I’m a beer snob. I admit it and I’m proud of it. Why on earth would someone want to pay to drink horrible, watered-down, flavorless beer? Really the only thing that I’ve seen from my years of experience is that people continue to drink cheap SAB (shitty American Beers – i.e. Coors, Miller Lite, Bud, etc.) primarily to get wasted. I don’t drink beer to get wasted. I drink good beer to experience the taste, which is why I prefer good beer. By “good beer” I mean beers where you can taste the different flavors and notes that the brewers have artistically and carefully put together just like a chef perfecting a recipe! I love local craft beer and some mass produced beer that hasn’t fallen victim to the mindset of just using cheap ingredients and watered down stuff to increase profits. I thought all beer was like SAB and tasted horrible until just a few years ago.
There seems to be this huge misconception that good beer costs soooooo much more than SAB and that only those with large amounts of disposable income can enjoy good beer. In fact, a few days ago I was asked what kinds of beer I like. I named a few – Empyrean Brewingg Co, Leinenkugel’s, Sam Adams, Zipline, Dundee, Stone, etc., etc. And the questioner then turned to my fiance and said “You’ve got a good paying job right?” Wow. Seriously? Not only was the comment rude and implied that I’m some sort of high maintenance gal who doesn’t pay for her own damn beer (which is incorrect), but it is also based on the idea that good beer is ridiculously expense (wrong again!).
As with most things in life, you get what you pay for and that goes for beer too! Now, my fiance and I watch for sales and stock up on good things when they are on sale, but some of the stuff we buy is only $10 for a 12 pack of bottles and that doesn’t seem crazy to me. Sure some imports and things are going to be pricey, but again, it’s about priorities and the reason behind drinking in the first place that makes a difference in this equation. I’m willing to admit that my fiance and I take our beer a little more seriously than most (we recently started subscribing to beer magazines and have been experimenting with home brewing), but once you come over to the dark side (the good beer side!), you’ll never go back and you’ll wonder how you managed to drink SAB beyond the age of 22.
The Today Show has a nice section on their website called Beer Geek, which is a term that I love and may now use for myself instead of beer snob. And for those of you who still think that good beer is too expensive, here is a great article to steer you in the right direct…..Enjoy!!!
NebraskaNorm 