Drink What Ya Like

A couple of months ago I watched Beer Wars. Twice. It's an entertaining and enlightening documentary film about the U.S. craft beer industry and its challenges in an environment dominated by the macrobrewers. The film paints the contrast between "corporation" beers like Bud Light, Miller Lite and Coors Light—relatively flavorless, tough to distinguish from one another and propelled by huge marketing budgets—and "craft" beers like Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA that are brewed on a much smaller scale to suit niche tastes.

While at times infuriating, it's a theme that's common throughout nearly every industry: the well meaning upstart vs. the faceless, established power. Beer Wars pretty much let's you draw your own conclusions from the facts and experiences shared in the movie, but it has certainly been the catalyst for much discussion. And that discussion has opened my eyes to an element of the craft beer world that I really don't like: beer snobs.

Don't get me wrong. I love craft beer. I love the flavor and the variety and the heart that goes into these brews. And I don't make a practice of drinking any of the aforementioned macrobrews. That said, I'm not the kind of guy that's going to tell you that beer X, style X, or brewery X is the one you should drink. Yet some people seem to get a thrill out of the prospects of converting the supposedly unenlightened masses to craft beer, even mocking others on podcasts or in articles simply for wanting to order a Bud Light. As if they are a lesser person for it.

Oddly enough, I imagine these same beer evangelists would bristle if some religious zealot informed them that his or her religion is the only perspective by which one can truly live one's life. So let's dial it back a little, craft beer community. Don't stop offering your friend a taste of a great new beer you just ordered. Don't stop pointing out your favorites to inquisitive newcomers at your local pub. Don't hesitate to suggest something from your top five to that person in the beer aisle who is clearly looking for something new. Be proud of your knowledge and love of craft beer. But by the same token, take time to learn a little something about these peers and their tastes. Stop trying to be cool among your craft beer friends at the expense of others. Be welcoming, not cliquish.

In other words, just try to be decent about it.