Can a craft beer be crappy?
This was discussed back in February on the Appellation Beer blog. I could have made a snarky little comment on the post but I thought that I should let people know my full thoughts on the matter.
Yes, a craft beer can suck. It could be infected. It could be skunked. It could not taste the way the previous keg did and the next keg does. But that is the ONLY time that you can intelligently say that a beer is crappy.
All other times. And I mean ALL (sorry for the all caps, trying to be clear) the beer is not to your liking. It could use a hop that is not your favorite. The fruit could be too strong. The ABV could be too high. All problems of YOURS. The person sitting next to you loves that hop. It is his favorite. The fruit is that guy’s friends childhood memory of a tree in his parent’s backyard so the more the better and the beer geek next to him may think the ABV brings an additional note to the beer. So don’t loudly proclaim that the beer is crap.
Here is my suggestion. Tell everyone why you don’t like the beer. I don’t want you to lie and say that the beer is great just to keep craft brewers happy. I want you to explain why the beer isn’t to your liking. Those people that liked the beer(s) that you didn’t may have just had a beer that they didn’t cotton to. One that may be perfect for you.
Converse people. Don’t be a dittohead, don’t scream like a political pundit. Calmly verbalize your reaction to the beer. Then we all learn. I may find out that are tastes are similar and you had a great beer last month that I should try. But if you say, Wow this blows. I’m going to think you’re an idiot.
Seriously, if you can’t convince a fellow geek about a beer’s worthiness then how do you think you can tell your bartender, your publican, your distributor or you local brewer what to have on tap.