Several occurrences in the last month have made me think about beer snobbery, which is, ironically, impossible to write about without coming off like a snob. My apologies in advance for what follows below.
The first occurrence took place during DC Beer Week when someone involved in the distribution and/or production of craft beer (I won’t give you any more than that) put down Allagash White, a witbier that is ubiquitous in better beer bars though by no means mainstream. The second occurrence was the arrival of New Belgium, and Fat Tire in particular, to DC, MD, and VA markets. The third occurrence was the unexpected resurrection of a gose, an almost extinct style of wheat beer, by a local branch of a national chain of brewpubs.
As I see it, these three occurrences are related.
In the first, a person complained about the popularity and ubiquity of Allagash White. In my opinion, it’s an excellent beer, every bit the equal of a Belgian-produced witbier. And it’s not just me, Allagash beat out the Belgians at the 2001 World Beer Cup with this offering. So what’s the “problem”? Allagash tastes similar to, though better than, Blue Moon, a Coors (now MillerCoors) creation that is more popular and widely-distributed nationally. At ChurchKey, which has 50 taps, 5 cask lines, and another 500 bottles, Allagash White might be the most well-known beer served. It’s always on tap, and that’s not an accident. People unfamiliar with witbier or Allagash probably know Blue Moon. Allagash White is, for them, a gateway beer. It gets people into craft beer. Like Blue Moon? You’ll like Allagash White, too. Hopefully more than you liked Blue Moon. And from there, maybe you start exploring craft beer.
I’ve seen this happen with other beers as well. Kolsch, for another example. Bill Madden’s Kolsch has converted plenty of people, first at V-50 in Leesburg, and now at Mad Fox in Falls Church. Like Allagash White, ChurchKey almost always has a Kolsch on tap, usually Gaffel. The Big Hunt does as well. To hear someone involved with craft beer put down Allagash White concerns me. You’ve got nothing to be ashamed of if that’s your beer of choice, and no one should try to make you feel ashamed. The relative popularity of Allagash White is a good thing for all craft brewers, and it’s sad that there are people involved in craft beer who don’t recognize that.
The backlash I have seen towards New Belgium’s Fat Tire is far more widespread than one individual. Fat Tire is an amber ale that people have surprisingly strong feelings about; evidently people either love it or hate it. I’m pleased to feel neither of these emotions. I walked into a bar in San Francisco a few years ago, and a companion more or less freaked out over the presence of Fat Tire, which at the time was unavailable in the DMV. I nodded and promptly ordered a Trumer Pils. But, like Allagash White, Fat Tire is a gateway beer. For many people, that’s the one that got them into craft beer. Based on that alone, the beer has value.
In the instances of Allagash White and New Belgium Fat Tire, people who work with or support craft beer are behaving like snobs, alienating people who are potential customers and friends. Knock it off.
The third situation brings me to another reason why such judgments are best kept to one’s self. It’s not that I don’t think much of Gordon Biersch, I just plain don’t think about them. They’re a national chain with drinkable German-style beers, some of which you can buy at Trader Joe’s. Their prior claim to fame as far as I was concerned was that they sent a cease and desist letter to Oskar Blues, forcing the latter to change its imperial red ale, Gordon, to G’Knight, which seemed, and still seems, ridiculous. The brewer at each location of Gordon Biersch has some leeway. They must brew certain styles, but after that, anything is fair game as long as it’s German. Kevin Blodger, the brewer for the Rockville location, chose gose, an obscure wheat ale brewed with coriander and salt water and fermented with Lactobacillus bacteria. It’s sour, tart, and delicious, with flavors of green apple, lemon, and peach skins. And based on what I previously knew about Gordon Biersch, I would have written this off. I’m glad that I didn’t and gave it a chance.
So let’s knock off the snobbery. It’s fine if you don’t like the way Allagash White or Fat Tire tastes, but don’t dislike them solely because, in the small but growing world of craft beer, they’re popular. That sort of mindset will cause you to miss out on some amazing beers, like the growler of gose I have in my fridge.
Cheers,
Jake
Great post! When I was first getting into craft beer, I never felt as if my beer yoda (as I refer to him) was judging me as my tastes for beers progressed.
I think if beer geekery starts to emulate wine snobbery, it has the potential to turn off a lot of people from craft beer.
I am jealous that you got some Gose! I doubt that i can make it out to Rockville for a sample, but I’ve got my fingers crossed that the Bruery’s Salt of the Earth does well enough that SOME kind of Gose is available in NoVA or somewhere otherwise convenient. I’m a geek for the wild styles.
On Fat Tire, I’m recently thinking that there’s more at work to the ’snobbery’ around this one. I had heard a good deal about Fat Tire before I could get it. Then I had some either at a fest, on travel, or when they started distributing to NC. I forget. My initial impression was that it was a nice, sessionable amber ale that wasn’t worthy of much remark. I would cringe a little when people got very excited to try it for the first time because I remembered my own experience, although I still encouraged everyone I knew to give it a shot. When they recently started VA distribution, a friend was pretty stoked to get some Fat Tire. He grabbed a bottle and we split it. It was an amazing Belgian ale with a strong malt presence and a fantastic yeast character that I don’t find nearly often enough in Belgians (Terrapin Monk’s Revenge being a notable example of a similar flavor that fell flat for me). We bought a few more bottles, and sadly the flavor is already starting to fade to the more basic amber flavors. I think that a lot of peoples’ experience with the beer might be older bottle since so much Fat Tire is produced that it’s likely to sit on shelves for quite a while. That’s my $0.02, at least.
(Allagash White is great, no comment from me there. Tsk tsk on the craft brewer who was down on it.)
A recent conversation with some beer friends led us to the following conclusion. It’s beer, don’t over think it.
+ 1 all these things
As someone who continually must defend his love of Guinness (to beernobs), I concur with this theme. I won’t drink Allagash White, however, simply because the style never appealed to me. Nuff said.
Should people criticize for the sake of criticizing, or hold themselves above others because of their choice of beer? No. I think everyone could agree about that. But just because something is labeled craft beer does not make it immune from all criticism for the greater good.
What bothers me is the anti-free expression movement that masquerades as the pro-craft beer movement, ready to pounce any time any one suggests that a beer isn’t good in its own unique way. For example, Port City puts out some really mediocre beers. No one should feel uncomfortable saying that out of fear that the establishment will view them as disloyal.
Thanks one and all for these thought-provoking comments. I’d like to start by agreeing with “Disagree,” who writes “just because something is labeled craft beer does not make it immune from all criticism for the greater good.”
I hope that the take-away from my article wasn’t that craft beer shouldn’t be criticized. Far from it. If you’ve spent time drinking craft beer, no doubt you’ve had some bad ones. I’ve had craft beer that’s poorly conceived. I’ve had craft beer that’s poorly executed. I’ve had a select few that were both. The primary reason I drink craft beer is that it usually tastes better than macro offerings. When it doesn’t, I’m always disappointed, and if people want to call out a brewer or brewery for putting out a bad product, one that doesn’t taste good, one that’s a misfire, I think that’s well within your right as a consumer. You could also do a small business a favor and discretely mention to them what you liked and what you didn’t.
Jobo doesn’t like Allagash White because he doesn’t care for witbeers. I understand that. I’m not a big fan of amber ales, Belgian or otherwise, and to some extent Fat Tire is lost on me.
To me, not liking a style or the way a beer tastes isn’t being a snob. Not liking Allagash White or Fat Tire because they’re “popular” (in 2009, New Belgium sold 582,797 barrels of beer, while Budwiser sold over 18 million) is being one. My goal in writing this wasn’t to stifle dissent. Dissent is good, unlike some craft beers. Some are good, and some aren’t. Be loyal to the ones that are good, and hope that the ones that aren’t get better.
Again, thanks for reading, and thanks for commenting. We can continue this conversation, and please stick around for part two, coming soon.
You don’t sound like a beer snob, you sound like a missionary.
Personally, I don’t think Allagash White is a good beer and I’m not interested in whether it’s a ‘gateway beer’ as you call it. I don’t feel any particular calling to educate the unhopped masses on beer.
I suspect that not every craft beer drinker is as singularly concerned about converting bud drinkers to better beer as you. The microbrew industry is well on its way and the days when one had to actively lure in macrobrew converts to support the movement are past.
Lots of young people are starting out with better quality beers now and don’t need a ‘gateway beer’ to convince them. If they are surrounded by good beer, plenty of them will choose it over mass-marketed products.
I get tired of all the disproportionate emphasis on ‘beer outreach’. Microbrew beer has gotten popular because lots of American breweries started making great beer, not because newbies downed some Allagash White.
Generally speaking, I’m happier when beer sites devote their content to the interests of current beer drinkers rather than potential ones, and I don’t consider that to be beer snobbery.
(But, yes, I agree that disliking a beer just because it’s popular is pure beer snobbery.)