Beer Geeks Revisited

Who
do these people think they are anyways? Do they really think
they can simply waltz in here, saddle up to the bar, sip a
pint, and decree their verdict on the quality of the beer?
In the Internet Age, the beer geeks not only believes in
their power to judge, they often wield it in a fury of
reckless indiscretion.

Beer geeks are fickle to a
fault, loving one brewery on Monday only to castigate it by
Friday. They are opinionated, often without any level of
education, training or experience beyond the ability to dial
up a website and tap out a few words. And while breweries
live for these consumers, they also lose sleep over their
breezy moods and attitudes.

While many respect the beer
geeks and their roles in the industry, many more quietly
bemoan their levels of influence or their methods. “The
internet is an equalizing medium,” says Sam Calagione,
President of Dogfish Head Brewing Company. “The guy who is
less educated in beer, his opinion is weighted equally to
the guy who is more educated in beer. In some ways that’s
not fair.”

Calagione knows about beer
geeks. His brewery has been a darling of the beer geek
community for many years. In recent months, however, a vocal
minority of beer geeks have started to carp at the brewery
for a variety of seemingly insignificant reasons.

“Among some level with beer
geeks, because we’ve been discovered, it’s almost a point
against us,” says Calagione. “I think it’s a negative thing
only because it deters people from embracing what we’re
doing. The negative responses we get usually have less to do
with our beers than it does with the way we present our
beers. That’s better than having bad things said about our
beers, but we still react to it.”

Despite the recriminations
of a few hysterical beer geeks, Calagione and his staff
still keep their ears open to the voices of the greater
community of dedicated beer lovers. “I’d be lying if I said
that we weren’t paying attention to what the websites are
saying about Dogfish Head,” he says. “We watch the sites and
are a very sensitive crew of brewers. We want to be
appreciated and we want to be liked and anyone who says they
don’t care about that is doing themselves a disservice
because those are their customers. At the end of the day, we
want people like ourselves, the beer geeks, to really
appreciate what we are doing.”

What
breweries are exciting you right now?

BIERGIRL
CORNELIA
COREY I wish I
could afford for Fantome Babbillard BBBrr to be my summer
regular. I found it to be wonderfully refreshing. And,
having just returned from Montreal, I keep wishing Brasserie
Dieu du Ciel was my local.

DR.
BILL
BILL
SYSAK Every year,
more and more breweries spring up around the world and
access to their beers increasingly becomes easier. Take
America. Even ten years ago there were only a handful of
breweries outside of the East and West Coasts that were
making exceptional beers. Now, practically every state has
brewers creating well crafted beers and stretching the style
guidelines to the limits. Brewers like Tomme Arthur of Pizza
Port and Vinnie Cilurzo from Russian River have constantly
proven to me their ability to make unique beers that are
excellently structured from first mouth feel to final taste,
whether it is a 1O-percent alcohol Belgian Ale or a
4-percent alcohol session stout. East Coast breweries like
Dogfish Head, Heavyweight, Southampton, and Victory continue
to impress. Dozens of small or new breweries around the
world are doing the same. I’ve tasted fabulously complex
beers over the last couple years from Italy, Mexico and
Australia.

DAVO
DAVE
RODRIGUEZ My
locals, like Brooklyn, Victory, Heavyweight, Ramstein,
Southampton, and McKenzie’s, are always exciting me. They
keep on churning out some quality brews with the ability to
be innovative and fresh. Although not a huge fan of their
beers, I take my hat off to Dogfish Head for always pushing
the envelope. And there is always that brewery that I can’t
get my hands around. Three Floyds is on every beer geeks’
excitement list. And I’ve asked doctors if I can replace the
blood running though my veins with Heavyweight’s Perkuno’s
Hammer. Survival is not likely, but at least I’ll die a
happy man.”

VENOM
LOREN
VERKOVOD While I
cannot deny my love for big, beefy stouts and super hopped
IPAs, I also cannot hide my love for under-appreciated
lagers being made with finesse throughout the country.
There’s just something to be said about a pilsner that just
knocks you off your feet with remarkable flavor and balanced
verve. I’m also intrigued when a brewer can throw the style
guidelines out the window and make something that doesn’t
fit any pigeonholed moniker. Unless it’s an imperial stout.
Sorry, zero tolerance here.

Are
you a brand loyal consumer (someone who routinely buys a
staple brand, say Harpoon IPA six packs) or do you mainly
seek out new beers?

BIERGIRL
I would say I’m loyal to craft brew as a category but no one
brewery or beer. There are no beer factory beers in the
cellar but a wide variety of craft brews, including
domestics and imports.

DR.
BILL I think anyone
who knows me will concede that I am always on the lookout
for the best beers available, whether it’s a new offering or
a beer I’ve enjoyed for years. I’ve tried close to 75OO
beers in 25 years. I like to share a lot of the newer or
rarer beers with my friends – if I’m having a beer after
work or as a night cap by myself or with my fiance we have a
half dozen favorites. I usually buy 1O cases of Celebration
Ale for personal consumption each year – Stone Arrogant
Bastard, Alesmith Yulesmith, or a Belgian from De Dolle, or
one of the Trappists. I’m particularly fond of Orval and
Rochefort 8.

DAVO
I’m a little of both. I remain faithful to some locals.
There are those seasonals I always purchase – Sierra Nevada
Bigfoot Barleywine, Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale,
Ramstein’s Winter Wheat, Victory’s Storm King. And then
there are those everyday available beers that I have in my
fridge – Heavyweight’s Perkuno’s Hammer and Victory’s Hop
Devil are two. As for trying new beers, this is what keeps
me going: the search for something new. It used to be the
search for the Holy Grail of beers. No doubt, there is no
one beer that will be the “end all” of all beers. Now, I
search out those small regional brewers that I can’t get in
my backyard. It’s always nice to see what brewers in other
parts of the country are doing. Also, the quest to try new
beers is the stimulant to all my beer travels.

VENOM
I’m loyal to the local Connecticut beers available in
bottles and cans, and try to maintain a stock of “everyday
drinking beer” in my fridge from a local brewery. I, of
course, have my favorites, too, which I also try to keep on
hand as well. Whether they be local, regional or national, I
always find myself buying a staple beer that I’ve had time
and time again and will continue to purchase simply because
it’s my fallback beer of choice. The problem with the
survival of local beers is there aren’t many beer drinkers
out there that are loyal, except maybe the consumers who
drink the mass produced “Big Three” products. At least, I
think there aren’t many who are loyal. I see more people
going in and out of liquor stores, coming out with Harpoon
six-packs when they could just as easily be coming out with
a New England Brewing Company or Cottrell six-pack. Call it
ignorance? Call it unknowing? Maybe the locals could do a
better job of spreading the word, via tastings and such. But
if the love isn’t there to begin with, can it really be
fostered?

What
makes a great beer bar?

BIERGIRL
First, there should be good selection of styles, bottled and
draft, not just quantity. Bars should be aware of their
ability to turn over beer in a reasonable amount of time so
that it doesn’t become old or stale. I like the staff to be
knowledgeable, helpful and welcoming. The premises should be
reasonably clean and well-maintained, at least the
restrooms. And I really like for there to be hooks under the
bar on which to hang my jacket or backpack. Also, a coat
hook area is great to have during winter so you don’t have
to try and hang your coat on a chair or barstool.

DR.
BILL There are many
great beer bars across the country, but there is always room
for more. Great selection and clean lines for the taps are
important. It doesn’t matter if you have 1O1 beers on tap if
your lines are dirty. Once again, a knowledgeable wait staff
is a must. I will walk into one of the large chain tap
houses around the country every once in a while and even
though I am usually familiar with all the beers on tap, I’ll
ask my server something like, “What’s the hoppiest beer you
have?” or “Do you have any Belgian doubles?” If they don’t
know, that’s fine. As long as they have someone there, like
the bartender, who they can refer my question to. If no one
can answer my question, then they don’t pass. That may sound
picky, but I’m a proponent for good beer and I’m always
looking for places that I can send people to try quality
ales and lagers. They may be new to craft beer, and I want
places with service staffs that will be beneficial to them,
not harmful to their experience. Most bars can’t afford to
have beer sitting in kegs that are not moving. For them, I
would recommend increasing their bottle selection by two or
three beers, more if they have the space, and see how these
lesser known beers are received. Once again, a helpful staff
that will promote these beers is a must. Having your local
beer distributor hold beer appreciation nights with new and
different beers seems like a reasonably safe and effective
way to attract new customers and introduce your regulars to
new products.

DAVO
To me, a great beer bar is an unadulterated commitment to
serving craft brews and promoting them. I don’t think having
6O taps of all craft beer cuts it anymore. The call to arms
has been made and these bars need to do more to showcase
craft beers. Unfortunately, craft brewers have small
advertising budgets (if any at all), so it has fallen on
some beer bars to promote events for those beers they
maintain on tap. Major kudos to them for doing so. They get
people excited about the beers and they get the name of
unknown brewers on the tongue of those that never heard of
them before. Serving the beer is no longer sufficient in my
eyes. The best beer bars essentially are the heart that
pumps the blood through the body. The best thing I can say
is that there are far more then I can mention or visit. With
more bars committing themselves to craft beer, I’m happy to
report that my beer budget and travel budget are beyond
sustaining. This puts a big grin on my face.

VENOM
A great beer bar to me is a place that I can say “OK, I can
park my ass on that stool and drink beer all night with my
friends without ever having the same beer twice throughout
the course of the evening.” Selection, selection, selection
isn’t where it’s at. I mean, having 6O taps is impressive no
doubt, but how the hell can an establishment keep 6O taps
running fresh all the time? I’m more impressed with a place
that has, say, 15 taps, with a few being reserved for the
local boys, and the quality being impressive on each and
every pint. So I guess for me its quality over quantity. The
atmosphere of a beer bar is also critical, and I’m not
talking about the curtains but the patrons themselves. You
can’t prop up a beer bar in a town or setting that won’t
support it. I’ve been to a few beer bars that are impressive
with taps, but nine out of ten people are pounding plastic
Coors Light bottles. If your market isn’t geared for a place
with 15 taps of nothing but quality craft beer than you’re
honestly doing the beer scene an injustice by having a place
that could easily satisfy both the beer geek and typical
“Big 3” consumer, but it just isn’t there. I think there’s a
line that has to be drawn in the sand as to who the target
audience is going to be. And I have no problem with a bar
having 15 taps of Bud-Miller-Coors if that’s what the people
want. Just keep it out of my neighborhood.

Final
Words from the Panel

BIERGIRL
I think many on-premise establishments can and should do
more to make women feel welcome. More and more women have
significant amounts of disposable income and want to
socialize in harassment-free, comfortable surroundings.
Also, too often women customers are viewed as annoyances,
the usual excuses are they pay separately, don’t order in
rounds, and are more work than males. Most important is the
staff – if servers, bartenders etc. make women feel more
comfortable, they will be more likely to patronize an
establishment. The main stereotype that comes to mind and
always gets to me is when a server suggests that I might
like the lightest or fruitiest beer available. I almost feel
obligated to order the biggest, baddest beer available even
if it’s not what I want at that particular time.

DR.
BILL I’ve held
hundreds of tastings throughout the years and turned on
literally thousands of new beerophiles to flavors beyond
their imagination. I love fine wines, tequilas, vodkas and
single malt scotches, yet no other beverage has the number
of styles or range of complex flavors that can play across
your palate as the various beers available to the consumer
today. I have been purchasing beers for aging for almost 2O
years now, I usually keep between 1OOO to 16OO bottles at
any time. I acquire through purchase and trade somewhere
around 3OOO bottles annually, of those I’d say 1O% are
obtained with the thought of keeping them for over 5 years,
while 75% of the rest will be gone in less than a year from
purchase. Certain types of beer styles, if stored properly,
can continue to age 1O, 2O, even 5O years, transforming
themselves with new and subtle flavor profiles year to year.
I have a 1968 Thomas Hardy’s Ale from the original bottling,
a half dozen different Belgian ales from the ‘5Os, and other
initial bottlings from the beginning of the American micro
scene, including Anchor’s first Old Foghorn and Our Special
Ale – or how about an original Pete’s Wicked Ale.

DAVO
I’ve driven all the way from New Jersey to Cleveland, Ohio
for just beer; to the Great Lakes Brewing Company, Buckeye
Brewing Company, and a few great places to have beer. I’ve
made one trip to California for ten days that was all about
beer. I visited San Diego for the Strong Ale Fest and hit a
few of the local stops. Then I traveled up to Northern
California and hung around Sonoma County and San Francisco.
I ended my trip with a drive down to Los Angeles and Long
Beach, and chilled among the great beer spots there.
Overall, I hit five breweries, eight brewpubs and six beer
bars. No doubt, there are travels abroad that are planned. I
have every intention of hitting Alaska for the January
festival of barleywine.

VENOM
When I joined BeerAdvocate.com, I really didn’t know much
about “other” beers besides the ones I had tried and knew.
This epiphany was like a kid walking into a candy store.
What followed was a torrential pace of reading, learning and
then discovering any and all “new” beers I could find –
locally at first. I scoured the shelves of all my local
liquor stores and began my quest. Afterwards, I discovered
online mail order beer stores as a start in my exploration
of beers from throughout the country. As for my approach to
new beers, I don’t look at beer hunting as head hunting, as
a few people have deemed of the typical “rate and move on”
beer geek. While I do enjoy finding new beers, I don’t go to
the store just to look for something new. I just hope the
impression of this solitary beer geek comes across as
passionate and not entirely, but quite possibly, insane. But
it’s all for the love of beer.