Os Cruz
At first, I saw the picture and thought: “Cool, a young couple having dinner and a waiter presenting them a bottle of beer, much like you would see wine presented in a fine dining establishment.” That, after all, is what many in the craft beer scene have been pushing for. We want beer to be accepted as a proper alternative to wine. I would want nothing more than to have a bottle of Hill Farmstead Saison to pair with dinner at a top notch restaurant.
The one thing that bothered me, however, was the feeling I got from the customer who was tasting the beer. “Nose up in the air” is the feeling I got from him. The article further went on to send those mixed signals. In one part it refers to the “appropriate seriousness with which beer is handled.” Now that would seem harmless enough, but what many of us stress is that while we want beer to be respected, we want to keep it fun.
It’s beer, after all, and in many circles when things get too “serious” a common response is, “It’s just beer.” Of course the article does end on something we can all agree on: “Just don’t become a snob about it.” But I think that bothers me most, the recent suggestions that craft beer is full of “snobs” and “pretentious” folks.
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