Remembering How to Enjoy Beer

So it seems like the bigger problem is quantity over quality with a lot of breweries. No one wants to miss out on a beer because they couldn't get a pint before it's rotated out. And nobody wants to get a pint of something lame and have that be it for the day. Both of those problems can be fixed with sample trays, which have all the problems mentioned in the article. Or they can be fixed by brewing and perfecting fewer, higher quality beers.

 

I hear ya, but for most small brewers they really can't really afford to dump avg./ok beers and not recover some revenue from the time and costs sunk into it. Perhaps smaller batch sizes for 1st tries at something is a better route. And most locals/beer tourists will still thinks decent craft because they don't know much better.

 

I 110% disagree here. Just because there is more than one beer in front of me, does not mean I cannot hold a good conversation. If anything, it brings more to the table to discuss.

 

"I think the premise of the article is summed up there and thats where it misses the mark. Sure, the sampler can be abused as a ticker's paradise, but if thats true, then the even bigger offenders are craft beer fests where people get 20 - 25 tickets for a 2-3 oz pour of a beer that, after 4 or 5, they can't possibly be truly tasting."

I'm surprised it took this long for someone to make this point... Beer fests are a completely different "experience" than the act of "experiencing" a beer... But they have become part of the culture of tics and hype... How much can a two ounce pour change or open up as it warms or as the head fades?

 

wow this is the most comments i've seen on an article lol.

i like sample pours. and if i have the time to stay longer i pick my favorite sample and order a full pint of that one.

you really only need to do it once too. my first time at russian river i got the sampler, have never ordered it since, i go often enough to know what type of beer i like and don't like from them.

 

A lot of vitriol for a difference of opinion.

Relax...
have a beer...
any size of your choice.

I don't order samplers, generally. At this point, I don't really give a f@ if I try everything offered on tap or get to try every limited release. If I do get samplers, its to decide which beer that I would like to have a full pour (or half). I order beers that I know I will enjoy, or at least think I will. Full size is best from my perspective. YMMV

Bar visit vs festival samplers -- really an apple to orange comparison. (I get if you are hitting a brewery for the first/only time).

It's funny how what was old is new again- pint and half pints have been on sale at many pubs for many many years.

 

I think you need to relax.
While I hate the term FOMO (and the meaning behind it) - it's quite the millennial term used very often on the forums.

 

I think flights are terrible for tasting beers, especially if any of them a very hoppy. Your palate can't adjust. I like my local where they also serve 10oz glasses for $3-$4. You get more time to taste and enjoy a beer - not just to get that tick off.

 

Give us a break. Just another "this is the right way you must drink your beer" article. Maybe the particular beer in that sampler glass doesn't meet its full potential if it were to be poured as a pint, but many of us enjoy it just the same and do get more than a glimpse of what the brewer intended and made. If I only have one chance to visit a brewery, then you can be sure I am going to get the sampler so I can taste a broad array of what they have to offer. To suggest that is wrong is just plain stupid and elitist. If I go again, I'll likely have a larger glass... or perhaps an 8 oz. pour... or maybe even more samplers. And I am supposed to rely on the author's own opinion to conclude that I am not getting the enjoyment and experience I am looking for? Please. And you can't socialize while having a sampler? Sorry, but that's your own deficiency... don't project that on the rest of us.

 

I appreciate the perspective of the author of the article. I've read through many of the comments, and they have helped me to better understand how I feel about this topic.

It seems to me there is a fine line between 'suggesting' the best way to drink a beer and 'requiring' that I drink it that way. I appreciate suggestions, but I don't appreciate it when someone intentionally tries to limit me to doing something 'their' way because 'they' (whether the brewer, or not) think it's 'the best way'.

As others have posted, let me decide what's best for me.

 

To navigate today's jungle of beer selections is futile. Rather than chasing every single collaboration, one of, special, barrel aged, dry hopped, wild yeast, zig zag across the equator beer with a rock bands name on it (I tried, not possible), I support the idea of enjoying the one right in front of you. Having a big enough glass so that the first few drops of to cold sparkling sips have the time to become a better tempered beer where the carbonation has settled to a calmer level. Cheers!

 

I've been drinking Chinese loose-leaf tea for many years. Most tea sellers will give you a recommended steeping time and temperature to brew/drink the tea at. I often start brewing/drinking it that way. However, when I experiment with different steeping times and temperatures, I often find brewing/drinking it differently than what the tea seller suggests works better for me.

Suggestions on how to enjoy my beer are welcome; requirements are not. Please let me choose how I want to enjoy my beer.

 

Probably one of the most pointless articles I've skimmed in a long time, aimed at addressing a non-existing problem.

Just when you thought craft beer couldn't become any more snobbish, as always, Beer Advocate leads the way forward.

 

I both agree with the article and the assessment of Celtic76 and a few others. Simply banging through samplers will never allow you to appreciate the beers, especially if tasting contrasting styles. But there is absolutely a value to the tasters, specifically when used to help in selecting a full pour or when visiting one of the upper echelon breweries with local offerings not available in your market.

One of the first breweries I've found to do it right (imo) is Ballast Point. I had the privileged of visiting their Little Italy tasting room recently, where they will pour 4 oz tastes into their Stella style chalices (dependent on which bartender was pouring, I had a few measure at 6 oz). This was an excellent option for preserving intended tastes and aromas and after trying a few, I ordered full pints of the ones I enjoyed most.

I really hope this becomes the evolution of the tasters.

 

Well you can't have it both ways and say just have a pint and enjoy yourself (non-snobby) and then say ohhh yeah if you're drinking samplers you're doing it wrong (snobby).

When I go to a brewery the people getting samplers normally are from out of town or appear to be casual beer drinkers just wanting to try a number of beers. The people with samplers appear to be the least snobby people there. I've never seen anyone with a sampler sitting alone making notes about the beers like some sort of troll.

I order samplers all the time but must have super powers allowing me to sit and talk to the person across me about whatever subject we want along with our thoughts on the beers. Maybe I'm just unique and the rest of the world has a genetic malformity causing an inability to speak to others unless they have pint glass in front of them.

 

Flights are fun. Beer is fun. Arguing with strangers on the internet is definitely fun. You guys are alright.

 

Beats a 10 oz pour into an 8 oz glass
Seriously though,do we want to play at beer or drink it? After all,it's a safe and tasty substitute for water. That's why it was invented.