.... for going on (and on and on) about "overrated craft breweries" on BeerAdvocate.com's forums.
Three cheers for his proper, and well-thought-out, response, perfectly in keeping with his character.
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4 comments:
To tell you the truth Alex, I'm not sure which surprises me more. Sam's response to the BA thread or your decision to post it on your blog.
Your antipathy towards Beer Advocate is well known Alex, and I guess most of us around town have heard ad nauseum your reasons why. It mostly smacks of jealousy to me, but be that as it may, you're entitled to your opinion.
With respect to Sam's post, I've got a suggestin for him. Assuming your concern is sincere (something I wonder about), get a thicker skin.
Like Sam, I frequently visit the topic forums on BA, most of which I'll readily admit are of minimal interest or value. If I had a nickel for every time I've seen the latest topic about how/why this beer is better than that beer; this brewery is better than that brewery; this part of the country makes better beer than that part of the country... I could retire today.
I've long since stopped reading why such and such a person doesn't like this or that particular brewery, as I could care less. Like the IPA du jour, we all have our opinions and preferences... it doesn't make that particular beer necessarily better or superior to some other IPA that someone else likes better.
All that aside, if Sam's post doesn't smack of "biting the hand that feeds him," I'm not sure what does. It's really only thanks to beer communites like Beer Advoate and RateBeer (yes, and to a certain extent, blogs like yours as well Alex) that we get the sort of customer feeding frenzy one now sees routinely for the release of beers like Dark Lord, CBS, Kate the Great, Darkness, Pliny the Younger, and yes Sam, beers like Bitches Brew and Squall IPA as well. The demand for rare, exotic, "very unique" beers increases every year, to the benefit of both consumer and brewer. Pretty sure tht includes Sam C.
It's often said that there's no such thing as bad publicity, something that I'm pretty sure Sam knows very well (he's certainly reaped the benefit of that maxim many times over). Frankly, I wonder if his decision to respond to the particular thread you reference isn't just Sam being Sam... just stirring the pot again in order to garner further discussion and banter. His beers sell well and are extremely popular with the BA community, and I doubt this latest forum post is going to do him any harm whatsoever.
So you tell me Alex... what exactly should we take from the response you posted in your blog?
Good for Sam.
Those extreme beer geeks on BA and RB forums (likely responsible for .001% of the beer buying population) are the absolute worst. Never happy with the beer they have in front of them. It's always the beer they can't get, that is their favorite. And God forbid a brewery expand and become successful.
About a decade ago, these same "fans" were likely touting DFH as the best brewery in the land, supported the hell out of them and, just like in music with a band - they got big and suddenly "the beer sucks" and DFH sucks, they got too big. You loved that small band when you saw them at the 8x10 club back in the day, but now they sold 1 million albums and are touring the country. Now they suck! Build 'em up just to tear 'em down.
The BA and RB community, I'm referring to many of the forum members who are never happy with a damn thing, are doing more harm for the industry than good. F them.
@ Justin
Just my two cents, but the guy who started that particular thread on BA is a jackass (apparently on this we can all agree). If you take a look at the talk forums on RB and BA, you'll quickly notice that these knuckleheads are everywhere, many intentionally trying to stir up trouble, seeing what kind of reaction they can get (hence the prohibition by the moderators over "trolling."). Frankly, the practice is so prevalent, I still can't believe Sam bothered to respond to the nonsense people were posting on that thead. Most folks on BA aren't like that, and if you read the posts following Sam's, you'll see nothing but members gushing all over Sam and his post. Hardly a surprise, as both Sam and DFH beers are wildly popular with the BA community, though as large as that community is, naturally there are going to be some detractors.
Again, just my two cents, but Sam posts on BA all the time, and this kind of nonsense happens all the time. The best solution is just ignore this kind of crap, something I'm a bit surprised neither he nor Alex Mitchell managed to do in this instance.
John, you wanted an answer, so I'm going to give it. In a separate post.
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