Saturday, August 7, 2010

The Beer Snob Strikes Back or Beer Buddha Rants about Beer Snobbery Again

Totally stole this from some dude online.


During my last visit to my favorite bar Avenue Pub a couple weeks ago I was at the downstairs bar and overheard some dude making fun of someone ordering a Miller Light.  Yeah I'm sure sometimes I poke fun at the BMC guys or make fun of ladies who order beer that "tastes closest to Bud Light"(just order a Bud Light then) but I also have no problem drinking their product either and I'm careful what I say.  In fact I have a 12 pack of Miller High Life in my fridge right now.  I also have my wife, who is going on a trip to Texas next week, picking me up a case of Lone Star tall boys and looking for some Pearl in cans as well.

It drives me insane when I hear people state, "I don't touch BMC stuff it sucks!" or "This bar isn't a real bar if it carries macro swill." Blah, blah, blah.  Get over yourself.

Don't get me wrong I enjoy seeing that craft beer is steadily gaining in sales.  It's fantastic but I can't stand when I'm looked at funny when I order a Miller High Life or PBR from the bar.  I LIKE Miller High Life so what?  I can buy a 12 pack of Miller High Life for $8.  That is about the same price as 1 six pack of craft beer.  Sometimes I want something I can drink a lot of  for cheap.  It's like McDonalds or Rallys(Rally's is awesome. Checkers to all you Yankee readers.)  Sometimes I don't want a fancy burger that costs me $15.  I just want a double bacon cheeseburger, large fries and goddamn litre of cola.  And no I don't want it Dimpa sized for a quarter.(If you don't get the last 2 sentences you have some movie watching to do.)

And think about this for a second.  If you are bashing macro beers at a bar you could be bashing some dudes favorite beer who just might have been thinking about trying that new local, craft beer that just came out.  You just made yourself look like the pretentious douche you are and may have just turned off a potential new craft beer consumer.  So thanks a lot beer snob.  You sir a douche and are actually hurting the craft beer movement.  So think before you open your big douchey mouth again.

Rant Over

Cheers!


The Beer Buddha

13 comments:

Jo Davis said...

Oh Hail wise Beer Buddha! Cheers!

Dan Murphy said...

Amen, brother! A-freakin-men

Craig said...

Rally's indeed rocks.

Woo Pig Brewey! said...

Well said. Seems like there are a lot more of these beer douche people now I've noticed. They're going to turn craft beer into what happened to wine... snobbish. It's really off-putting I think. To each his own I say. I have some good buddies that swear by Miller High Life bottles.

Riki said...

PBR!
I will buy some Lone Star and Pearl if you end up with extra!

fata2683 said...

I have to say I slightly disagree. While I won't belittle someone for drinking macro's, I certainly won't support those brewers. I'm more than content not drinking beer at all than to put down their adjunct filled swill. It's not a matter of flavor, light lagers rule at the beach or pool, it's a matter of supporting these multi-billion dollar companies.

Ilya Feynberg said...

@Beer Buddha,

This subject has been floating around recently on many blogs, which is rather bothersome. Not that it's being brought up, because it must be. But because it's being brought up so often through so many personal experiences. Even I've recently felt compelled to write about it recently and still thinking about it.

Hell, after a Real Ale Pale from (Real Ale Brewery, a great Texas craft brewery) I just wanted something light and "not too much to think about refreshing" and popped open a can of Miller Light. Is it my favorite beer? Hell no. Is it a great tasting beer? Hell no. But it's not as if there isn't a time and place for one them.

Now yes, I'm still bothered by the main objective of the companies that produce these beers, and yes I'm bothered by fact that their advertising dollars are bringing more and more young people into thinking that this a Coors is good beer etc, and yes I'll knock on it a bit...BUT I also know that many like it (for what ever the reason is). And like I said, even I get in the mood for one every now and again. Sometimes you just want fizzy yellow cold water...it's refreshing!

But here's where I agree the most, and here's why I think beer douchery should hold no place in the beer culture...especially the craft beer culture, and you've already touched on it.

How many people are being turned off by craft beer because of what you said, or the way you treated them? Is that really a great way of trying to introduce someone into great beer?

I don't think so. It would be wise to remember that we're not wino's and must not act as such. Great craft beer is about far more than just beer. It's about the people behind it, and the people drinking it. To all beer douche's remember that first.

You would be shocked how many life time Natural Light drinkers will turn over to the side of real beer once they've had and are welcomed in with open arms and open minds.

And one last thing if I may...

It never ends. If you're drinking a Dales Pale Ale from Oskar Blue's Brewery for example which I love, you can always start making the argument that..."well it's not great craft beer, because THIS beer is more complex, rated higher, more expensive, takes more time to make blah blah blah"....

So I agree of course, and think twice before you shun out that Miller Light drinker, and remember that the sad truth is that the majority of people just don't know what great beer is...so spread it...don't push them away.

Ilya

Ilya Feynberg said...

@Beer Buddha,

This subject has been floating around recently on many blogs, which is rather bothersome. Not that it's being brought up, because it must be. But because it's being brought up so often through so many personal experiences. Even I've recently felt compelled to write about it recently and still thinking about it.

Hell, after a Real Ale Pale from (Real Ale Brewery, a great Texas craft brewery) I just wanted something light and "not too much to think about refreshing" and popped open a can of Miller Light. Is it my favorite beer? Hell no. Is it a great tasting beer? Hell no. But it's not as if there isn't a time and place for one them.

Now yes, I'm still bothered by the main objective of the companies that produce these beers, and yes I'm bothered by fact that their advertising dollars are bringing more and more young people into thinking that this a Coors is good beer etc, and yes I'll knock on it a bit...BUT I also know that many like it (for what ever the reason is). And like I said, even I get in the mood for one every now and again. Sometimes you just want fizzy yellow cold water...it's refreshing!

But here's where I agree the most, and here's why I think beer douchery should hold no place in the beer culture...especially the craft beer culture, and you've already touched on it.

*Comment too large have to continue it in another post! :)

Ilya

Ilya Feynberg said...

*The rest of my comment! :)

How many people are being turned off by craft beer because of what you said, or the way you treated them? Is that really a great way of trying to introduce someone into great beer?

I don't think so. It would be wise to remember that we're not wino's and must not act as such. Great craft beer is about far more than just beer. It's about the people behind it, and the people drinking it. To all beer douche's remember that first.

You would be shocked how many life time Natural Light drinkers will turn over to the side of real beer once they've had and are welcomed in with open arms and open minds.

And one last thing if I may...

It never ends. If you're drinking a Dales Pale Ale from Oskar Blue's Brewery for example which I love, you can always start making the argument that..."well it's not great craft beer, because THIS beer is more complex, rated higher, more expensive, takes more time to make blah blah blah"....

So I agree of course, and think twice before you shun out that Miller Light drinker, and remember that the sad truth is that the majority of people just don't know what great beer is...so spread it...don't push them away.

Ilya

The Beer Buddha said...

fata2683,

That's cool and I certainly won't knock you for that. But if you're going to say things like that I hope you don't eat at McDonald's or Burger King, shop at Walmart, drink Coke or Pepsi, eat Lays Potato chips etc, etc. They are all multibillion dollar companies. The important thing is you aren't belittling anyone for what they're drinking.

llya,

Wow. You win for the longest comment ever on The Beer Buddha. Well said though.

Cheers!

BB

fata2683 said...

ok, I understand where your going, sure I shop at Wal-Mart, and occasionally drink Coke, but I'm not passionate about soda or "roll-back prices." I could care less if John Kreeger from middle of nowhere Idaho has to close his mom and pop hardware store of 60 years because Walmart moved into town. I do however care if Hoegaarden produces a world class Belgian Wit, is bought out by InBev and they change the recipe to maximize profits, thereby changing the flavor of a beer I once enjoyed. You can call that being hypocritical, but I enjoy and spend the better part of my free time and money on beer, so I prefer passionate brewers and breweries that are focused on flavorful well done beers, not thinning or adding more adjuncts to cut the amount of barley they have to use to save money. I do see telling someone their taste sucks, or making them feel bad for drinking macro's as wrong. I took one of my good friends(an avid Miller Lite drinker) to RedlightRedlight in Orlando, we each had 4-5 beers, and he absolutely loved it. It's sort of a subject you have to foster or educate someone in, and I think this can come off as "snobbish". If I started to talk football with Dan Marino, it would be VERY easy for him to make me feel like a novice, but if I talked to him about beer, the roles are now reversed. Peoples passions can definitely get in the way, and I agree that people acting like that should just stay at home

The Beer Buddha said...

fata2683,

That is all I'm getting at. Making fun of someone because of their beer of choice is just sad and hurts beer advocacy. Approaching the subject a different way is what's important. And remember all breweries were small once. Including the BMCs of the world. Will you stop supporting Sam Adams when they start making too much money? Or Brooklyn because they have other breweries brewing beer for them? ;)

Cheers!

BB

Omaha Beer Geek said...

Dig your blog man. Just started one myself. beervanaomaha.blogspot.com I am currently writing a bit on beer snob vs beer geek. Check it out.