As I mentioned previously, tonight I’m hosting a big beer tasting at my place. So, while there will be MUCH beer drinking and MUCH beer reviewing tonight, I won’t have the time (or motor control) to make a post this evening.
I vow to keep you entertained nonetheless! Today while surfing twitter I came upon a great article by beery-acquaintance and fellow beer-writer Heather Vandenengel.
The article, Beer Hype Destroys Beer Drinking Experiences, essentially reiterates everything I’ve (casually) said on this topic for the last 3-4 years. One of her final paragraphs captures the sentiment perfectly:
Which is exactly what I hear from many beer drinkers after they finally try a Heady Topper or a Surly Darkness or a Westvleteren XII. Had they gone into the drinking experience with no preconceptions of how it is the best beer in the world, they would probably have been very pleased with a delicious beer. But going into the experience with a heavy load of hype? You better be dazzled or else it’s deemed overrated.
I couldn’t agree more and have personally experienced this MANY times. In some cases, I even refuse to buy-in to the hype of limited edition beers. Heather mentions Portsmouth Brewing’s Kate the Great – a beer only available one day a year. Kate the Great is an example of a beer I have thus far boycotted on the anti-hype principle.
While I understand the marketing reasoning behind limited edition beers, I don’t like what it does for the beer drinker’s experience (see Heather’s article) and I don’t like the ridiculous frenzy it creates. If a brewery is brewing excellent beer, THEN BREW ENOUGH FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY!!!
Thank you Heather for the great article!
/Rant off
-Lost
P.S. You can find Heather’s personal site on the web at HeatherVandy.com. She also writes the weekly beer column for Dig Boston, and can be found on twitter.
Homebrew Academy
Agree 100% my friend
The problem with the “brew enough for everyone” argument is most of these sought after beers are barrel aged beers. It would be impossible for most of these small breweries to have enough space/barrels to brew enough to satisfy everyone. Should a brewery not brew a fantastic beer because not everyone can get it?
Completely valid point Norm and I agree. That said, I’m sure you and I could come up with a list of “hype beers” that are not constrained due to production confines.
-Lost