8 ms·

I think drinking nothing but beer all the time is a pretty obvious sign. Unless you're the most famous brewer in the world -- then I suppose it might be easy t

by JackFr 13y ago

I think drinking nothing but beer all the time is a pretty obvious sign. Unless you're the most famous brewer in the world -- then I suppose it might be easy to miss that sign.

moron4hire 13y ago
Yeah, coming up with tricks to "not get drunk", or searching for cheap booze deals, or anything that is really just out of the way burdensome for the sake of nothing more than "more drink". I don't buy cheap beer, ever. Not even if I'm asked to get a case for a party. If I'm going to drink, I want something I'll enjoy. Cheap beer is about getting a buzz or getting drunk. It always freaks people out, "you shouldn't have spent so much for a party". Why? I don't see it as a choice. Should I have only opened a can of kidney beans for the dish I brought, too? No, I want to have something that I will enjoy, that others can enjoy, too. It's not just about "filling ourselves to the gills on as little money as possible." But that is how people treat beer. That's not to say I don't get drunk sometimes. The experience of sitting in an innertube on a lazy river is significantly enhanced by alcohol. A wedding party is significantly enhanced by copious alchol. But most days I want to be productive and make things. I can't code or write well--and certainly can't solder at all--when I'm drunk. I similarly don't watch a lot of television, or read a lot of books. I'd like to fill my time with more productive tasks than consumptive ones.
- snide 13y ago
  I agree with your reasoning and preferences, but some of us just like cheap beer for the taste. In Northern California a lot of the breweries focus on hoppy flavors, which I don't prefer. I'll just take a bud. My reasoning? Why pay for expensive beer! A bud tastes fine.
  - kbenson 13y ago
    In years past, when I went out to bars a lot, I had a few classes of drinks I would buy, depending on my purpose for the night. If I intended to drive home a few hours later after playing some pool, I would just order Bud Light. I was able to drink for the social aspect, it quenched any thirst I had, and at a slow pace because I was playing a lot of pool, it didn't end up intoxicating me all that much. If I didn't have to worry about my ride at all, I would order a more flavorful beer. I also find cheap American beer to be ideal for the beach.
  - JTon 13y ago
    >I'll just take a bud. My reasoning? Why pay for expensive beer! A bud tastes fine Can't help but read your reply in a thick southern accent. Personally, if I'm aiming for an aggressive, high volume night, I'll take a busch over a bud.
  - edavison1 13y ago
    Wasn't expecting this in the comments, but super appreciated. The hops arms race must end. I hope we will all go back to drinking delicious, sessionable lagers soon and realize the IPA/microbrew snobbery mindset so prevalent today is a big mistake, both socially (alienating to the uninitiated and highfalutin) and for the beer drinker's palette (overwhelming, masking flavors).
    - Bartweiss 13y ago
      For what it's worth, the microbrewery scene doesn't have to be what it is today. At it's best it would just be a huge range of subtly different beers to give people more things to explore and find a favorite. As is, there's this undying devotion to IPAs and ever-hoppier tastes. There's nothing wrong with non-microbrew, but I'd be happiest of all to see microbreweries open up to exploring more of the possibilities for beer.
    - cschneid 13y ago
      I'm glad to see my local (Fort Collins) beer scene swing that direction. See the IBUs in the various beers at Pateros - http://pateroscreekbrewing.com/pcbc/beers http://pateroscreekbrewing.com/pcbc/beers New Belgium has Shift ( http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=fc35795d-8d9d-4f04-9e35-c1c55c2a0018 http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=fc35795d-8d9d-... ) as a good session beer. Fort Collins Brewery has a nice list of less hoppy beers: http://www.fortcollinsbrewery.com/brews/red-banshee/ http://www.fortcollinsbrewery.com/brews/red-banshee/ I like that I can still get the crazy IPAs, but there's a ton of other good stuff to drink too.
    - dllthomas 13y ago
      As someone who isn't big on too-much-hops, I've been able to find plenty of interesting microbrews without. As much as I'd certainly a shift away from the so much hops, you needn't feel deprived even in this environment if you keep your eye out. As to hops, for myself I do enjoy extremely hoppy beers, just not nearly as much as I enjoy less hoppy beers.
- personZ 13y ago
  No, I want to have something that I will enjoy, that others can enjoy, too. It's worth noting that the "appreciation" of fine beers, wines and spirits is often an excuse to inebriate while convincing oneself that it's actually a higher pursuit. The simple exercise of bifurcating products by price, and assuming that correlates with quality, is flawed. Thinking through friends and peers, the ones who show the greatest specialization of their drink (only the finest vintages and best, small-brewer beers and long aged bourbon) are the ones who drink the most. But it is shrouded by a classy veneer.
  - mikeash 13y ago
    Anything can be taken to an extreme, but there's a lot of room in the middle for exactly what he's saying. I rarely drink more than one beer in a sitting. But if the only thing being offered is Budweiser or similar, it'll be zero. I don't take it to an extreme, and am perfectly happy with a Sam Adams or similar decent big names, but I'm not going to waste the calories on something awful. It's not a matter of "a higher pursuit", just a matter of taste, no different from preferring to drink nothing than, say, Mountain Dew.
    - personZ 13y ago
      Sure there is, but I'm replying specifically to their comment that- "Cheap beer is about getting a buzz or getting drunk." Cheap and expensive beer are made with close to identical processes, with the same controls and outcomes. Often beers are "cheap" purely as a function of the scale of the operation, but they still use the same quality ingredients and processes. People often buy cheap beer because they actually prefer it (just as many, many people prefer lighter beer, which is something that many of my Canadian countrymen can't understand), or because the taste differences are so small that they can't justify the extra expense. When you find yourself in the position of differentiating yourself from those other people -- that your own drinking is more cultured and justified -- it's time to take a step back and seriously contemplate things, because it's almost always a cover.
      - neves 13y ago

by JackFr 13y ago

I think drinking nothing but beer all the time is a pretty obvious sign. Unless you're the most famous brewer in the world -- then I suppose it might be easy to miss that sign.

moron4hire 13y ago

Yeah, coming up with tricks to "not get drunk", or searching for cheap booze deals, or anything that is really just out of the way burdensome for the sake of nothing more than "more drink". I don't buy cheap beer, ever. Not even if I'm asked to get a case for a party. If I'm going to drink, I want something I'll enjoy. Cheap beer is about getting a buzz or getting drunk. It always freaks people out, "you shouldn't have spent so much for a party". Why? I don't see it as a choice. Should I have only opened a can of kidney beans for the dish I brought, too? No, I want to have something that I will enjoy, that others can enjoy, too. It's not just about "filling ourselves to the gills on as little money as possible." But that is how people treat beer. That's not to say I don't get drunk sometimes. The experience of sitting in an innertube on a lazy river is significantly enhanced by alcohol. A wedding party is significantly enhanced by copious alchol. But most days I want to be productive and make things. I can't code or write well--and certainly can't solder at all--when I'm drunk. I similarly don't watch a lot of television, or read a lot of books. I'd like to fill my time with more productive tasks than consumptive ones.

snide 13y ago
I agree with your reasoning and preferences, but some of us just like cheap beer for the taste. In Northern California a lot of the breweries focus on hoppy flavors, which I don't prefer. I'll just take a bud. My reasoning? Why pay for expensive beer! A bud tastes fine.
- kbenson 13y ago
  In years past, when I went out to bars a lot, I had a few classes of drinks I would buy, depending on my purpose for the night. If I intended to drive home a few hours later after playing some pool, I would just order Bud Light. I was able to drink for the social aspect, it quenched any thirst I had, and at a slow pace because I was playing a lot of pool, it didn't end up intoxicating me all that much. If I didn't have to worry about my ride at all, I would order a more flavorful beer. I also find cheap American beer to be ideal for the beach.
- JTon 13y ago
  >I'll just take a bud. My reasoning? Why pay for expensive beer! A bud tastes fine Can't help but read your reply in a thick southern accent. Personally, if I'm aiming for an aggressive, high volume night, I'll take a busch over a bud.
- edavison1 13y ago
  Wasn't expecting this in the comments, but super appreciated. The hops arms race must end. I hope we will all go back to drinking delicious, sessionable lagers soon and realize the IPA/microbrew snobbery mindset so prevalent today is a big mistake, both socially (alienating to the uninitiated and highfalutin) and for the beer drinker's palette (overwhelming, masking flavors).
  - Bartweiss 13y ago
    For what it's worth, the microbrewery scene doesn't have to be what it is today. At it's best it would just be a huge range of subtly different beers to give people more things to explore and find a favorite. As is, there's this undying devotion to IPAs and ever-hoppier tastes. There's nothing wrong with non-microbrew, but I'd be happiest of all to see microbreweries open up to exploring more of the possibilities for beer.
  - cschneid 13y ago
    I'm glad to see my local (Fort Collins) beer scene swing that direction. See the IBUs in the various beers at Pateros - http://pateroscreekbrewing.com/pcbc/beers http://pateroscreekbrewing.com/pcbc/beers New Belgium has Shift ( http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=fc35795d-8d9d-4f04-9e35-c1c55c2a0018 http://www.newbelgium.com/beer/detail.aspx?id=fc35795d-8d9d-... ) as a good session beer. Fort Collins Brewery has a nice list of less hoppy beers: http://www.fortcollinsbrewery.com/brews/red-banshee/ http://www.fortcollinsbrewery.com/brews/red-banshee/ I like that I can still get the crazy IPAs, but there's a ton of other good stuff to drink too.
  - dllthomas 13y ago
    As someone who isn't big on too-much-hops, I've been able to find plenty of interesting microbrews without. As much as I'd certainly a shift away from the so much hops, you needn't feel deprived even in this environment if you keep your eye out. As to hops, for myself I do enjoy extremely hoppy beers, just not nearly as much as I enjoy less hoppy beers.
personZ 13y ago
No, I want to have something that I will enjoy, that others can enjoy, too. It's worth noting that the "appreciation" of fine beers, wines and spirits is often an excuse to inebriate while convincing oneself that it's actually a higher pursuit. The simple exercise of bifurcating products by price, and assuming that correlates with quality, is flawed. Thinking through friends and peers, the ones who show the greatest specialization of their drink (only the finest vintages and best, small-brewer beers and long aged bourbon) are the ones who drink the most. But it is shrouded by a classy veneer.
- mikeash 13y ago
  Anything can be taken to an extreme, but there's a lot of room in the middle for exactly what he's saying. I rarely drink more than one beer in a sitting. But if the only thing being offered is Budweiser or similar, it'll be zero. I don't take it to an extreme, and am perfectly happy with a Sam Adams or similar decent big names, but I'm not going to waste the calories on something awful. It's not a matter of "a higher pursuit", just a matter of taste, no different from preferring to drink nothing than, say, Mountain Dew.
  - personZ 13y ago
    Sure there is, but I'm replying specifically to their comment that- "Cheap beer is about getting a buzz or getting drunk." Cheap and expensive beer are made with close to identical processes, with the same controls and outcomes. Often beers are "cheap" purely as a function of the scale of the operation, but they still use the same quality ingredients and processes. People often buy cheap beer because they actually prefer it (just as many, many people prefer lighter beer, which is something that many of my Canadian countrymen can't understand), or because the taste differences are so small that they can't justify the extra expense. When you find yourself in the position of differentiating yourself from those other people -- that your own drinking is more cultured and justified -- it's time to take a step back and seriously contemplate things, because it's almost always a cover.
    - neves 13y ago