Do We Really Understand Beer? The Pretentiousness of Craft Beer Talk

Craft beer culture is rich with jargon and sophisticated descriptors, often giving enthusiasts a platform to showcase their knowledge. However, how many of us truly grasp the complex terminology we throw around? Recently, I found myself in a delightful yet daunting situation at a bottle share event where the conversation took a turn towards the pretentious.

As I took a sip of a barrel-aged sour, I decided to dive into a supposed analysis of its characteristics. I confidently mentioned how I “truly appreciated the characteristic brett interacting with the oak tannins to create some beautiful phenolic compounds.” In that moment, I felt like an expert—until I realized that I didn’t actually know what “phenolic compounds” were. It seems I had unwittingly blended together bits of wine lexicon with snippets from a brewing podcast I could barely recall.

What made the whole experience even more amusing was the chorus of nodding heads that followed. This prompted me to embellish my original statement further by claiming that the beer was “expressing local terroir through indigenous microflora.” It sounded impressive, but truthfully, I wasn’t any closer to understanding what I was saying.

In a lighter moment last month, I caught myself attempting to describe a beer’s “mouthfeel complexity,” when what I truly meant was that it had a thick texture. It was a burst of jargon that, upon reflection, felt entirely nonsensical.

It appears we often engage in a kind of craft beer mad libs, filled with phrases we’ve heard from others, hoping nobody will notice the lack of authenticity in our declarations. This peculiar phenomenon leaves me wondering, do others share this experience? Are we all just bystanders in our own discussions, nodding along with confidence when deep down, we might not fully comprehend the intricate dialogues about beer?

If you’ve ever found yourself in a similar situation, you’re not alone. Join the conversation and share your own experiences with craft beer elitism and the often-overwhelming terminology that can leave even the most ardent beer lover scratching their head. Let’s embrace honesty and perhaps simplify our discussions, making craft beer a joy to explore rather than a minefield of pretentiousness.