It’s A Craft Beer Thing!

Craft beer drinkers are different. Although they’re more of us than ever, everyone else still looks at us as weirdos and beer snobs! Domestic drinkers still don’t get us, and commercials poke fun at craft beer regularly. No matter how popular craft beer gets, the culture is still looked at quizzically. They don’t get us, and some of them never will. They don’t understand how we want to try multiple styles of beer, or that every brewery does something different. There’s a lot about our drinking habits there’s nobody outside of craft beer would understand, and no one recognizes this more than me. So I offer this article to celebrate many aspects of craft beer drinking, and talk about things that only we understand!

If you’re like me, you might have a spouse or loved one that doesn’t drink craft beer, and doesn’t understand your need to have a fridge devoted to keeping your beer cold. They don’t understand why special releases are important, or why we have a diverse collection of beer. The bombers and growlers we collect are a mystery, and they may not understand the need to associate with other drinkers to do bottle shares, and get-togethers. I have a lot of T-shirts, and there’s a complete misunderstanding of why I have so many from different breweries. As a beer writer, I try to support as many breweries as possible, but this is something I could not convey to a non-craft beer drinker. From the outside, all of this looks excessive, and crazy!

So as we drink, many of us visit breweries, and it’s normal to want to collect something to remember the visit. For as many as I manage to visit, I only suggest getting stickers, but it is appropriate to get pint glasses, growlers, T-shirts, coasters, and many other things to remember the visit by. I have managed to get a handful of everyone of these things, and my collection of brewery memorabilia is quite large. If you have been into craft beer for any amount of time, maybe you have a similar collection. So what do you do when someone asks you to get rid of it? People who don’t drink craft beer don’t understand, and this is why I have come to just collect stickers because I have run out of space!

And now let’s talk about glassware, and how we seem to get so much of it. I have been going to beer festivals for nearly 2 decades, and I’ve gotten a commemorative glass at every single one of them. Until I decided to purge them, I had nearly 100 sampler glasses. While these are great for bottle shares, and sampling, they really don’t have any other use besides being shot glasses. There came a point when I decided I didn’t really need them because I use real glassware when I do bottle shares, And they just take up too much space, even when they’re stackable! I never decided consciously to collect them, and I realize it was silly to keep them for so long! But you might also have a similar collection, and I would never judge you for it!

Speaking of glassware, most of us have a lot of it, and if we’re with a non-craft beer drinker, they want us to put most of it in storage. I have a lot of really cool glasses, but I no longer have the space to fill my cupboards with them. Part of the problem is anytime anyone I know traveled, they brought me back pint glasses from breweries they visited. I also have been given many throughout my own travels as well, and I’ve even purchased them when they looked really cool. Consequently I have well over 100 pint glasses, many of them that hold specific memories that I cherish. I realize this may sound excessive, but I’m sure a lot of you have a large pint collection too. Unless you have a bar in your basement, you may not have anywhere display it. Maybe you’ve already got rid of them, and I get it! A lot of people through the years have pawned off there glasses on me. I have enough, and I’m done collecting them, and this has been a hard decision to make!

So we collect things as craft beer drinkers, and there comes a point in our life when we have to pick and choose because unless you are a hoarder, or have lots of space for it, you will run out of room. I love craft beer, but I don’t need to keep collecting things I don’t have room for. This has been a decision that has been long in coming, but as I also collect music and books, so I have limited space. Most of my brewery T-shirts are rolled in a drawer, but I probably have too many of them. As I get older, I don’t need to look like a frat boy every time I go out, so I don’t need a million T-shirts, and that’s OK. But I’m not giving rid of what I have, and I’m proud of the collection that I’ve already amassed, and should you see me at an event, I’ll probably be wearing one. Hopefully you will have one on too!

So I’m sure there are lots of reasons I haven’t mentioned why people outside of the craft beer industry don’t understand us, we don’t have to make excuses for the things we collect while we drink. We like to drink beer from the proper glassware, so we have a lot of it, and we get coasters and stickers and T-shirts when we go places that have craft beer. It’s a craft beer thing, and we have nothing to be ashamed of, but when we get excessive in our collections, we need to probably slow down. That goes with our beer collections as well! I stopped collecting it because it’s gotten too large, and I’m sure you understand if you collect beer as well. Most of what we age is meant to be drunk in the winter anyway, so I encourage you to purge your collection this year if it’s gotten too large! Beer was meant to be enjoyed, and I hope you enjoy it while you drink!

So I make no apologies for the hobby that I love, but even I as a beer writer realize that there can be excess. I love craft beer, and I know you do as well. It’s all right if other people don’t understand us, and that may not change anytime soon, but I think we can all agree that there can be too much of a good thing, and the stuff in our collections might take up a lot of space! I won’t tell you to get rid of it, or put it in storage, and I only want you to be mindful of it! It’s a craft beer thing, and we have a vibrant culture I am proud to be a part of! Everyone else may not get us, so let’s stick together. Enjoy your beer with friends, And if we get a chance to have a beer together, know that I will enjoy it as much as you!