Here is my firkin’ opinion for November…..
Let’s be thankful people.
There are issues that raise the ire and fire up the blogosphere.
~The high ABV race.
~Pumpkin beers
~Tickers
~beer blogger bashers
I’m sure everyone has their craft beer bugaboos to add to the list. But unlike the nightly news (which I hope no one watches), we in the beer community should always be promoting the positive more with a healthy dose of constructive actions and not get stuck in the stream of schaedenfreude.
Why? Because constant negativity reinforces the notion that craft beer is for snobs. If we are barking about problems more than we are praising the highlights, then why would people listen to us. No one likes the guy in the cubicle whose “always” bitching about the company. Eventually it gets old. What’s wrong with leading with what’s right in the beer world?
That’s why I only opinionize once a month. And sometimes my opinion is an idea that I think should be implemented and not some foaming at the mouth rant. I firmly believe that there is enough good craft beer news out there in the world to write and talk about.
That’s why you don’t see me on forums like BeerAdvocate. Too much griping. Too much whining. That’s why you don’t see me taking potshots at people from a beer snob tower. Whenever I feel the urge to complain, I open up my ‘fridge and the feeling goes away. Happiness from Pure Hoppiness from Alpine can do that. But some people seem to get off on being cranky.
You can label me a beer Pollyana. You can say that I am naive in the belief that one beer blog can stem the negative tide. I understand. But I prefer to think that I see the pint glass half full.
Of awesome craft beer.
Well said, Sean. I 100% agree with you and that’s the way I try to run my own beer blog. I like to keep my brew positivity high and avoid beer snobbery. Not to duplicate what you’ve already stated, but I also make an effort to avoid the elitist attitudes and occasional vicious comments that can appear on sites like BeerAdvocate. Everyone has their own opinions, but can’t we all just get along? Negativity is something the craft beer world doesn’t need because of its growth-hindering capabilities. Let’s all have a beer and enjoy it!