see you there.

 

I do believe there is a faction of beer drinkers whose passion sits ahead of their actual enjoyment. It's a cynical belief, but I'm certain these people exist. These are also the same people who put a lot of stock in aging beers, believing it's a positive move no matter what. These are also the same people who are on the belief that "sour" is a type of beer and that said beers are at their most authentic and sophisticated when the level of sourness is puckering. These are also the people whose first thought and action after pouring a beer is to perfectly capture it in a photograph which makes it look anything like reality....before actually tasting it. These are also the people you'll find in non-beer situations annoying the shit out of everyone around them because they are most happy when their mouths are open and unwelcome advice pours freely and endlessly. These people suck.

 

Which might cause said health issue.

 

I strongly suggest you avoid the "Hauls" thread. That thread is just dick-showing.

I strongly recommend New Beer Sunday (NBS). It is a requirement of participation to discuss the new-to-you beer you're having that day, and posting actual reviews is strongly encouraged.

Hell we even do an awesome BIF that you're welcome to join in. (Hint, there's a new one coming in a few weeks, message me for details. You won't be sorry if you join up)