Are We A Nation Of Beer Snobs?

[MarkBastard]

could it also be that if you want to enjoy your beer by gargling it, commenting on how it tastes like gooseberries on the pallate and spitting it out into a bucket - only a snob would tell you that you shouldn't be enjoying your beer the way you want to?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: If it helps to understand where I'm coming from, replace 'snob' with 'wanker'.

 

[felten]

I drink my beer in a wine glass, with the pinky out.

 

[bum]

I drink my beer in a wine glass, with the pinky out.

Unless the weather is cold.

 

[super_simian]

I've probably found it easier to get my female friends to enjoy my beer than my male friends. Some of my male mates still won't drink my beer, so i keep a keg of lager in there at all times. Its cheap and easy to make and is a crowd pleaser for the 'non-snobs'.* The first time i made it i kept getting "wow mate, this tastes just like REAL beer'.

Since the inception of mass-produced food peoples' tastebuds have really been dumbed down, to a point were strong/unexpected flavours are seen as "bad". To most people, "REAL" beer is beer which is bland and mostly inoffensive (although I do wonder how people miss the mouse-piss flavour of Carlton - but I digress,) while craft/artisan/good beer is a flavour explosion. Just compare beer to its' yeasty cousin, bread. We make artisinal beer, others make artisinal bread. The masses like Wonderwhite (tm). Would you try to bake Wonderwhite at home? Would you buy a sandwich made with Wonderwhite? Thought not. But for someone raised on Wonderwhite, a sourdough rye would taste unexpected, which they would probably see as a "bad" taste. The same can be said of quite a few foods which have undergone industrial transformation; cheese; milk; eggs; even meat. I'm just thankful I live in such a...ahem...'bohemian' area of Melbourne that I can get all the unindustrialised versions of these foods nearby. In fact, barring the infamous Brunswick Club nearby, it's hard to find a pub around without a good beer available. Anyway, this turned into somewhat of a jumbled rant, but let me finish by saying: The Herald Scum is pitched directly at the Wonderwhite and Kraft Singles market, so there's really no point in reading* it, unless it's just to have your positive or negative stereotypes reinforced.

(*looking at the pictures.)

 

[Zizzle]

Just compare beer to its' yeasty cousin, bread. We make artisinal beer, others make artisinal bread. The masses like Wonderwhite (tm). Would you try to bake Wonderwhite at home? Would you buy a sandwich made with Wonderwhite? Thought not. But for someone raised on Wonderwhite, a sourdough rye would taste unexpected, which they would probably see as a "bad" taste.

I think with the food it's simpler than that.

Modern processed food is aiming at our primeval programming - we evolved to love sweet and fatty - we know them as good tastes - those who liked them (easily digested high calories) were more likely to survive.

And we have acclimatised to fairly high sugar levels. So a sourdough really does taste bad if you are used to sweet wonderwhite and 3 cokes a day.

I had a mate a few years ago that reduced his sugar and processed food intake (white bread/pasta) to next to nothing. He said that after a few weeks, white bread tasted really sweet - much sweeter than he remembered. His brain/tongue's idea of sweet was different due to his reduced sugar intake.

Bitter / sour tastes are not in our diet very much. And are not innately programmed as being good tastes like fat & sugar. A big IPA can be a taste bud shock for most people.

Which reminds me, the media love this, but some new research on and old subject hit the news this week:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-0...of-science.html

 

[super_simian]

Yeah, true - the refined nature of most industrialised foods do appeal to those really basic parts of our brains. But you can eat your way out of it! I guess I'm just lucky my folks are hippies and gave me 'weird' (real) food when I was a kid...

 

[Zizzle]

At the moment I live in the middle of the Navajo Inidan nation.

One thing I have noticed is just how popular fast food is. I mean more popular than the rest of the US. To the point where it's hard for someone like me to actually find a decent place to eat. It's just all fast food junk.

My theory is that all the fat & sugar is just so addictive when it's not in your family line. Just like us of European decent carry genes that help us process alcohol, I think we also carry genes to help process wheat & dairy. And probably sugar.

There is are massive rates of obesity and diabetes here, but you see people at Walmart stocking up on soft drink and chesee and there are more drive through burger joints than you can poke a stick at. They just can't say no.

Not to mention that everything seems to be made of high fructose corn syrup, but that is another rant.

 

[michael_aussie]

When I grew up my family were a meat and 3 veg family .. so were all of my friends and relatives. The only beers anyone ever drank were Fosters, VB, Melbourne or on a special occasion Crownies. 8/10 people owned a Ford or a Holden.

Now, I cant remember the last time Ive even seen let alone cooked a meat and 3 veg meal. Times have changed. We are exposed to more choice and variety of everything. Its not surprising that beer has blossomed in the same way.

I used to choose where to eat based on their menu. now I chose an eatery based on its likelihood to have at least a drinkable beer .. and hopefully something special.

I love the fact the more and more bars and restaurants now have some decent beers on tap, even if these are only Fat Yak or Coopers. I rejoice that many places have a decent selection of even better bottled beers. I am excited that some places even have fantastic bottled beers and a tiny minority have gems on tap.

I love it.

 

[pk.sax]

Considering the number of people my age group I see eating at McDonalds, I don't think we are at danger of becoming a beer snob nation any time soon.

re beer, I can stomach VB... just. XXXX on the other hand makes me wanna puke. Even a few craft brews I've tasted have had had flavours I really didn't like, its not the intensity, its the basic flavour. I shy away from very bitter beers because it masks the subtler flavours of it. Contrary to what seems to be popular, I find that coarser bitterness stil lallows the underlying flavour to come across - next time I make it less bitter.

Extremely sessionable beers don't usually go well with me, I can drink one, thats it. Weiss bier is an exception I remember having polished off the last 10-15% or something of a 50L helles keg straight from the keg tap when I was a bit younger than now, I can barely down 1L of a blandish bitter lager these days. Tastes change.

 

[felten]

You're welcome to the can of VB in my fridge from the "shout the nation" promotion last year.

 

[Asha05]

Challenge.

Next time you hear a lady say she doesnt like beer.
Pour her the hoppiest, aromatic IPA or pale ale you have in the nicest, tall and patterned beer glass you have.
I reckon you will convert over 50% of these 'dont like beer' ladies overnight.

Women's drinking habits are different to men.
They will generally only drink something if it is tasty.
Bag out the cruisers all you want, but they do just taste like sweet soft drink.

Give a lady an attractive drink that is aromatic and tasty, and she will happily drink it.

I totally agree with this...My better half wont touch VB or Draught...But if i pour her a pale ale of most brands wether it be commercial or boutique...She loves it...! But now i catch her drinking my beer...i have a problem now...!

 

[pk.sax]

You're welcome to the can of VB in my fridge from the "shout the nation" promotion last year.

Squinting my nose at the thought and continuing to drink my galaxy ale that's mellowing nicely