I am a self proclaimed and and peer validated “beer geek”, or as others will call me “beer snob”. I started drinking as most 40 somethings in the U.S., with light lagers and wine coolers. (Don’t deny it you drank them too!) Post college, when I had money to spend on “good” beer, I slowly expanded my horizons to some imports and the few craft beers I would come across. Up to this point I wasn't really into the hoppy beers, as I later understood them as India Pale Ales, or IPAs. However as with any one who drinks coffee will understand, typically you don't start drinking your coffee black. You kill the bitter with cream & sugar and as you become more adjusted to the flavor you eventually can get to a point when you drink it black. I feel the same holds true for hoppy beers. The more you become accustomed to the bitter, over time, the more hoppy you want your beers. But like with coffee, some people just enjoy their caramel white chocolate macchiato, and that's cool too.
I really started to come into bloom as a beer geek, when I started to brew my own beer. I eventually started to enter my beers into homebrew competitions and started judging beers in said homebrew competitions. At this point I wished I had payed more attention in biology and chemistry classes in school. I started to look at beer in a whole new way and began to appreciate the subtle nuances in crafting a good beer. The malts, the yeast, the hops all blended to create a variety of styles. For me, as with many, the IPA stood out as a favorite over time.
Sometime I get people who will ask me, “What kind of beer should I drink?”. I look at this in the same way as someone asking me, “What kind of person should I marry?”. How should I know? Do they like blondes or brunettes? Short hair or long hair? Tall or short? Skins color, intelligence, sense of humor? What does someone look for in a mate? There are just as many questions to ask when choosing a style beer that one enjoys. The same way I feel that someone should date several people before deciding on a mate, the same can be said for choosing the style of beer that suits your tastes.
What started this thought thread, was an article about the top IPAs in the country. The list of beers hand MANY that I have tasted and many more that I hope to one day taste. What got me was the comments that were posted. There were many negative comments about the tasters who judged and subsequently ranked the beers. As a beer judge I can say that every time I have judged beers I was surprised by the results. I found that I was able to appreciate beers for their style and quality, but they were not beers I would ever consider drinking. They may hit all the qualifications for a perfect example of a style that I enjoy and I still would prefer a different beer in that style, over that well crafted beer. Even when given a criteria in which to judge a beer we still all have our preferences to what we enjoy. You could almost say that the “flavor is in the mouth of the drinker”. So before you stand back and criticize someone for what beer they drink or rate over another, just remember my motto: “Not every beer is for everyone, but for everyone there is a beer”.
