Are you a Snob or an Enthusiast?

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Qhrumphf said:
It's better than the beer you brew

:mug:

That they're able to reach that level of blandness consistently across multiple plants within the tolerances they allow is nothing short of remarkable.

That's all I'm saying.

I tend to prefer Euro swill over US swill, but fortunately in most instances here if it's macro only it's AB-InBev and Stella is an option. I'll definitely crush some Stella at a hockey game.

Or PBR. I'll knock those back too.

But of the big three, Miller Lite is my preference.
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Production greatness is not necessarily flavor greatness. You know that. Fantastic producers they are.
 
JHulen said:
Or a good German Pils....one of my favorites. Give me a BitBurger any day. 100% Pilsner malt....one addition of noble hops and you’ve got a world class beer. It’s all about the process and technique, not the recipe.
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I disagree vehemently twice here.
 
While I prefer local or independent brews, if you're buying I'm drinking. I once was in Beijing and someone bought me a bottle of Corona at a bar that tasted like it had been sitting in a hot shipping container for a month (probably because it had been) but they were excited to meet an American with a giant beard and thought I would like it so I graciously accepted and we had an interesting conversation about how different it is between the two countries over that skunk ass beer
 
RPh_Guy said:
I agree. If you don't think Bud is one of the finest beers ever brewed, you are not worthy of an opinion.

Oops did I say that out loud? On a thread about snobbery?
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Bud is ok if you like a headache and a case of the $hit$.
 
ramjam said:
there’s also the BMC snobs , who always have something to say when they see someone drinking something other than bud, miller, coors, etc.
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I've heard very little deragatory craft vs. BMC talk overall, but the little I have has been more in this direction, when people imply or say straight out that craft beer drinkers are suckers for paying more.

Plenty of those folks will pay $4 for a coffee, though, and plenty of craft beer drinkers will pay $15 for a 4-pack but would never pay $4 for a coffee. Some luxuries we'll pay for and others we won't and each has their own respective lists, one no better than the next. Though some seem to truly believe they've got it right.
 
Screenshot_20190519-121404_Google.jpeg
 
ramjam said:
there’s also the BMC snobs , who always have something to say when they see someone drinking something other than bud, miller, coors, etc.
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Yea, I'd have to say "reverse snobbism" is more wide-spread than any snobbery among homebrewers/craft beer drinkers, just for a point of reference.
 
ramjam said:
there’s also the BMC snobs , who always have something to say when they see someone drinking something other than bud, miller, coors, etc.
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My boss is a BMC only drinker and can’t see how anyone could drink “that $hi++y dark beer”, even going so far as to get into a “discussion” with the bar tender at a local microbrewery when he was taken there for a family function, as to why they didn’t sell Bud Light as well as their craft beer. He was told that’s not what they do there.:smh:
I grew up on BMC but since doing all my own homebrew, I think the former tastes very bland. I’ll definitely drink one when offered or when there’s no other choice, but definitely prefer craft/ microbrew if I have a choice.
 
I used to hate bmc and talk a fair amount of **** about them in my late teen-early 29s. Then I had some really good pilsners and wasn't impressed. That was when I realized I don't care much fo the style and started to change my outlook.

If someone offers me something I do not like, I politely decline. I don't eat fast food, at least not BK, CJ, JB, McD, Toca bell, In/Out, not for snobbery but as I don't really like fast food or processed foods. That, and my rationalization to enjoy beer and not be morbidly obese - everything in moderation and I can moderate more beer if I skip fast food.
 
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It is very well possible that you are all over enthusiastic beer snobs.
Cheers!
 
JHulen said:
Even though I’m passionate about craft beer, I don’t share the same distain for BMC that others seem to have. I simply think of them as a particular style that is very boring. Not as “low quality” beers. In my eyes a low quality beer is one with off flavors, a beer that was carelessly brewed. I’ve had a lot of bad homebrew. But never a bad Budweiser. Budweiser isn’t a bad beer, it’s just a boring beer. I would never pay money for it. But if I’m at someone’s house and they offer me a bud lite I’m not going to turn my nose up and say no.

There’s nothing about BMC to make it less quality. It’s not like processed food where they’re adding artificial flavors and colors. You could argue that they add rice/corn. But, lots of beers have simple sugars in the grain bill. I’m curious to know what other homebrewers think about BMC.
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I even buy myself some coors lite sometimes, easy drinking session beer which I cannot make myself that easily.
 
I brew all kinds of styles and will drink just about anything if offered.
I still like the mass-produced lighter flavored lagers, especially during the summer months. Just more thirst quenching for me.

Just last week I was traveling for work and there was a $1 PBR can special at a BBQ place - Heck Yeah!

For three seasons of the year I mainly drink what I brew, but in the summer I am at the campground, on a boat most weekends so drink a lot of prepackaged beer, cans preferable on the boat.
 
TasunkaWitko said:
The moment the phrase "lowest common denominator" gets thrown around, then snob territory has probably been entered, even if unintentionally.
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I disagree.

It's certainly a pejorative phrasing (and as the first to use it in this thread I intended as such), but I interpret it more as a derogatory to the panderer (in this case BMC) not the target of the pandering (well, everyone).

But to each their own.

They have designed and mass marketed a product intended to be inoffensive to anyone. And as such it is without anything distinguishing characteristics. To appeal to chart lines and statistics more than people. Mathematical thinking. Lowest common denominator.

It's a company pigeonholing it's customers through marketing departments.

I liken it to the "Network Execubots" from Futurama, specifically the one designed to "underestimate middle America"

"It's funny, but is it going to get them off their tractors?"
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Pejorative, thanks so much, between that and facetious I can explain much of my comments.
 
I often have Coors Banquet in the fridge, but I don't like bud, so I don't drink it. I recently moved and my brewery was down for a couple of months. I can get a 36 of banquet for $20 and the latest IPA/Hazy/Imperial Red, whatever, cost 20 for a sixer. I figure after the first couple my smell and taste receptors are so dulled give me a nice American lager. Doh!!
 
There are such things as super senses. I know very intelligent people who hate craft beer. I know knuckle dragers who love it. It's the same with any sense. I can hear the polyphony (simultaneous themes) in Bach's music where others only hear noise. I think it's more about your DNA AND pocket book then anything. I've turned people onto craft brews but they can't afford $15 for a BA Stout like me. So Lone Star it is for them.
 
Historically, you were often called a "beer snob" just for liking beer outside of the usual BMC stuff, even if you didn't make a big deal about it. The line that makes one a snob to me was always more like "do you push your beer preferences on other people"? And it's a door that swings both ways: I won't mock your beer choices if you don't mock mine.
 
Maybe it's a regional thing - I'm from north-central Montana, where the deer, angus-cross cattle and gophers outnumber the people on any given day, by far. When your friend, neighbor or relative offers you a beer, you take the beer, you thank him for the beer and you drink the beer, whether it's BMC, homebrew, microbrew or that new stuff that they are conning people into paying 28$/4-pack for. Period.

My dad was a dedicated BMC guy all his life, but in less than 2 years I have him drinking, brewing and enjoying some of the roastiest, toastiest stuff you can find, as well as IPAs that are a little too hoppy even for me. But when Milwaukee's Best is on sale, he's still going to buy all that the local Town Pump has in the cooler.
 
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JHulen said:
Exactly....you have to respect the precision these beers are made with. The vast majority of homebrewers could not brew these beers. That’s why I was saying I think most of the snobs are craft beer enthusiasts, but probably not homebrewers. As a brewer you understand how difficult this style is to make.

Take food for example...I don’t know if you’ve ever tried a soufflé, but there’s nothing special about the flavor. It’s basically just a French biscuit. I tried it once and I was like what’s the big deal. It’s just bread. But foodies pay ridiculous amounts of money at fancy restaurants for it. Why?? Because they’re incredibly hard to make, and are a testament to the skill of the chef. The rest of us don’t care.

That’s what I’m saying about BMC. When I was just a beer lover, but not a brewer, I looked down on BMC. Now when I drink it I have more appreciation for it. Even if the flavor isn’t there.
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I have a story that illustrates this well... A few years back, we did a bottle share / tasting event with a bunch of my homebrew club members. We had some good stuff... Verticals of Black Tuesday, of Parabola, a bottle or two of Cantillon, etc... Some really nice stuff.

It was about the time that Bud Black Crown Lager had been released. I brought a 12-pack along with me as I'd been interested in trying it and figured other folks might like to see if it was any good as well.

All of the homebrewers were quite complimentary of the beer. It was well-brewed, and quite frankly was delicious. Only one person refused to drink it... A friend of the host who happened to be a beer snob and was NOT a homebrewer.

So I agree with you... I think that brewing your own beer gives a different perspective entirely.

BTW it was even more of a hit than I had anticipated. When we took a break for lunch, eating pulled pork sandwiches, everyone wanted more of the Black Crown. Seems it pairs more easily with BBQ than the Black Tuesday lol ;-)
 
I’d drink BMC if it was the only choice offered to me. I don’t dislike it, like the OP and others my taste buds find it lacking. I wouldn’t purchase it for myself.

A friend I work with is a heavy Miller drinker, keeps a permanent stash of it in the ice chest in the back of his truck. He once claimed that he doesn’t like craft beer. I didn’t trash him for his opinion, I simply didn’t understand it. He enjoyed some of my home brewed cream ale and lemon shandy I gave him. Fast forward a couple years, and while he still predominantly drinks miller, he has been broadening his horizons.
 
dmtaylor said:
I believe a lot of us are none of the above. None fit me at all. But I did enjoy the one about The Groupthinker. That one drives me nuts.
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I agree. Happy to say I've never met any of those people. Seems to be just taking some minor tendencies and exaggerating them to an extreme, just for entertainment.

Someone like me could have provided the 'source material' for #12 The Glassware Obsessive, as I do base my glassware choice at home on the type of beer I'm pouring into it.
 

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