Planning a party used to be simpler -- it was important to have a decent bottle of wine or two, in order to avoid judgment, but the beer merely needed to be cold and plentiful.
Now, whether it's because I'm older or I'm living in the era of craft brews, I find myself spending more time slack-jawed in front of the beer cooler. This, after a quick jaunt to pick up a bottle of wine that will be universally liked and priced between $8.99 and $12.99.
So, it makes me wonder whether beer snobs might officially overtake wine snobs.
Beer snobs will bring their own six-packs to parties not as gifts for the host but to ensure they'll have something they actually want to drink. A beer snob is likely to care as much about the glassware as the beverage, making sure the right glass is available in order to get the most out of a brew. A beer snob will not only have a well-developed palate for beer, but also insist on finding notes and flavors that nobody else can detect.
Anybody who drinks beer in forms other than domestic cans has at some point shown signs of beer snobbery -- it's not necessarily a negative trait. Everybody needs an escape now and again from a party with lukewarm tallboys of Pabst Blue Ribbon. And a greater appreciation of beer encourages brewers to continue pushing the boundaries.
I just never thought I'd be putting more thought into the beer I buy when it comes to who I'm inviting and the food I'm serving. Which can only mean one thing -- I am a beer snob.
[Image via Flickr: cogdogblog]
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"Anybody who drinks beer in forms other than domestic cans has at some point shown signs of beer snobbery"
If you are going to point out beer trends, try not to ignore micro/macrobrews in a can. Locally, one can acquire Fat Tire in a can(not sure I'd call this a craft beer, since it's on the menu of about every restaurant in America now) and several outlets are carrying Caldera from Ashland, OR. Ska Brewing Co. from Durango, CO is also available in cans here in town too. Hopefully, our distributors will step up and get Oskar Blue's from Lyons, CO eventually. These are just a few examples of canned domestic beers that don't come from Miller, Coors or Bud. Oskar Blue's has been canning for about 7 years or so, Fat Tire just started last year or so. Hell, Bon Appetit Magazine just came through w/ an article on the rise of canned beers. A good beer gets poured from the can in to a glass, so the old "tastes like aluminum BS" is not applicable and the can keeps out taste fowling sunlight. Consider yourself snobbed.....
Heh, yeah it's always cute to see a couple people at a beer bar sit down & order Bud Light, but they're there for the beer they like too - just like me. They just happen to like Bud Light. :)
I've certainly brought beer to a party... and I often (always?) find that the beer I bring is almost immediately gone. So I think that it often has less to do with taste/preference than cost. It's a lot cheaper to have a party with 200 cans of Bud Light than 200 bottles of craft brew (which is often around $8-$10 per 6 pack).
I have to fight these impulses a lot. I think I've done a decent job of promoting good beer to my friends, but I know I still have to fight the urge to get judgmental when I see people at the Foundry or Flying Saucer ordering a Bud Light bottle.
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