Have You Ever Sounded Pretentious About Beer Without Understanding It?

Last weekend, I attended a bottle share where a barrel-aged sour beer was unveiled. Caught up in the moment, I found myself enthusiastically declaring how I “fully appreciated the interaction between the characteristic brett and the oak tannins, leading to the formation of exquisite phenolic compounds.” The reality? I couldn’t truly define what “phenolic compounds” even are—I was likely just merging wine lingo with fragmented memories of a brewing podcast I had listened to.

To my surprise, everyone around me nodded along, as if I had just shared a moment of profound insight. Emboldened by their reactions, I quickly threw in a comment about the beer “expressing local terroir through indigenous microflora.” Little did they know, I was just piecing together a collection of buzzwords.

Just last month, I even found myself referencing a beer’s “mouthfeel complexity,” trying to sound sophisticated when I really only meant that it tasted thick. Looking back, it felt absurd. I was practically concocting a craft beer version of mad libs.

It leads me to wonder—are we all guilty of echoing phrases we’ve heard before, hoping no one will catch our lack of understanding? If you’ve experienced something similar, let’s hear your stories!