Damn, I hate being called out. Especially when it is true.
On the following list of cliches to retire from usage from the Home Brewers Association website. I liberally use #4 and will duly take the recommendation of specificity. On a lesser degree, I overuse #1 as well.
I fully agree with #5 and if I hear someone else say “crushable” I will have to level the stink eye at them until they stop.
But the post got me to thinking of what terms that I would like to see expunged from the craft beer lexicon.
Here are my thoughts:
Whalez – With 5,000+ breweries in the U.S. now, there is plenty of fantastic beer out there. If you are waiting in line or you have a chair waiting in line for you, well then you are just missing out on the sheer quantity of good stuff out there. No need for Whalez when there is a large and thriving ocean to fish from, Ahab.
QC – Unless you are actually controlling for quality, you don’t get to use this term. If you are just making sure that the product is identical in Van Nuys as it is in Columbus, Ohio. Well that’s Consistency Control. No one is mistaking your beer for quality.
Hand Crafted – Nothing screams twee to me more than that combo of words together. And it is as true as a Trump tweet. It is to me both art and craft and working with machines and praying to Ninkasi. It lessens the extent of work required to make craft beer and makes it all Etsy.
Passion – If I read another website “About” page that has that word, I will scream. Tell me something different about you. If this was 1989, you could use it as a descriptor but it is too lazy at this point. Give me a philosphy about the way you brew or how you create a recipe or what ingredients you use and where you source them from.
Oh and stop with the fruit IPA’s, I can’t say that enough.