“Can I taste your IPA?” — why we should start saying no
I walked into a Subway recently and asked if I could taste two of their sandwiches before I committed to one. “I know I like turkey sandwiches, I’m just not sure which one I’m going to like more,” I explained to Kath, my Sandwich Artist. Naturally, she looked at me like I was a summertime stout chugger and explained that 1.) These sandwiches only cost $5, and 2.) I’m an adult who sometimes has to live with their decisions or dish out some cash to make things right. So, why does every beer drinker in America feel entitled to the tasting treatment? Let’s break it down.
In the early days of American craft beer, it made more sense to offer samples because it was a handful of breweries against the big macro giants. We had a responsibility to give samples in hopes that we might, I don’t know, start a craft beer revolution? We can comfortably say the revolution is underway. It’s time to push back against the era of tasters.
Abandoned flight trays
Almost every time I go to a brewery, I see an abandoned flight tray with several (if not all) of the glasses still half full! I want to ask: What’s the goddamn point of drinking 2 oz of beer? You took a picture too, didn’t you? Did you write a review on Untappd saying the saison was “quaffable but lacked some of the qualities you tend to look for in your liquids”? Also, when you ordered this tasting adventure, was there a long line of normal human beings behind you who just wanted a beer?
Me and my homies wait while you stroke your bad beard looking at the beer list, wondering if there’s some kind of “sampler?… Beer sampler? Flight yes, I’d like a flight.”
You’re why Anthony Bourdain thinks beer culture sucks.
Deep breath… it’s okay. We’re gonna be okay
As my blood cools from the verge of boiling, I remember how important these facets of the industry actually can be. After all, I want beer drinkers to be picky about who they’re supporting. I want folks to be quality-minded enough to taste a beer and say “that’s not worth five dollars” so that the brewery will be encouraged to make the extra effort with their beers.
Along with that, I want people to challenge themselves and drink something outside of their norm.
I understand this might require sampling a few Belgians before finding a worthwhile variety and hopefully opening the taster to a whole new rainbow of styles. But I really want all of us to do it like grown-ups.
As someone who has tended bar for years, I honestly want guests to have the best experience possible with the beer I’m pouring. But — as someone who spends most of their working hours with a beer-focused technology company — I want breweries to make the effort to meet the would-be tasters halfway.
Tinder-meets-a-flight, but sexier
Breweries like Holy City and Birds Fly South (who work with my company) are using a new technology that helps point consumers toward the kind of beer that they’re most attracted to. It’s Tinder-meets-a-flight, but sexier. Think of it like an app where you can set filters for qualities like “hoppy/bitter” or “malty/sweet” on a scale of 0–5 to narrow down your options. You can also explore other dynamics like ingredients and aging vessels, i.e. stainless or oak puncheons. Wicked Weed (I know, I know) actually has iPads set up around the bar with links to this page so you can explore the beer before you taste it.
Ultimately, I’m all for trying/sniffing/judging/pouring out beer, but there’s a time and place for it. We learned our lessons from spending money on all the shitty stouts that got dry hopped and renamed “Black IPAs” (I’m looking at you 2012) and these rotgut kettle sours getting higher price tags because of hype.
We, the beer drinkers have a responsibility to keep this fun!
My advice for brewery visitors? Sometimes the right thing to do is finish your okay beer and never order it again. Sample the beers you’ve never heard of, not the ones you know you’ll like. Drink what you love! Until the whole industry starts looking at ways to make this easier for you, dudes, learn to ask your bartender the right questions and then learn to trust them.
Sincerely,
The guy behind you in line who just got off work and wants to drink a cold, wet 16-ouncer.
