I'm such a beer snob

[xeemzor]

Make them go to bodega if you're in columbus, OH. I went there quite a bit, they have a pretty nice beer selection. I can drink crappier beers if I have to but sometimes I'll just opt to drink whiskey instead, maybe you can go that route.

Generally I have been going to the Half-Acre tap room and other places in Chicago. There are a ton of easily accessible and cheap places to drink great beer in this city.

if you don't like the beer then don't drink it geezes. just be the dd or something. take some molly or something. you don't actually have to drink every time you go out. learn to dance or something.

Sure, it should be no problem to replace beer with hardcore drugs in my life.

I've been spoiled by Austin where you can walk into just about anywhere and they have at least 5 craft beers available. A lot of the places I got have 20+ craft beers. I've used to only drinking good beers.

I've only lived in Austin since I turned 21 so it's what I'm used to. It's interesting traveling sometimes because a lot of places will have a choice of budweiser, coors, and, if you're lucky, something like blue moon or sam adams.

I was in SF during beer week and that’s what it was like. Truly a beer lovers paradise!

I'm as big a beer snob as they come, but Sam Adams does have some good beers, particularly their seasonals.

I have been disappointed with many of their seasonal beers but I’ll give it a shot next time I see it.

Ah beer snobs! About as pretentious as one can get about something nobody gives a fuck about. You're right up there with food snobs. Oh, please tell me how much better you are than me because you refuse to drink Bud Light out of some need for self worth.

No, because I’m not a hipster and don’t care what other people drink when it doesn’t affect me.
 

My guess is he only drinks Westvleteren 12's.

Sam Adams does have some really good beers, though I agree the Boston Lager is not one of them. Their summer and octoberfest are always good choices IMO.

I do love Belgians and more malty beer. Not a huge fan of hoppy beer.

 

[NetWareHead]

There is nothing wrong with that. But look at some of the responses in this thread. I mean seriously, some of these guys are going to cut off family members because they enjoy a pale lager on a hot day (which is something a lot of craft beers fail at).

If anything I may question a person's taste on other topics if they routinely purchase and crave a beer that I consider poor quality. But sometimes when you are mowing the lawn or at the beach etc... I wont complain about bud light because it is more about the ice cold relief that I'm enjoying and taste is secondary. Hell, on a hot day like that I'll even choose bud light over one of my favorite imperial stouts because a lighter beer is just more appropriate for such a hot day than a dark and heavy one.

 

[jaha2000]

I feel like the craft beer thing is very regional.
In the west side of Michigan, Breweries dont make it without a steller IPA/DIPA. Bells beer in kalamazoo makes some of the best IPAs around. There are 4 bars in town that have more than 40 handles on tap, 30 or more are MI craft beers.
Nobody drinks Bud Light in town anymore. Some bars you cant even get it.

 

[Scarpozzi]

If anything I may question a person's taste on other topics if they routinely purchase and crave a beer that I consider poor quality. But sometimes when you are mowing the lawn or at the beach etc... I wont complain about bud light because it is more about the ice cold relief that I'm enjoying and taste is secondary. Hell, on a hot day like that I'll even choose bud light over one of my favorite imperial stouts because a lighter beer is just more appropriate for such a hot day than a dark and heavy one.

Yeah...and that lawn mower beer tastes better coming out of a can than a bottle... For me, I sometimes crave Budweiser or Coors...I switch back and forth between those two beers in the summer....I rarely buy unleaded anymore, but typically go for Miller Lite over Bud Light when I do.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But sometimes when you are mowing the lawn

Microbrew has that covered:

It is amazing after some summer yard work.

 

[smackababy]

If anything I may question a person's taste on other topics if they routinely purchase and crave a beer that I consider poor quality. But sometimes when you are mowing the lawn or at the beach etc... I wont complain about bud light because it is more about the ice cold relief that I'm enjoying and taste is secondary. Hell, on a hot day like that I'll even choose bud light over one of my favorite imperial stouts because a lighter beer is just more appropriate for such a hot day than a dark and heavy one.

That is just it though. The American pale lagers are far more refreshing than nearly all of the craft beers. The last thing I want after mowing the lawn is to drink a beer that tastes like it was made from the clippings or drink anything heavy. Granted, I also don't drink much beer anymore. I generally pair my brews with whatever meal I am having.

The last beer I had was called Dragon's Milk, and I purchased it simple because of the name.

 

[dougp]

That is just it though. The American pale lagers are far more refreshing than nearly all of the craft beers. The last thing I want after mowing the lawn is to drink a beer that tastes like it was made from the clippings or drink anything heavy. Granted, I also don't drink much beer anymore. I generally pair my brews with whatever meal I am having.

The last beer I had was called Dragon's Milk, and I purchased it simple because of the name.

I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Light beer is a huge misnomer, as you're drastically giving up calories for flavor. You're also inferring that craft brewers do not brew light lagers or pale lagers, when they do:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/style/155/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/style/39/

But there are other alternatives that are "light" - bitters, session pale ale's, witbiers, farmhouse ales, hefeweizens, pilsners, kolsch, etc.

Ignorance is on both sides of this arguments. It's hard to straddle the line and stay unbiased. I look at it like this:

• I support local breweries as much as possible.
• If I'm not paying for someone's beer, I have no right to comment on it or judge them.
• I don't engage in debates about beer with stubborn people or beer snobs.
• Brewing beer is an artisan craft. It's not easy and it's hard work - just because I don't like a beer, doesn't mean it's bad.
• Educate, don't preach. Seriously - if you don't know crap about brewing, the process or what goes into a beer, just stop. Learn to recognize flavors, what causes them, etc. Simply going to a tour will give you some insight as to the process and what it takes.
• You have to respect Budweiser, Miller, etc. for creating the product they do - their scale and repeat-ability is to be commended. These are two of the hardest things to do in brewing, scaling recipes and making the same beer consistently.

If I think of anymore, I can add them.

 

[MiniDoom]

one day you kids are going to discovery whiskey and look back on this thread and laugh.

 

[smackababy]

I guess it depends on what you're looking for. Light beer is a huge misnomer, as you're drastically giving up calories for flavor. You're also inferring that craft brewers do not brew light lagers or pale lagers, when they do:

http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/style/155/
http://www.beeradvocate.com/lists/style/39/

But there are other alternatives that are "light" - bitters, session pale ale's, witbiers, farmhouse ales, hefeweizens, pilsners, kolsch, etc.

Ignorance is on both sides of this arguments. It's hard to straddle the line and stay unbiased. I look at it like this:

• I support local breweries as much as possible.
• If I'm not paying for someone's beer, I have no right to comment on it or judge them.
• I don't engage in debates about beer with stubborn people or beer snobs.
• Brewing beer is an artisan craft. It's not easy and it's hard work - just because I don't like a beer, doesn't mean it's bad.
• Educate, don't preach. Seriously - if you don't know crap about brewing, the process or what goes into a beer, just stop. Learn to recognize flavors, what causes them, etc. Simply going to a tour will give you some insight as to the process and what it takes.
• You have to respect Budweiser, Miller, etc. for creating the product they do - their scale and repeat-ability is to be commended. These are two of the hardest things to do in brewing, scaling recipes and making the same beer consistently.

If I think of anymore, I can add them.

I am not trying to say that craft beers don't make an American pale lager, nor that light beers aren't "inferior" to normal. Granted, I think a lot of them just have a lesser alcohol content, as that is the easier way to remove calories (alcohol is very calorie dense). And yes, there are alternatives, but when then it comes to a matter of personal preference and cost. If someone is essentially the same as a Bud Light, but costs almost twice as much, why would I bother going out of my way to find it?

I agree with your list, as arguing about what someone likes the taste of is pretty pointless.

 

[BudAshes]

one day you kids are going to discovery whiskey and look back on this thread and laugh.

More like one day we will be too old and fat to drink good beer so we have to drink whiskey instead.

 

[zinfamous]

I struggle now to find selections that aren't 98.2% IPAs.

sorry, lazyass, non-creative, untalented craft beer industry--IPA is not anywhere close to the best style. It is, however, the easiest to make.

I liked those back in college, now I want beers that taste more like beer--complex, malty character.

 

[VashHT]

Generally I have been going to the Half-Acre tap room and other places in Chicago. There are a ton of easily accessible and cheap places to drink great beer in this city.

The next time you're in the city you should try to hit up Revolution brewing, they're up there as one of my favorite breweries.

 

[VashHT]

I struggle now to find selections that aren't 98.2% IPAs.

sorry, lazyass, non-creative, untalented craft beer industry--IPA is not anywhere close to the best style. It is, however, the easiest to make.

I liked those back in college, now I want beers that taste more like beer--complex, malty character.

Do you get a lot of midwest beers out there? It isn't too hard to find good stouts/porters or other styles from places around here. I agree with you, everywhere does an IPA and usually I don't find them to be anything special.

 

[zinfamous]

Do you get a lot of midwest beers out there? It isn't too hard to find good stouts/porters or other styles from places around here. I agree with you, everywhere does an IPA and usually I don't find them to be anything special.

No, we don't, and I do miss a lot of the midwest, even Colorado styles. The beer industry is huge on the west coast, of course, and IPA is their favorite.

Even the longstanding breweries that offered a greater selection are pushing more IPA, which is frustrating.

Look at New Belgium: They've got about 3 or 4 IPA styles that I have noticed recently. THat's flat-out absurd. At a time when hop prices jsut keep going higher, the industry continues to push a more expensive product.

 

[Newell Steamer]

I don't enjoy watered down cat piss either.

Snob on!

 

[DT4K]

I struggle now to find selections that aren't 98.2% IPAs.

sorry, lazyass, non-creative, untalented craft beer industry--IPA is not anywhere close to the best style. It is, however, the easiest to make.

I liked those back in college, now I want beers that taste more like beer--complex, malty character.

This!

I walk into a store with 500 different beers and 450 of them are IPA's. I am not an IPA fan. I much prefer belgian and wheat styles

I don't look down on anyone who drinks Bud, Miller, Coors. I just can't do it for one reason. And that is because they taste horrible to me.

 

[smackababy]

This!

I walk into a store with 500 different beers and 450 of them are IPA's. I am not an IPA fan. I much prefer belgian and wheat styles

I don't look down on anyone who drinks Bud, Miller, Coors. I just can't do it for one reason. And that is because they taste horrible to me.

I can agree with Miller, as it does taste horrible, but Bud and Coors (at least, the light versions) taste like watered down beer, so it isn't that bad. Whatever they put in Miller though, tastes terrible.

 

[slayer202]

I don't consider Sam Adams a craft beer, but that has become my go to "safe" pick when I don't find any other decent options. But only Boston Lager. The seasonals are shitty and for the masses. Their IPA is ok too

 

[Chapbass]

The next time you're in the city you should try to hit up Revolution brewing, they're up there as one of my favorite breweries.

Vash, have you been to Lucky Monk Brewery? Awesome place semi near you (South Barrington). Give it a look. Their Fallen Angel is killer.

 

[Chapbass]

I don't consider Sam Adams a craft beer, but that has become my go to "safe" pick when I don't find any other decent options. But only Boston Lager. The seasonals are shitty and for the masses. Their IPA is ok too

I wouldn't consider Boston Lager a craft either, but they DO have quite a list of crafts and other more "limited release" batches. Still, Sam Adams BL is easily one of the best Macros, and you're almost guaranteed to have it available whereever you are, so its a good fallback option. That and Newcastle are my two, provided I can't grab something better.

Depends on what you're considering their seasonal. The traditional seasonals they have are okay. But they also have their small batch, barrel room, and brewmasters collections, which are all pretty awesome.

http://www.samueladams.com/craft-beers

 

[BurnItDwn]

I don't consider Sam Adams a craft beer, but that has become my go to "safe" pick when I don't find any other decent options. But only Boston Lager. The seasonals are shitty and for the masses. Their IPA is ok too

Ehh, I like 2 of the Sam Adams winter brews, the Holiday Porter & Old Fezziwig are both very good. IMO they are the best Sam Adams brews, though I agree the IPA is good too.

 

[Chapbass]

This!

I walk into a store with 500 different beers and 450 of them are IPA's. I am not an IPA fan. I much prefer belgian and wheat styles

I don't look down on anyone who drinks Bud, Miller, Coors. I just can't do it for one reason. And that is because they taste horrible to me.

Honestly in my area I actually think the trend is moving a bit away from IPA. Thank god too, as I can't stand IPAs of any sort. I much prefer Reds, Wheats, and (even more so) Stouts/porters (yes, even in summer for some odd reason).

The liquor store in front of my house has a huge selection of crafts (despite being a small shop), and I've seen more and more variation of beers, where before it was incredibly IPA heavy.

 

[Chapbass]

Ehh, I like 2 of the Sam Adams winter brews, the Holiday Porter & Old Fezziwig are both very good. IMO they are the best Sam Adams brews, though I agree the IPA is good too.

Have you been to the Small Town Brewery in Wauconda? Their "Not your fathers" rootbeer is absolutely killer (and strong), but I haven't actually been there. They do have an actual bar there, right?

 

[xanis]

I can agree with Miller, as it does taste horrible, but Bud and Coors (at least, the light versions) taste like watered down beer, so it isn't that bad. Whatever they put in Miller though, tastes terrible.

Nothing wrong with some shitty, cheap beer every now and then. If you've visited the "What are you drinking tonight?" thread, you know that I love good beer... however, I'm not too good for $1 Budweisers or PBRs every now and then. Going out tonight to a local place that does $5 pitchers of Bud as a matter of fact.

 

[xanis]

I struggle now to find selections that aren't 98.2% IPAs.

sorry, lazyass, non-creative, untalented craft beer industry--IPA is not anywhere close to the best style. It is, however, the easiest to make.

I liked those back in college, now I want beers that taste more like beer--complex, malty character.

Glad to hear that I'm not insane. I'll drink just about anything, but IPAs taste straight-out FOUL to me. It seems like there are more and more of them these days, unfortunately. I'll take a good Belgian Double or Stout any day.