Have we gone too far?

I’ll admit it, I have some of these traits myself. It’s hard for me to sit here and poke holes in what others are doing, when some may see it as hypocritical. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I am someone who is always seeking out something new to enjoy. When I go out to eat, it doesn’t matter if I find a beer I love, I’ll always be interested in having something different for my second (and sometimes third) beer. At a brewery, I always opt for a flight or two, rather than a pint. It’s not that I don’t like that first beer anymore, but I want to try something new as often as possible. Maybe I’ll find something I like even better? So I repeat, I at least partially resemble what I’m about to discuss.

There is a disturbing new trend in some craft beer circles that I cannot ignore anymore. I am a member of several craft beer groups on some social media outlets. For the most part, these groups provide opportunities for people to
• Discuss the industry,
• Share pictures of whales they’ve found,
• Ask for recommendations on places or brews to try, and
• Arrange for bottle shares and swaps.

These are why these groups were formed and represent the positive side of craft-beer-meets-Facebook. But then there is a darker side. I’ve seen it happen too often now and from far too many people to remain quiet. There are many people out there who consistently feel the need to belittle other people’s pictures, posts, etc. A whale on Monday becomes an embarrassingly outdated find by Thursday. “How can you drink that garbage? The date on the bottom is from two weeks ago!! I won’t touch it unless it was brewed this afternoon.” Why do we as humans feel that the only way to make ourselves better is to belittle others? I am currently on the cusp of leaving some of these groups because I just can’t watch a beer-bully openly mock someone because they’re excited about finding their favorite beer on tap. Or trolling them on the interwebs because their glass isn’t clean enough.

Let’s all agree that craft beer is a great and wondrous thing. Remember when you first tasted that beer … the one that you’d been trying to find for years. You proudly shared your riches and excitement on Facebook only to have some moron chime in with, “It was better last year. I won’t even touch this year’s version.” Why? Just because I don’t like something doesn’t mean you shouldn’t either. Can’t we all just get along?! The brewers themselves have a collegial relationship with each other – I think we should aim to mirror that with each other.

Cheers, everyone!