Missing Out

I'd like to believe I'm not missing out on anything from breweries I intentionally don't try. I try to stay as open minded to new breweries and even rotate back to ones that haven't been the best in my book in the past. Granted, I don't ever seek out BMC products, yet I know I'm not missing out there...

 

That particular beer is in a weird space. From some around here, it gets no respect, from others, it's highly regarded. Maybe it's a cult beer in the making, or perhaps it's the epitome of what the OP is describing.

 

I miss out due to money, time, availability etc, but not because I have preconceived opinions. I might miss out because I've had first hand experience with a brewery I don't like, beer related not politics, then they actually brew something good that I wasn't willing to drop coin on.

 

Missing out? That's what my geeks n peeps are for here. The obscure, hidden, maligned, great unheard of beers and breweries. I bought 1.5 cases of the Milk stout, way awesome.

 

The Yuengling Summer Wheat is a perfect example ( I think!) of what the OP is talking about....it is $6.99 a sixer around here, and is a GREAT example of a hefe, for an amazing price! Great summer beer, and I think I bought a case of it last summer and will likely do so again this year.....changed my perception - some - of a brewery that I rarely buy on any regular basis. Many "geeks" would not touch anything Yuengling, and are thus missing out on a great, drinkable, cost effective summer beer.

 

Call me a *****, but I don't give a flying F---! Who brewed what, as long it is great beer, I will purchase. What I don't purchase sometimes is excellent over priced bombers or 16.9 oz brews. Doing that more often than I used, because we have so many great brews and how come you charge $3 more than this equally as good beer? This just like my opinion man.

 

The variety of beer is virtually endless. For years I drank whatever was at the grocery store and have only recently (in the last year) really taken time to research and seek out certain brands/kinds of beer. Every time I go to the bottle shop to find XXXX beer I see a dozen other beers I hadn't seen or noticed before. That's what makes craft beer so great.

 

I was reluctant to buy a 6-pack Long Trail Limbo because I've always thought of them as a "middle of the road" brewery, but I was pleasantly surprised.

 

With the amount of great beer out there it's impossible not to miss out on stuff, whether due to sheer volume or rarity. I stopped worrying long ago.

 

Yes, I know what I'm missing out on.

I know Bourbon County Brand Stout is excellent. I still refuse to buy it.

I know I can buy paper towels cheaper if I go to Wal-Mart. I still refuse to do it.

There are certain values that are very important to me and I do my best to live by those values. I'm far from perfect and fail frequently. However, I believe it is a worthwhile endeavor to live in the manner you think is best, and I strive to do so. I try to avoid companies that have a history of poor treatment of their workers or poor treatment of the workers used be people they contract with, that have a history of ignoring their environmental impact, that executives or spokespeople who make racist, sexist and or homophobic statements or acts, that use their business to promote or endorse a conservative political agenda and companies that are more likely to spend or invest their profits outside of the United States. ABinbev is actually small potatoes on the list of companies I try to avoid, as they only fall into that last category. Nevertheless, if you make the list, you make the list.

So while I know I can't completely and 100% stay away from businesses that fit into one of those categories, I do believe it is still a worthwhile effort. If buying my new washer machine from the local mom and pop appliance store still ultimately puts money into the hands of GE, but that mom and pop store takes their share of that profit and uses it to buy a night on the town in Rhode Island, I see that as a victory.

 

No, not missing out. If I like the beer, I buy it. If I don't, I won't. I don't hate any company so I buy from whomever makes the beer I like best.

 

Same thing here. I rarely buy any Long Trail but Limbo was a great suprise.

 

Okay! Big difference. As it stands, I'll try anything once, if the price is right. Only way to know for sure, the hate is just as misleading as the hype!

 

As I was reading the OP I figured this sort of beer was exactly what he was talking about. In terms of the beer itself, there is no single attribute that I can point to that stands out as excellent. There are certainly others that I like a lot more. It's just an all-around good beer that I enjoy drinking. Particularly outside in nice weather.

 

No one else is, either.

In re: OP, if I've tried a couple of beers from a particular brewery and they didn't especially appeal to me, it will probably be some time before I try anything else by them. It's not a matter of thinking I've got the brewery's number, just that there are so many other options at hand that I'm likely to try someone else's brew.

Sometimes I'll eventually cycle back to that neglected brewery and find something I like. For instance, years ago I got it into my head that Southern Tier beers tend to be sweeter than I'd prefer. Then, eventually, I tried their Live Pale Ale and thought it was fantastic. Live and learn.

 

Sure, probably the most prominent example would be avoiding Bourbon County now that it's owned by A-B/InBev.

The beauty of the beer industry though, especially now, is that we have so many options that if you don't like a specific brand, you can still get something comparable. While BCBS is still the standard for me in terms of BA stouts, I could drop it for Parabola, Central Waters' BA stout, etc. So would you be missing out if you skipped BCBS? Probably, but you also probably won't really miss it.

 

I try everything, so no missing out for me.

 

I try new stuff all of the time from breweries that I don't necessarily like. I always try to have an open mind and love looking for some diamonds in the rough.

 

There's too much beer I like out there, and also too much beer I do not like, for me not to generalize based on beer style and brewery involved.

I'll give any particular brewery quite a few shots, but when I've had 6-7 beers from a brewery and liked 0-1 of them, I have no issues with ceasing to buy any of said brewery's beers until and unless they demonstrate a significant change in their processes.

For examples, I'm done with Sierra Nevada. I don't like hops, because I am excessively sensitive to them, and ten years of trying has not blunted that sensitivity. I've liked exactly two beers I've tried from SN, Narwhal and Tumbler, and they've indicated the direction they wish to go by discontinuing Tumbler in favor of hoppier beers. I find everything else of theirs I've tried to basically be a surprise IPA, including their hefeweizen. No more chances there.

I'm also done with a local brewery called MadTree, for the same reason. Everything of theirs I've had, from their brown ale to their winter warmer and even to their gose, has been a pile of hops. The one beer from them I've enjoyed was a version of their Axis Mundi stout. Hence, done. No more chances there.

In contrast, I had written off a local brewery called Rivertown for inconsistency issues and generally bleh beer. They recently revamped their processes, and with it their product line, so I gave them a shot. They're now producing some decent sours, and so I'll continue to give them the benefit of the doubt, unless their quality drops off or I run into consistency issues again.

Basically, in a world where there's literally world-class beer available on shelves any time I feel the urge to pick it up, if a brewery is putting out beer I don't like more often than beer I like, I'm not going to waste time or money trying anything they release. If I miss out on a good beer, oh well - I spent that time on money on other beer I either already thought was good, or that had a much higher chance of being what I consider good.

 

I don't hate on BMC, I just don't like the brews from that segment of the industry I've tried. If someone offered me one of their offerings I'd not had before I'd give it an honest shot.