I love a good beer.  I don’t say that from any sort of an expert’s perspective because what is considered good beer is subjective.  I like what I like and I enjoy trying to expand that horizon.  I love going to different breweries and trying out what the brewers have created.  There are times when I am blown away and other times when I am merely placated.   To me it is all pretty good, but there are some things that I really like and others maybe not so much.  It is not the brewer’s fault.   It just doesn’t fit my tastes.

There are many of you out there that might not like craft beer and it that is the case, then that’s fine.  However, if you give it a chance and become a bit adventurous, I bet that you can find something that is better than what you are currently drinking.  You might also have some preconceived ideas about craft beer that can cloud your judgment.    Here are some myths about craft beer that I would like to dispel. 

Craft Beer Is Pretentious

I remember back in the mid 90’s during the first wave of craft breweries, there was a level of pretentiousness.  I think a lot of people felt like they had to justify making beer with a certain level of pretentiousness.  In many ways, it became very unapproachable and if you liked good beer, you were thought of as a pretentious douche bag. 

I don’t get any of that feeling now.  I have gone from the Central Coast of California to San Diego, Flagstaff, Arizona, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, NYC, Austin, Texas and many points in between and they are all brewing great beer in unpretentious settings that promote community.

All Craft Beers Are Hoppy Ass IPAs

The craft beer industry went through a phase where it was all about the hops.  Arrogant Bastard, Hop Monster, Butt Blaster Quadruple IPA. Guaranteed to send you to the hospital for dehydration with one drink.  People were buying beers based on how many hops were crammed into it, not on how it actually tasted.  Fortunately, a lot of brewers realized how incredibly stupid this was and decided to start brewing a lot of different styles of beer that were actually accessible to a wider range ofthe population. 

I am not crapping on hoppy IPAs.  If that is in your wheelhouse, enjoy.  However, there are a lot of people that don’t like them, especially if they are being introduced to craft beers for the first time.  Chances are when you drank your first beer or took your first shot of booze; you probably thought it tasted like crap.  You have to acquire a palate for itover-time.  This leads to the next myth.

I Hate Craft Beer

I’ve been a fan of craft beers for a long time simply for the fact that I like things that don’t suck.  I am not a big booze fan and while I do like wine, after a glass or two it puts me to sleep.  I like beer because it is incredibly diverse if you allow it to be so.  However, craft beer is often spoken of with absolute contempt.  The biggest problem is that a person might have tried one or two different beers, which didn’t work for them and decided to write off all of them and believe that all craft beers are terrible.   

This Is A Fad

During the first brewery wave of the mid 90’s, it did seem to be very much a fad.  The problem was that everyone was spending all of their money on build outs and trying to have restaurants associated with the beer.  Restaurants fail daily depending on the tastes.  Good beer and booze are forever.  I would be lying if I didn’t think that in the beginning this would be another fad but the truth is, Brewery 2.0 learned the mistakes from their forefathers and have decided to spend more time working on making a kick ass product and less time worrying about how the place looks. 

The Market Is Being Saturated

In Southern California, I have been to about 30 different breweries and the truth is that I can’t visit them fast enough.  It seems like every month, three to four new breweries are sprouting up, and what is crazy is that they are all doing well and have great followings. 

Will there be a tipping point to where there are too many?  Probably, but so far they all seem to not only coexist, but also support each other.  I have a little test I do when I go into a new place.  I ask them about other breweries to see if they will shit talk about them.  I can say with all honesty that I have never heard one say something bad about another.  There is a lot of collaboration between breweries and they seem to respect what each other does without being threatened.   From what I have seen, they collaborate on beers together, do taproom takeovers, and even borrow ingredients from each other if they are running short.

This Tastes Like Crap

About a year ago, I was at a brewery in Lancaster, California called Bravery Brewery.  I struck up a conversation with the brew master and he was having me try some of their different beers.  He gave me a sample of one particular beer and when I tasted it for the first time, it was the nastiest thing I’d ever tasted.  Because he was being so nice and was obviously proud of his creation, it was everything I could do to not tell him that it was the foulest shit I’d ever poured down my gullet. 

Additionally, because it was free, I didn’t feel like I could pour it out and try something else.  I waited for about five minutes before I had another taste.  I waited for the putrid sludge to hit my tongue and braced for the recoil.    However something amazing happened.  When I took the second taste, there was no nasty taste, no recoil, and only smooth awesomeness.  If you are tasting different beers and do not give yourself a little bit of time to clear your palate, something might taste really bad because it is still mixing with what you had before.  Clear your palate and don’t give up on a beer too early.  I ended up drinking that beer exclusively once I was able to get the true taste of the beer. 

If you are trying different beers, it is usually best to start from the lighter beers and work to the darker ones.  For some of the darker beers, let them warm up a little bit.  While a lager tastes best ice cold, stouts, IPAs and darker beers actually taste better when they’ve had a chance to sit for a little while.  

You Like What You Like

At the end of the day, if Coors Light is your favorite beer and that is all that you want to drink, you know what, that’s ok.  Not everybody likes whiskey or scotch, wine or craft beer.   If you don’t like it then that is fine, but at least give it an honest assessment.  There is no shame in not liking something.  The only shame is in not liking something that you haven’t tried.