Can drinking craft beer be considered a hobby?

Can breathing be considered a hobby?

 

When I was stationed in Germany (late 70's) the Army had all sorts of "are you an alcoholic?" posters & questionaires. They usually had 8-10 questions (including things like "have you ever drank alone?", "do you drink every day?", "have you ever drank more than you intended?") and if you answered yes to more than two or three you might be be an alcoholic and should seek counseling.

The equivalent German poster had two questions
"does drinking interfere with your daily life?" and "has drinking prevented you from doing something you wanted to do?"

 

Seems like an either/or alcoholic/hobbyist is a false dichotomy. You can be an alcoholic with a craft beer hobby, a craft beer hobbyist that has no chemical dependency issues, and an alcoholic that isn't a hobbyist. If you love beer, love talking about beer, making beer, trading beer, reading about beer, you're probably a hobbyist, but that doesn't mean you're not an alcoholic too. Can you restrict yourself to drinking a couple (2-3) beers a week or less? Do you plan your free time around beer drinking, or does it fit into the margins? Those are the kinds of questions I'd ask myself.

 

A lotta Venn diagram issues going on here. Hobby/activity/addiction etc. . . por que no los dos.meme.

People often want to change you as a weird flex, but ok. Its not about the issue on the surface, the substantive issue is whether your will bends to another's wishes.

 

There are craft beer related hobbies such as brewing, collecting, trading, visiting breweries but beer consumption is not something I'd consider a hobby.

 

I think its a hobby as long as you do more than just go to the store and by 6er of craft beer and drink it.

I read up on beer, go to breweries and beer fests, trade beers, and shit on shelf beers(lol)...I also haven't given up my other hobbies, like working out and music.

 

Lots of serious issues in this thread, but the most serious of all I think is using weird flex but ok in a sentence on BA

 

weird flex, but ok.

 

I enjoy these threads as we seek safety in numbers.
The answer to this question must come from within.

 

It is beyond a hobby, it is a lifestyle!

 

For other's it's a religion, a dank hop of faith.

 

It's my areas BEER Week. It's starting today. I see so many disguising their alcoholism with the craft beer hobbyist angle. Maybe it's a tad more sophisticated to run around town and go to 4-5 tastings/pairing events (with a DD mind you. I'm not playing the drunken driving angle). But are they any worse or better than Joe schmo who will down a six pack of cheap beer during a sports event? The same Joe schmo who goes to maybe one brewery a month. He's kind of in the know but more casual. I don't think being an obsessed trader and hoarder is such a positive thing. It too used to be a lifestyle and a part of how I identified.

There is definitely some middle group. But I think most that I've seen online lean more towards the unhealthy obsession angle.

This is definitely a sophisticated pricing angle that many play. One would rather get drunk on 4 hazy dipas than be seen downing a 12 ok of cheap stuff. You see it with wine and other alcohol. I know there's a tasting angle where many are definitely quality drinks. But the overall alcohol % consumed leads to many aiming for the same buzz point.

You can get full on two big Macs or maybe one five guys burger. One is obviously tastier. But neither necessarily healthy. That's why I try not to judge anymore. We're all in it together with these bad habits.

 

Summary:

Pleasurable - Check
Collecting themed items - Check
Gotten in the way of another activity - Check
Spend too much money on it - Check
Acquiring substantial skills/knowledge - Check
Posted picture partaking on internet - Check
Attended themed/focused event - Check
Desire to continue - Check
Experimenting/Tinkering - Check
Memberships - Check
Organized sharing of product - Check

If this isn't a hobby, we're all in trouble!

 

Totally a hobby. I'm not going to discuss cutting back at my better half's request cause I don't want to seem like a total dick. I mean, I am basically a dick, but I don't need to draw attention to it.

 

Drinking just to drink, maybe not. But if you get into the different flavors or use craft beer as a way to broaden your horizons, then maybe. Hitting up every brewery in Raleigh was how I explored the city when I moved to it. Whenever I go somewhere new, I want to try a local beer as a way to engage with the place. My wife isn't a big craft beer drinker, but going to breweries with me, she saw that drinking can be more than getting trashed in a sketchy bar somewhere (which she never really did, but she knew plenty of friends and family for whom that was the case, so that was her view).

That all being said, I know that if you just tell people your hobby is drinking beer, some people don't get it. Now that I've started home brewing, though, people take that more seriously. Maybe because there's a more active component than passively sitting around and drinking, that "counts" in people's minds.

 

Hahahahaha... nope.

 

I couldn't resist a bad pun

 

Is opium better than heroin? Or cocaine better than crack? Nope. The same goes for beer. The end result, regardless of what the self righteous idiots on this site will say, is the same. We want a buzz. In the end we rationalize these vices in a way as to trivialize them and build ourselves up, but we all fall short of our glorified selves...

 

Is drinking beer a hobby? Probably not. But travelling for it? Discussing and debating various styles and their virtues/shortcomings? Collecting and trading? Most definitely. Hell, I'd say collecting/trading pretty much anything is a hobby.

 

Very relevant