The Art of Pretentious Beer Talk: When Craft Beer Speak Goes Awry

We’ve all been there—immersing ourselves in the craft beer scene, sipping on unique brews, and suddenly finding ourselves in a conversation about flavor profiles, aromas, and textures that leaves us wondering if we’re speaking a foreign language. Recently, at a casual bottle share with friends, I found myself in a particularly eye-opening moment regarding this very phenomenon.

As someone popped open a barrel-aged sour, I can’t recall what prompted it, but instinctively, I started to wax poetic about how I “genuinely appreciated the characteristic brett interacting with the oak tannins to produce some exquisite phenolic compounds.” The catch? I had little to no idea what phenolic compounds actually are. I think I just strung together some wine jargon along with bits from a brewing podcast I had half-listened to in the past.

The situation got even more amusing when everyone around me nodded knowingly, as if I had just imparted some deep wisdom. Emboldened by their faux enthusiasm, I ventured further into this pretentious lexicon, talking about the beer “expressing local terroir through indigenous microflora.” At this point, I was merely cobbling together phrases I admired from the beer connoisseurs I so often followed.

Just a few weeks prior, I had an equally absurd moment where I described a beer’s “mouthfeel complexity” when what I really wanted to convey was that it simply tasted thick. I couldn’t help but chuckle at the nonsense I was uttering, akin to playing a game of craft beer Mad Libs.

It leaves me to wonder: are we all just echoing phrases we’ve heard from seasoned enthusiasts, hoping that no one notices we’re just as clueless? If you’ve ever felt this way, you’re definitely not alone. The craft beer world can sometimes come off as dauntingly intellectual, and there’s an unspoken pressure to sound knowledgeable. But isn’t the joy of beer about sharing experiences and enjoying flavors from different perspectives?

Let’s raise our glasses, not only to the masterpieces we sip but also to the camaraderie and humor that come from our shared pretenses in this delightful craft beer journey. If nothing else, it adds an amusing layer to our conversations. Cheers!