The Curious Case of Craft Beer Speak: Have You Ever Pretended to be a Connoisseur?

Craft beer enthusiasts often find themselves in a world filled with intricate terminology and complex flavors. At a recent bottle share event, I experienced firsthand the curious tendency among us aficionados to overanalyze and oversell our preferences. As a barrel-aged sour made its way around the room, I found myself uttering phrases like, “I truly appreciated the characteristic brett interacting with the oak tannins to create some beautiful phenolic compounds.”

Now, let’s be honest: I had no clue what “phenolic compounds” meant. It sounded sophisticated enough, and I think I had cobbled it together from some wine-related jargon and a brewing podcast that I had half-listened to in the past. But what astonished me most was the collective nod of approval from my peers, leading me to embellish my comments even further. I confidently stated that the beer was “expressing local terroir through indigenous microflora.” Talk about pretentious!

Reflecting on my experience, I realized how easy it is to slip into a form of craft beer lexicon that often borders on absurdity. Just last month, I remember enthusiastically describing a beer’s “mouthfeel complexity,” a term I used to express what simply tasted like thickness.

Is it possible that many of us are just engaging in a game of craft beer ‘mad libs’? With a plethora of technical terms and trendy phrases floating around, it seems we sometimes resort to repeating what we’ve heard from others, hoping no one will challenge our assessments.

I’m curious: have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Let’s foster an open dialogue about the curious and often comical ways we discuss craft beer. After all, appreciation doesn’t always require a PhD in brewing science!