Stayers and Leavers

I found BA when I was trying to find a way of tracking craft beers that I had drank and learning more about beer. Over the years, I have learned about making beer, the industry, and had been a great way of planning beer places when traveling. While I have attended beer festivals, I never met anyone from BA, nor do I trade beers. Being in the older demographic, I enjoy some of the posters who provide history on the industry.

I don't spend as much time on the site as in the past years (still view at least every other day). Some of it is repetition of topics and others is the craft industry has matured and I don't need to know every new beer on the market.

 

I joined the summer after I graduated from college (in retrospect, "joiner of as many sites/forums as possible" should have been my job description at that time); when I joined, the beer style/history articles on BA were among the most informative I could find and helped me learn more about the world of craft beer beyond the few offerings that made their way to Nebraska in the mid-2000s. I got active in the beer trading scene for a while, had another BA couchsurf while he was traveling cross-country, and went to a handful of Nebraska BA meetups.

Then...I moved to KC, found a home bar, made some friends there, met a girl, etc. and life happened, and I stopped actively using the site for a while. I kept my magazine subscription active, but that was about it.

I've become more active again in the past year (for *some* mysterious reason), and while I do wish where was more local-to-me activity on here, that's only a small failing. I'm a sucker for the ridiculously well-sourced threads about a style's history or brewing process and I do have a soft spot for the get-off-my-lawn contrarianism.

 

Fuck that person! Be you. Never give a shit what some internet Asshole says. My guess is that they are quite thin skinned with no life.

I just block anyone I don’t care to read their posts. I think it’s only 2 people.

Enjoy

 

Over 16 years of co-dependency. BA is my drinking buddy, OK?
Enough said.

 

I'd argue there is another category besides "stayers and leavers:" Returners.

I got into home brewing first, which then got me into drinking better beer. From there I found myself wanting to learn more about both home brewing and craft beer. I don't review, nor do I read the reviews, but I enjoy chatting about beer every now and then on these boards. It's a nice distraction. For example, this post right now, I was chewing through some work emails, got to one that I know is going to be a pain in the ass, and immediately bailed to beeradvocate to distract myself from having to deal with it. I'll look at a few threads, maybe post a couple of things and then go back and handle the pain in the ass email.

I did leave for like four years. I think I just got sick of how discussions of social issues were handled on the site. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't the social discussions themselves that turned me off, it was the blowback I was experiencing if I did discuss social issues and how they related to beer. Other posters would jump down my throat with "Leave your politics at the door" or "I come here to talk about beer, not racism." It got old. So I bailed. I would come back and look from time to time, maybe pose a random question in the home brew forums, but nothing in "Beer Talk" whatsoever.

After George Floyd's murder, Todd put up a post about Black Lives Matter. It brought me right back in full force. I felt like I didn't have to make social commentary and the connections between how our behaviors in "real life" impact beer and vice versa. The thread about the lack of Black owned breweries in America that's going on right now? Such a thread would have been shut down when I joined back in 2010. Not saying the mods would have shut it down, though I think they might have, but it definitely would have been shut down eventually by asshole comments. Different story in 2021. More posters are starting to recognize the personal is political and if Insert brewery has a law suit alleging racial discrimination we shouldn't just shrug our shoulders and say, "Who cares, as long as the beer is good, I'll buy it." Ironically, since BA leadership and community is recognizing the political and social implications/influences of beer, the less I bring it up myself. I don't need to anymore (much) and my conversations really are about beer in my second-stint here. And I'm right back to where I was before, chatting about beer and its culture and getting really good home brew advice that I then fuck up, but appreciate nonetheless.

Interesting thread. Now to that pain in the ass email.

 

I like the guys here. Simple.

I was drinking beer before I found BA, I’ll be drinking beer long after. But even though I’ve never met anyone, it’s like I’ve known them for years.

 

BA is a site that I needed in the early 70s in order to keep track of the beers I've had with reviews. I didn't keep a notebook. From that perspective, I'm a late adopter, and I'll stay. Several of my (somewhat inaccurate) comments in forums have been corrected -- nod to jesskidden. I drink one or two beers a day these days, so there's no daily search for the new thing. I sometimes look for guidance. I like to be fairly certain that my daily intake is going to be enjoyable. I record reviews as sort of a recent history of items I've tried.

 

I’m here because this forum is full of great people who have a ton of beer knowledge.

We might be tough on each other from time to time, but everyone is here to help and/or learn from what I have seen.

I’ve stuck around because craft beer is my passion and I learn new stuff constantly here.

 

It's the most informative and knowledgeable craft beer site I've found... I have a scattering of folks that I recognize as old timers and I always read their posts and feel like I know them...

 

I too avoid politics at BA, not entirely, but mostly. It's Beer Advocate after all, so if it is not related to beer then there is no good reason to discuss politics here. Unless.

The current thread about Black Owned Breweries is very relevant and it was thinned, with plenty of valid posts deleted. You're right, used to be politics was just a third rail and too many people could not help themselves. It's not nearly as bad now and not just here but overall. Trolls have their own echo chambers away from here. I guess if fellow BA users criticize the statement "Oh great, another thread where I am supposed to feel bad about being white" is too hot for BA to handle so be it.

I have been disappointed and still am disappointed. I suppose there should be no actual discussion of racism when discussing... racism in the brewing world.
Cheers

 

I wish we could have more political discussions here. I am far more interested in politics than beer. If political conversations get shut down here, then people just revert to the echo chambers you mentioned. Of course, if people can't keep it civil, then that doesn't work. But I guess that's why shit gets shut down, because things become so uncivil so quickly.

 

I like the beer (talk)
When I travelled to a state/city this was my place to find out what people thought of the places to look for and go to.
I also enjoy meeting other beer advocates.

 

@micada i agree with @Giantspace to make a comment on the side that can only produce weakness or negative emotions is a crappy move. I've read your posts..screw others opinions

 

Interestingly the ba IG account kept featuring examples of people posting about racism on ba. But then you actually go to ba and can’t find the material. Very confusing to me. I won’t go any further.

 

Lurked here for a while before joining in 2001. It was nice to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow beer fans here and actually meet some at local brewery events back then. Was inactive for a while but while I'm here most everyday reading posts and the occasional review I've pretty much stopped reviewing beers and places. I keep a low profile here but wouldn't want to be without this amazing resource for all things beer.

 

Let me add here I used to be on a Philly sports forum, it started out as a great site, it was diverse, well run, then the owner got sick, and was lost at a young age to cancer. I live in NC but I grew up in the Philly suburbs had season tickets to the, went to Flyers games, Phillies etc.

Then the new administration came on board, and it turned into a cluster fuck of troublemakers, trolls and assholes. It turned that way because the administrators let it happen. When I left I told him why, with a FO attached, because he dishonored the guy who built that site by allowing it to run amok.

A long way of saying this site is well administered, it’s fun to be here because Todd and Jason don’t allow the trolling, or acting like an asshole. It’s stopped immediately. For those who think tge rules are tight you should have the displeasure of being on a board that’s the wild west, it sucked. So thank you Todd and Jason for running a great site. And the great posters here who make this site.

 

Someone sent you a direct message trying to bully you? An adult. Lmfao. Fuck that. If I was you I’d post even more. Everyone is welcome here I don’t even have to say it. That elitism stuff is bullshit. I’ll keep my language to a minimum here.

Keep posting. We want to see you and hear from you. If u come to philly let me know. Well meet up