haveigotboozeforyou.com

The Art of Pretentious Beer Talk: Confessions from the Craft Brewing Enthusiast

In the world of craft beer, there exists a unique vernacular that often leaves enthusiasts both admirers and baffled. Recently, at a local bottle share event, I found myself caught in an amusing yet slightly embarrassing moment that many of us can probably relate to. As someone opened a barrel-aged sour, I felt the urge to demonstrate my beer knowledge. Before I knew it, I was enthusiastically speaking about how I “truly appreciated the characteristic brett interacting with the oak tannins to create some beautiful phenolic compounds.” Yet, here’s the kicker: I have no real understanding of what phenolic compounds are. It felt like I had taken a dash of wine terminology and mixed it with a vague recollection from a brewing podcast.

To my surprise, everyone around me nodded in agreement, as if I had just shared a nugget of wisdom. Fueled by their apparent admiration, I proceeded to wax poetic about the beer’s ability to “express local terroir through indigenous microflora.” At that moment, it hit me: I was essentially engaging in a craft beer version of mad libs—spouting technical terms without fully grasping their meaning.

Just last month, I caught myself describing a beer’s “mouthfeel complexity,” a phrase I thought sounded sophisticated, when in reality, all I meant was that the beer felt thick. It dawned on me that perhaps we are all guilty of this artful pretension in the craft beer community. How often do we find ourselves parroting phrases we’ve heard from others, desperately hoping that no one will call our bluff?

Does anyone else share this sentiment? It’s amusing to think that in our quest to communicate our appreciation for craft beer, we might be transforming genuinely enjoyable experiences into a game of verbal gymnastics. The bottom line is, let’s embrace our love for beer—complex terms or not—and remember that sometimes, simplicity can be just as profound. Cheers!