Trust and Beer - Honesty beyond the label

 

I am a simple man. I like routine and consistency in my life and while I do enjoy trying beer from all over the world and in any style, I expect a few things when it comes to those beers. The easiest one for all of us to get behind is that a beer should be what the label says it is. If a brewery describes their beer as being "X", it had better be just that or we will most assuredly have a problem. Now I'm not talking about our personal likes and dislikes when it comes to flavours or styles, I'm strictly talking about truth in advertising here folks, be what you say you are. 

  The rapid expansion of "craft" beer across this province and the ensuing local pride in having a close by brewery can often blind people to the truth that the word "local" doesn't necessarily mean quality. Wanting to be part of the community is what drives some to ignore the truth that the beer they are drinking is sub par and not up to snuff. Off flavours, pale ales that give a muted performance or watered down stouts with little body or flavour are but a few things I've encountered over the years. I've had beer that tastes like bad home-brew and turned around and seen it being praised because so many can't say the truth because either they lack the knowledge or don't want to rock the boat. I don't write about bad beer very often because I don't want to waste my time or yours' unless it is egregiously poorly made or mislabelled. This year of recording every single beer I drink is giving me some insight into things I would usually just pour out and move on from to be sure.

  For me, it is all about trust and staying true to what is delivered in every pint. I will reference the term 'Trusted Brewery' a lot of the time when I record a video because I really do have a list of places I trust with my beer money implicitly because they have never let me down when it comes to quality, consistency and style. These few are breweries I would gladly purchase a six pack from of a new beer without trying it because they always describe what it is I will be tasting later that day when I get the beer into my glass. They may do strict, to-style beers or they may make crazy fruited up sours or adjunct laden stouts, but they always tell me what I'm getting up front and deliver right to the last sip. In a day and age where more than 300 plus brewers are competing for space in our fridges, bad beer and false advertising should have no place to hide. 

  I never understand when someone will tear down a well made lager because they find it boring or "only drink IPAs". Why bother drinking it at all if you're not going to be truthful? One thing about going back on UnTappd has been the rise in anger I get from reading descriptions of great beers being denigrated because someone doesn't like a flavour or style that is clearly defined on the label. I shake my head as they talk about everything the beer has said it is and then watch them go off because they don't like that particular thing. Just stop. If you don't like dark roasted malt beers, don't drink 'em and especially don't rate or review them because at that point, ignorance triumphs over truth and that is never a good look. Opinions based on facts and style guidelines with an eye to what the beer says it is going to be are fine and dandy, a bad beer is a bad beer, but it's lazy and disingenuous to bring shade on a beer because you have a preference. I've always tried to look at the beer as it is presented and leave my personal flavour biases on the side, I can't stand most dry-hopped sours, but when I have one I always try to see if it is what it says its going to be and relate that truth to the world. 

  This Wednesday finds me leaning into this rant a little more than usual because I care about what people ask me when they want a recommendation about beer. So, I will always fall back on my Trusted Breweries and know that anything I suggest to someone that comes from them is sure to deliver. That isn't something I give easily and after almost 6 years of drinking, learning and writing about beer, I still wish to find more places to give that kind of trust to.  I hope today's little journey through my mind helps someone to examine their relationship with their beer and the breweries they frequent. The choices we have now are almost infinite and our dollars speak volumes about who and what we are.

Polk

Ten of my most trusted breweries, click to order beer from any of them and enjoy!

Great Lakes Brewery

Nickel Brook Brewing

Collective Arts Brewing

Left Field Brewing

Merit Brewing

Silversmith Brewing

Shacklands Brewing

Sawdust City Brewing

Muddy York Brewing

Clifford Brewing

A better Polk I'll be

   At some point in the last three years I bought my last two-four of macro beer and didn't know it. I wasn't aware of it nor did I make that a conscious decision. It happened while I was still drinking rather heavily but I didn't plan on it nor could I have understood the transformation I was embarking upon.
  I've been known as an outspoken, even cruel critic of macro beers as my baptism into craft beer finally took hold and I went through the evangelical phase with a gusto I used to reserve for when we'd bring out the dual funnel and I'd chug 4 Brava lights in under 15 seconds. I railed against pseudo craft in all it's iterations and heaped scorn on those who would indulge the perceived evil that was Goose Island or Mill Street. It was as though I took my dismissal of the better beer I had shunned for years in pursuit of the cheapest drunk I could find and channeled it into bringing that rage down on anyone I deemed not true craft beer.
  I have struggled for most of my adult life with poor impulse control and made decisions that left me scrambling to live. I turned to beer because it fit my persona as a party guy who didn't give a fuck about anything and even as my personal Rome came burning down around my head, I continued to plunge head long into binge drinking that left me shaking my head when I'd wake up after another lost evening.
  Since my journey into craft beer, I have developed my palate and continue to refine it every day. It was a pleasure to leave behind the bland and boring Old Milwaukee and MGD and explore hoppy IPAs, fruity Saisons and so on. But I still woke far too many mornings with a hole in my memory and some great beers drunk in the blackout that I would never see again. The quality and cost of my beers had changed but I had not truly left my old self behind, I was just hiding behind the façade of craft beer and continuing my destructive ways.
  In May of 2017, I counted and posted every single beer I drank that month and was kind of flummoxed that the final tally numbered 150. No doubt a little spurred on by trying to raise the total and be cool about it, I nonetheless took action to be more conservative in my consumption and started to have less of my go to craft beers in the fridge and focus on trying to review everything I consumed but not overdoing it. There were indeed a few more moments of ridiculous behaviour but slowly I could feel the tide turning and as of the last few months, I haven't truly been outside the norm when it comes to consumption. A couple a night with perhaps 3 or 4 on my night off and that seems to be it for this old fella. The desire to slip into a beer induced haze has left me and all I feel the need for now is to experience every single nuance and subtle note my beer has to offer.
  So how does this tie into my not buying macro beer anymore? Well, what I discovered was that while a large part of what I do is all about supporting the local craft brewers and encouraging others to do the same, it is also about drinking less and enjoying more. I shun events where the goal is mass consumption, regardless of the participating breweries. Let's face it, the only reason your going to a beer fest is to get snackered in the guise of trying all the beer. I don't want to beer shame people anymore (well except green beer, that stuff is so nasty), but I also wont buy it because it serves no purpose except to intoxicate as multiples of any beer seem to be the antithesis of everything I stand for. No one buys a single can of Pabst for the flavour, it's designed to deliver the 5% in a crisp and clean boring lager that has you reaching for another one so much you might just be DJ Khaled. So I don't buy macro anymore because it doesn't suit my needs, it gives me nothing to think about and certainly doesn't help me support my local community or engage in my favourite pastime of reviewing and talking about beer.
  I am trying to be a little better about letting people enjoy the things they want without crapping on them and I'd like to think I am succeeding. I no longer have room in my fridge or glass for anything I don't want to explore and I am confident that I have seen enough broken mornings with the empties to prove it that I no longer need to purchase any of the big boys of beer. But drink what you want and I'll still be here doing my thing, bringing the best I can find and shining a light on things that maybe aren't quite right. I'll drink a 50 when I'm at the legion and maybe a Mill Street if that's what is available but if I'm given the option, I'll choose true craft every time, be the DD or have a nice full bodied Red Wine instead. The choice is yours and I will do my utmost to respect it.


Cheers!


Polk