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Steven Coulson
Steven has been drinking beers, wines and spirits for decades and has a propensity to go about them at length after a few drinks.
Latest Posts
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- # What’s the most pretentious thing you’ve ever said about beer that you secretly didn’t understand yourself?
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The Art of Craft Beer Discourse: When Jargon Goes Awry
Craft beer enthusiasts often revel in the complex and nuanced flavors of their favorite brews. However, it seems that amidst this admiration, some of us may inadvertently embellish our descriptions with terms we don’t fully understand.
Recently, I attended a bottle share where the atmosphere was thick with anticipation as various enthusiasts brought their prized bottles to share. As one individual unveiled a barrel-aged sour, I found myself diving headfirst into a flow of seemingly sophisticated terminology. I remarked about the “characteristic brett interacting with the oak tannins to create beautiful phenolic compounds.” The truth? I was entirely lost when it came to what those “phenolic compounds” actually entailed. It felt as if I had scrambled together a collection of wine lingo and vague recollections from brewing podcasts.
To my surprise, my audience nodded in approval as if I had just delivered a philosophical opportunity on the nuances of brewing. Seizing the moment, I went even further, asserting that this beer was “expressing local terroir through indigenous microflora.” Looking back, it struck me as both hilarious and a bit embarrassing.
Just last month, in another moment of verbosity, I described a brew’s “mouthfeel complexity”—all I meant to convey was that it had a rich, thick texture. It seemed I was caught in a web of craft beer jargon, akin to a game of mad libs themed around beer.
Reflecting on these experiences, I wonder if many of us engage in a similar practice, echoing phrases we’ve heard from more knowledgeable friends or online forums, hoping to blend in and sound informed. Perhaps it’s time to embrace straightforward language and share our genuine feelings about the flavors we encounter. After all, enjoying beer should be about savoring the experience, not getting tangled in a pretentious web of terminology.
Do you find yourself caught in the craft beer jargon trap? Join the discussion and share your own tales of beer-related pretension!