Has anyone else completely stopped reading cans/bottles that they don't recognize?

Congrats! You've become one of the weird old men on the site

 

I ABSOLUTELY agree. That look-it-up-on-your-phone-while-shopping crap is a waste of time - for a couple of items, no biggy, but if the number increases, why waste time in stores when you can shop online.

 

Maybe the brewers feel the text spoils the front art? They provide, for those with good eyes and patience, that damned mandatory text about what's inside the can in extra fine print at the back!

 

I'm in agreement as well. Too many different brewers and beers for me to analyze each product. I stick with 3 or 4 core beers that make up the bulk of my consumption and buy the occasional 4 pack of something different, a lot of times based on seeing the beer on BA.

Honestly though, I look at the price first, if it's usually $18-$20+ a 4 pack, I don't even look at it. I've forked out the cash for some of these beers in the past only to be disappointed so now I don't bother. I've learned that price does not = quality.

 

I will not buy an unfamiliar beer from an unfamiliar brewery without checking its IBU first as I have no interest whatsoever in dunking ten bucks on what may turn out to be unpalatable shit.

 

I understand your point, but IBU is not a reliable indicator on the unpalatable shit scale.

 

Like most advertising, it's just noise I am able to ignore. I buy at least 2/3 of my local pours direct from breweries, stick with core great out of state brewers that bother shipping many styles beyond a half dozen core offerings to Chicago (Founders, Bell's, AleSmith, Firestone Walker).

Off Color and Une Anne / Hubbard's Cave is an example of where their art is effective, not because I necessarily care about the drawings but rather the fact I can spot their pours from afar. Both are in black and white.

I stopped buying beer without a clear brew date beyond just released beers. Also stopped buying stuff which may or may not have lactose (not intolerant, just not a big fan). I buy more from breweries which disclose their hops, malt is an added bonus.

 

I know that. At 30 I've been both burned, and very pleasantly surprised. But when it says 40 - it's reliable enough for me. Gonna be an unpalatable shit.

 

I find a hoppy beer needs noticeable bitterness for me to enjoy it. Do you think you could be missing out on beers you may enjoy if you just go by > 40 ? A beer can be both bitter but balanced out to make for a pretty enjoyable beer for me. Have you tried two hearted? A good example of what I’m talking about I think.

 

Off Color is a special case - their art is laconic, distinctive, meaningful, and uniform. Plus, I implicitly trust their quality. I just wish they did not switch to 16 oz. And even more so - that I'd never seen their facebook page.

 

Couldn’t agree with you more-tired of looking at cans that have little to no info on them. It’s getting really ridiculous anymore. I am sticking more and more to what I know. I could solve a Rubiks cube faster than I can decipher what’s on Some of them. Who has time for this?

 

No. I don't have time to try all the beers I know I will at the very least like.

 

Or try and figure out the canning date. On Burial cans you have to look hard to see what style of beer your even looking at. Love the art sometimes, and I understand they might be looking for a tie breaker with the competition, but I don't have the patience to sift thru the beers. In doubt I ask the beer dude.

 

Does he cringe when he sees you walk through the door?

Cheers!

 

The funny thing is they are better calculators computers TVs and cameras than they are phone. They still suck to talk on.

 

Do people actually use their smart phones to have conversations? It seems like text has replaced talk?

Cheers!

 

Production is up, occasionally I'll see a case (12 x 500ml bottles) of Pliny at the local grocery.

 

Lol. No, I ask easy questions, like whats new and fresh.

 

I was looking at Beer Tree Brew Co.'s Instagram, for details, if any, on a new beer that I was adding to the database, & saw one possible answer to this. The artist that designs the labels was featured on their weekly employee profile. Most of their labels are fairly clear, but this, Contour Lines, was her favorite label.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDepF3Aso2X/
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/51814/494315/?ba=mikeinportc#review

Agreed, nice look, buuuuuut.....
I tweaked the photo, to be able to read it better, before uploading to BA, but IRL, I had to hold it up to a very bright light, alter my vision angle, and rotate it, to be able to read it.

I.e., guessing that a lot of cans are designed by artists that have art, rather the perspective of a (potential) beer purchaser in mind.

 

It's a lot like looking for food in the jungle. All of the poisonous animals have bright and vivid colorings/packaging to let you know that you don't want to ingest them. Sometimes there are cases of Batesian mimicry where a brown ale displays the markings of a toxic animal, but as a hunter, it's best to just avoid the temptation to find out if it's mimicry or not.