I'll give ya credit Jack, when you entrench yourself, you really dig in. In my friend groups, when we're out having beers, we're always asking what the others are drinking and what they think about it. To sit around with a group of beer drinkers and not talk about the beer that's being quaffed is a level of focus I don't have.
My buddies are not beer nerds. We discuss sports, how pretty our waitress is, etc. As much as I am a Beer Advocate there is indeed more to this world than just beer. Cheers!
As a craft drinker for 4? Years I've noticed some changes even locally, and the world that people described as I started on BA never was that apparent, probably due to my location and rapid education on what to avoid plus diligent research. I'm aware of a few local spots that do the "New age" thing, but also many lager breweries. I planned a large road trip and most of the spots on the trip don't even have hazy ipas, so I structured in a few places to get my murk fix. Advertising for craft is down unless it's in Nashville, where they appeal to the lowest common denominator, and the regional breweries are all bought out and competing decently with national brands. I really like this article and the quote of brewing for a new generation of aficionados rather than trying to appeal to people who don't drink. I would believe I am one of those people. Sure, a craft AAL is great to have every once in a while, and a good flagship juice bomb is nice, but I don't really want to see things for mass consumption. Myself and others that enjoy craft enjoy it for the history, depth, and uniqueness of what we can find, and I love finding skilled brewers more than off the wall beer. I wouldn't say bring back elitism, because it's so much better to walk into a new brewery alone and leave with friends (my favorite thing to do when traveling) but bring back properly experimental tap lists. I don't need a jalapeño porter or 3 american wheats or 10 Citra ipas, I'd like to see a Czech black lager and a single hop ipa with a new varietal that showcases interesting flavors.
I get what you are saying, and I used to approach it the same way, always asking what everyone was drinking and what they thought about it. Spending time in the brewing side of things shifted that for me. You end up in a constant analytical mode focused on fermentation, process, and all the small decisions behind the glass. That part never really leaves, but you learn it does not need to be active all the time. That is how I read Jack’s comment. Not stepping away from beer, but choosing when not to engage with it analytically. For me, if I do not make that separation, the experience starts to flatten out. When everything becomes evaluation, you lose some of what made you interested in the first place. Letting beer just be beer in certain settings actually brings that back. So I still have that focus you are describing, but I have learned to turn it off when the setting calls for it. That balance is what has kept it enjoyable for me over time.
Kind of unfair though, North Coast has been brewing since 1988, SN since 1979, Allagash since 1995. Other Half only started in 2014? Regardless, as someone who grew up in the Netherlands and had easy access to all the best/most historical/renowned beers from the Benelux + Germany, some of these beers from Other Half/Grimm Ales/etc easily rival anything I've had back home. Maybe there's not the history or longevity attached to what these breweries are putting out, but stripped away from the hype and popularity, these are often spectacular beers in their own right. * I hope that I get to drink Grimm's Afterimage until the day I die!
I'm not saying it's all we talk about. Let's say there's 4 of us at the table, and our 5th friend shows up, after the basic greetings and salutations, someone is gonna ask 'what'd ya get?', 'Oh, I was in the mood for something light, so I got the Kolsch'. Then the convo picks back up. If you go to lunch with friends, wouldn't you ask ' how ya like that sandwich, looks good'.? I'm not saying that beer would be the only thing to talk about, but I also find it hard to believe that it's not even mentioned.
I get what you are saying, and I agree it naturally comes up, especially when everyone has something in their glass. I think for me it just depends on the group. Around beer people it is part of the conversation, but in more casual settings I tend to keep it lighter and stay more in the moment. The analytical side is still there, just not always front and center.
Yeah I think it's unfair to pigeon hole all new breweries that focus on newer styles as just "pandering" to current drinkers. Love it or hate it, super hop saturated and protein rich ipas are an established style of beer that will persist and continue to evolve. Same with thick, sweet, high abv stouts that include flavoring from fruits and such. Even if those styles aren't ones I like and they have the stain of faddishness on them at the moment, they can still be great beers in their own right and a brewer can still brew them with an eye on making something with staying power
This is such a good take and one I've had for ages. Everyone says you can just throw hops at an IPA and it'll be fine, every brewer I've talked to producing good NEIPA says the style is a huge pain in the ass and hard if you're not making it all the time. Pastry stouts definitely have a lower bar of entry but you can tell a great one when you have it, and the great ones are in a league of their own. Fruited sours are such a meh style unless you're one of the best at it. Lagers may be the simplest beer with nothing to hide, and I'd rather go to an elite tier lager spot than anything else (my favorite brewery of all time was one) but I do think the "New school" spots deserve just as much respect.
This is true of every style, no? There are those who half-ass things, and those who full-ass it, and the full-assers are gonna get better results, no matter the product.
I don't think Gen Z had much to do with the rise of hazies. This started around 2015 and was firmly entrenched by the 2020's. Gen Z by all accounts is known for NOT drinking and only came of age at 21 in 2018. Their current age range is 14-29. Even in 2018 they'd be in college and probably couldn't even afford those $20 four packs of hazy even if they wanted to.
Yeah, I was just trying to make the point that on the highest level those styles and people making them deserve similar levels of respect. I see a lot here that you can drown those beers in adjuncts or more hops, which you can, but it's still discernible that it's poorly made even if that happens. Milkshake IPAs are an abomination that I won't defend though especially not ones with adjuncts other than fruit and lactose. That's just a sour with a marketing term.
Oh, like Xers, Millenials, Gen Z, and whatever other group don't find certain other humans attractive.
I can't recall the last time that myself or anyone i know sat around "talking about how pretty our waitress is". Maybe I've made better decisions about my social circle than I realized.
