The Subtle Art of Beer Snobbery

Modern Drunkard magazine ^ | October, 2009 | Frank Rich

[dynachrome]

While wine snobs have blighted the earth for thousands of years (you can bet there was at least one guy curling his lip at the vintage of Jesus’ first and best miracle), beer snobbery is a relatively young art, especially in the U.S.

This is because every beer in the country once tasted exactly the same. Oh sure, there were Bud lovers and MGD aficionados who would swear they could tell the difference, but if you gave them a blind taste test, you’d soon discover they’d just keep asking for another “test taste” until there wasn’t any beer left and they were passed out on your sofa.

Furthermore, beer was considered the balm of the common man, it was not something you swirled in a glass and judged by its “nose.” It was something you swilled from a plastic cup and sometimes shot through your nose.

Then the microbrewery revolution swept the country and soon every abandoned firehouse, bank and shoe factory was outfitted with a vat and turning out every possible form and flavor of beer you could imagine, and some you would rather not.

[mylife]

Indeed

[Chances Are]

A minor digression here...

Not that the beer is any good (!), but does anyone know what happened to Michelob Aspen?

CA....

[ConorMacNessa]

He is a jolly, jolly fellow - he'll live to be a hundred!

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[mylife]

[Defiant]

Please tell me the writer isn’t the NY Times Frank Rich, who is an ass and who I find hard to believe could be a beer aficionado.

[ConorMacNessa]

My son, the Sultan of Suds, strongly approves of La Fin Du Monde.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[Disciplinemisanthropy]

[mamelukesabre]

You wanna try something truly nasty?

pour a glass of this and let it warm up. Then taste it.

http://www.steelbrewing.com/

I kid you not, it is the nastiest beer on the planet. It will make ultralite taste like sam adams.

[Randy Larsen]

I have a 24 oz. Kilt Lifter in the fridge that scares me to death at 8%...

[ConorMacNessa]

Salvator is an old fave.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[mylife]

Hell, just the name scares me!

[ConorMacNessa]

I think I'll pass on that, thanks! In my youth, I drank enough bad beer to last a lifetime.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[mylife]

I hate to admit this, but if it werent for the Germans in Texas we would be horribly lost on the production of beer.

Lone Star, Pearl... blech!

[ConorMacNessa]

A nice Maryland brew from Clipper City Brewery near Baltimore:



Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[mylife]

Lots of nice offering here. http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/

[ConorMacNessa]

I'm also partial to several from among the litter of ales from Flying Dog in Denver. Unleash the dogs! Chain the humans!

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[dynachrome]

The writer’s full name is Frank Kelly Rich, probably signs that way so no one will mistake him for that scum from the NYT

[ConorMacNessa]

Haven't seen them before - I'll have to give them a try.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[ATLDiver]

Preferring the *taste*of the more expensive Belgian and German led me to start home-brewing. Even with higher raw ingredients I can still brew a high-quality and favorable brew for about $0.85 per 16 oz glass. That’s just raw ingredients, not including my time but it’s a hobby and form of relaxation so that’s not a factor.

I agree that most beer drinkers may nopt be able to tell the difference between Miller, PBR, Bud, etc to that of a Weihenstephan or similar lager but trust me, some people can tell. Hand a Bud/Miller/PBR/etc drinker say a Rochefort 10 and I’m sure they’ll spit it out and write it off as nasty beer.

Most wine drinkers probably can’t tell the difference between Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck and say a Seghesio Sonoma Zinfandel either.

[Eagle Eye]

Very little better than Irish stout.