Drink what you like.

So here's the deal: I like good beer. I drink good beer. I want my friends to like and drink good beer.

Not all of my friends care about beer the way I do, and that's fine.

Not all of my friends agree with my stand against the big brewers. Truthfully, I think most agree that smaller companies that are more passionate about what they are doing, are the ones we should support, but macro brews are everywhere and pretty cheap, so they get consumed. Not only that, the macro brewers probably spend more on advertising than craft brewers do actually brewing beer, so it's in your brain whether you like it or not.

I can't remember the source, it might have been the movie Beer Wars, but Sam Koch of Boston Beer Company says: "The big guys spill more beer per year than we make". I found it again in this article.

The point is, I believe there are good, and even great brewers at the big breweries, but what they are producing is not a product of passion. It's a means to profit. If that's your thing, that's fine. Everyone has a thing.

Speaking of everyone having a thing, they do, right? Some people are very into wine, some are into brands (I only wore Nike shoes for years and years). I know someone who will ONLY drink water they know is filtered. Not an 'I'll drink filtered when it's there and unfiltered when it's not', this is 'I will skip drinking any water if I don't know that it's filtered'. You know what? That's totally their right. I don't happen to be that picky, I just want water, and usually a lot of it. I will say though, that I've noticed a lot more about the flavor of water recently. Some of the water here, whether it's filtered or not, just tastes funny. Sometimes, the water in my apartment comes out kinda orange. I'm starting to think I might want to filter that stuff before I drink it.

Point being, everyone has their thing, or hopefully they do. I encourage it, even if I don't agree with it.

I take quite a bit of crap from people because I like my beer good. I'm fine with that too. The more vocal I am about it, the more I put myself out there as a target. Sometimes, I'm obnoxious about it. Maybe it's not cool, but it's my right. I think my passion for drinking good, quality beer made by people who love what they are doing, and my penchant for snobbery when I'm out with friends causes people to really overlook something: I always encourage people to drink what they like. ALSO, if someone hands me a beer, you will not hear me ask what kind it is. The only thing I'm obliged to ask is if it has wheat in it. That would be a bad thing for my gluten allergy. Yesterday, I drank a fair amount of Bud Light. When I sat down with my friends, it's what they were drinking and I just rolled with it. At the end of the Oakland Half Marathon on Sunday, they were giving each of age racer 2 Coors Lights each. I had FOUR.

I will drink almost any beer.  Point of fact: Stone Brewing makes a belgo-anise imperial stout. I love Stone Brewing, I will NOT drink this beer. I've tried it twice, it's disgusting to me. I have a bottle of it, and I'm just waiting for a bottle share to give it away.

Now, be prepared. If you ask me what I think of a beer, don't be pissed about the answer. NO I DO NOT LIKE BLUE MOON. NO I DO NOT LIKE SHOCK TOP. Stella has been being made for a very long time, NO I DO NOT LIKE STELLA. There are a lot of beers that I don't particularly like. Having a long tenured pedigree does not make your beer inherently better. Stella is a lager from Belgium, with very little character. The Stella glass or 'chalice' isn't even the proper glassware for a lager. It looks better, so that's what they serve it in.

Big brewing makes these beers, and uses lower quality ingredients or even adjuncts like rice to get alcohol in it for less money, but advertises them as good craft beers. That in and of itself is not the real problem I have with them. Everyone needs to make money, or at least most of us do. The fact that they deceptively advertise themselves as craft beer, market themselves as craft beer, take up space on the shelves where craft beer is sold (mainly in supermarkets and convenience stores). There is a reason that you won't find any mention of Coors on the Blue Moon website. They don't want people to associate their 'craft beer' with their 'banquet beer'. This is true of Shock Top and Third Shift as well. I wasn't sure if Third Shift was a macro or micro, until I tasted it. I knew right away that it was a well marketed macro-disguise.

At any rate, you have your thing. I have my thing. My thing is beer, and I'm not ashamed to be a little snobby about it.

Hey, what's that you're drinkin'?

Hi there, my name's Gabriel, and I love beer.

I'm not a professional writer. I am not a professional photographer. Hell, I'm not even a professional beer taster (or judge). [shameless job hunt plug] I AM: A passionate customer service advocate, manager, project manager, social media and community enthusiast who is looking for work.

WHO ARE YOU REALLY?

What I am, if you ask my friends, is a: beer snob, beer expert, the beer guy, brews moonshine, brews bathtub gin, you want to know about beer - ask Gabe, you want to talk about beer - talk to Gabe, you want to hear about his cat - talk to Gabe (<---wait, what?).

I started my running blog a few months ago by making a list, so to simplify things, here are a few things to know about me:

NICE A LIST?

• This is what I look like (beard occasionally included) ------->
• I love beer
• I love running
• I am a homebrewer
• I love brewing beer
• I love talking about beer
• I think there is a beer for all occasions
• I've been to A LOT of brewfests from the Hop Scotch brewfest in Seattle to the Double IPA Festival in Hayward California with stops in Portland and Eugene as well.
• I was raised in Eugene
• I don't know of a style of beer I don't like or absolutely won't try to drink
• I've lived in California, the Bay Area to be specific, for nearly 4 years. I once said I would never move to California (I love it here)
• I believe that beer can be part of a healthy diet. You may not be able to trust a skinny chef, but you can certainly trust a skinny brewer!
• I lost nearly 50 pounds while still drinking beer
• I have run more than 300 consecutive days, including four 1/2 marathon personal records
• I spent a weekend in San Diego in September '11, visited 12 breweries, sampled more than 60 beers and helped brew a batch of homebrew
• I think there is a LOT of pretentiousness in brewing, some very subtle
• I think all beer should have a 'brewed on' and a 'bottled on' date
• I will drink beer out of a bottle, can, jar, glass, plastic cup, SOLO cup, or right off the tap.
• I used to HATE beer
• I could make this list even longer, but I guess if you want to know more you'll have to read some more of my blogs!

WHAT:

What is the goal of this blog? I'd like to share the occasional tidbit with my friends about my experiences with beer. I'd like to have some of my beer friends write a little something and post it in my blog to share their experiences. I want people to understand why I'm so passionate about beer. I want to make 1 million dollars. I want people to learn how awesome and diverse the craft beer community is.

HOW:

How am I planning on accomplishing this? Original content such as beer opinions, event reviews, brewer interviews and profiles, photo blog (maybe some words, maybe not),

WHAT'S THE FREQUENCY KENNETH?

How frequently will this blog be updated? Well, I'd like to think at least every couple of weeks, but there is some competition for my time. I have a running blog that I want to update fairly frequently. I'm still looking for work, so obviously that will take precedence over most of my time. I tweet on Twitter and face on Facebook, so that will take some time. I run every day, that will take some time. I play softball once a week. Like I said, hopefully every couple of weeks, sometimes more, sometimes less.

YOU'RE ON TWITTER? OH!

I recently changed my Twitter handle from 'gjoscott' to @runninghoppy, you can read about why here. You can also witness my obvious super skills of a graphic artist, used to make my new Twitter logo below (I 'drew' that hop cone myself in MS Paint!). 

FOR NOW, I LEAVE YOU WITH THIS:

I'm Gabriel, I love beer and I hope to share my experiences with the cyber-world, my real life friends, and ANYONE WHO WILL LISTEN.

Thanks for reading. Subscribe. Follow. Shower adoration upon me. Whatever you wish, just do it!

Cheers!

Gabriel