Help a Brother Out
Hey, can you all take a moment and fill out the following form? It’s for a class, but I plan to figure out a way to make it happen for reals. Thanks in advance.
Top 5 List for September 19, 2011
The last list featured some videos with a few talking points and beer pairings. This post will just feature five videos with which I am currently obsessed. Comment at will. Tell me what I should be drinking. Expect a normal post on Wednesday.
1. A little Bonnie “Prince” Billie gets us started…
Pairs well with Green Flash West Coast IPA.
2. This just sounds like the 90’s – a trend in music I’m enjoying.
Although named after a much heavier band, I’m thinking of trying this with New Belgium’s Clutch, a dark sour ale.
3. “Michael Jackson / One million dollars / You feel me? / Holla”
Something weird to pair with that would be New Belgium’s new sour pumpkin ale, Kick. (I’m sure there will be more on this.)
4. A taste of Velvet Underground?
Dark, rich, much like that Stone 15 – I had another this week and there’s still one in the fridge.
5. Ah, and something new to anticipate.
Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout…if we see any.
Leave Them Wanting More
Sleater-Kinney left us wanting more.
I was reading this excellent interview with Wild Flag’s Carrie Brownstein and Mary Timony. Many themes arose throughout. There was participation versus passivity, getting back to music, how music changes for us as we get older, etc. The one point that seemed most important to me was leaving your audience wanting more.
Brownstein’s former band, Sleater-Kinney, did that. With their final album, The Woods, S-K destroyed speakers and listener expectations forever. Left in its wake was an excitement for another S-K record that would never come. Despite the crushing blow of their breakup, Sleater-Kinney left on top with fans pining for a reunion a la [enter every 90’s indie band ever].
The idea that grabbed me isn’t just the fact that Sleater-Kinney went out on top. Rather, it’s the value in leaving people wanting more that often gets lost. Sure, we always want more[1], but when that desire is left unfulfilled, the desire grows. Brownstein puts it best in the context of a band’s set:
It’s like when you go to a live show and a band only plays for 45 minutes instead of an hour and a half. You’re sort of annoyed, but at the same time, you were transfixed the whole time, and you weren’t checking your watch after an hour.
I have been a longtime believer in the shorter set list. I prefer bands to play for 45 minutes (openers for 30). It’s better to leave a gig wanting more than to be glad that it’s over. Bands don’t do this enough. Instead, they opt for playing longer sets where the quality starts to take a hit with each progressive song. That or the audience just sort of grows tired. The best sets in my lifetime have been shorter, not longer.
The same goes for albums and discography. An album that never ends starts to get old. I’ll just skip the last track so that I can hear something else[2]. Bands like Wolf Parade or At The Drive-In had short, memorable runs before calling it quits, leaving their fans longing for more. Conversely, the Flaming Lips are starting to enter that realm usually only reserved for the likes of the Rolling Stones or [enter any musician/band from your parent’s generation]. Another band that has played too long is Interpol who should have stopped after the first record. A lot can be said for calling it quits just when your fan base wants more.
Will we see CBS in Middle-MO?
This happens in the beer world as well. Of course, breweries don’t go out of business once they’ve reached the pinnacle of success. Instead, they limit our access to prized beers. This has occurred recently with the hype surrounding Stone’s Anniversary Escondidian Black IPA, but there are lots of other examples. Special releases like Stone’s anniversary ales and collaborations generally hard to get but easy to like. Even the super-rare releases like those handed out at one-day events by the likes of Russian River, Three Floyds, Smuttynose, etc. make the beers just that much more wanted. In fact, these beers often fetch huge rewards for their owners on eBay.
The one-off or special releases that are only obtainable at the pub or online can suck some of the fun out of the experience[3]. However, the annual releases of limited release beers tend to pump the fun back into beer geekery much the same way the 45 minute set does. Founders is set to release their Harvest Ale (fresh hops FTW!), Kentucky Bourbon Stout, and hopefully/maybe their Canadian Breakfast Stout. These beers are scarce but so worth the effort, especially for beer-deprived Middle Missouri.
What these beers and bands do by leaving their fans wanting more is increase the desire to experience the unforgettable one more time. It’s win-win, really. Breweries sell more beer, create buzz for other releases. In the case of growler-only releases, they bring more folks to the pub. Bands insure that their catalog will remain vital and provide a steady stream of royalty dollars[4] long after they’ve hung up their guitars or moved on to other, less-profitable projects. Plus, if they ever do reunite, there’s usually a pretty big pay off at the other end.
So, the next time you complain about a band’s 45-minute set or the fact that your beer shop limited its customers to two bottles of that super-great, super-rare brew, be mindful of how much it just makes you want it more. It’s like that kid in high school you wanted to date so badly, but he/she was never that into you. So, you pined after that one person for four years. Hell, you still think about your high school crush to this day. We want what we can’t have, but we have to know a little about it before we want it. This is why we reminisce about our favorite bands in college and spend an entire year talking about Hopslam. We were left wanting more and we’ll continue to want until our needs are met…or we find the next thing.
Notes:
1In fact, I was in the middle of taking up Mike’s idea for a post on collecting when I read the mentioned interview and decided to go in another direction. That post will be finished as well.
2And that’s saying something, because I love the album.
3Excluding those who actually attend these events and do get their mits on these tasty, tasty beers. It’s plenty of fun for them. I won’t begrudge them their enjoyment for prioritizing their beer needs. I know that feeling, but I often indulge my rock show needs more than my rare beer needs.
4Most musicians make way more money from touring or selling their songs to advertisers, but royalties for musicians not dealing with major labels can sometimes be quite valuable.
Readers’ Choice
I have just run out of time to post anything. So, what I’ll do is post some randomly-selected image and ask my readership to choose my next post. Depending on what you suggest, I will either turn your ideas into multiple posts or somehow work them into one monster post. Just leave some suggestions in the comments and I will do my best to oblige. Oh, and generally stick to topics involving beer and/or indie rock.
(Hopefully, this doesn’t end up as a Freshly Pressed post and I find over a thousand suggestions of what to post.)
Click for source.
A New, Looser Interpretation of Terroir
Terroir comes from the word terre “land”. It was originally a French term in wine, coffee and tea used to denote the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place bestowed upon particular varieties.
Or so says some guy on Wikipedia. Terroir is one of those things the wine world tries desperately to claim as all their own. However, I’d argue that a more nuanced, progressive interpretation of the concept allows room for many other things. Even the Wikipedia entry hints at the possibility of terroir in things such as coffee or tea. I’d argue there’s terroir in everything, but for the purposes of this blog, I’ll focus on the terroir in craft beer and music.
Honestly, I’m not really sure how wine can claim terroir and beer can’t. In fact, local agricultural and environmental factors may play a larger role in the character of a beer than wine since beer requires so many more ingredients. Sure, in modern production, wine more often than beer sticks to regional factors in creating flavor, but there are breweries who use only local products to produce their beverage that can’t be discounted.
That said, the original concept was to divide regions by the flavor profiles they produced in wine. A newer, more global take on this idea may look at the characteristics of various locales on the same product. For example, a beer produced in Colorado might use hops from the Pacific Northwest, Belgain yeast, barley from Canada, and local water to create something that recalls all of these regions. Sure, to the traditionalist, this might not be a case of terroir. However, I’d argue that the unique characteristics of each ingredient combines to make something hard to duplicate.
Maybe that doesn’t work for your understanding of terroir. What about the ability of humans to import all the ingredients of a region to create something that tastes and smells just as it would had it been brewed closer to its origin? In earlier discussions on this blog, I mentioned how engineering and brewing know-how can often allow a brewery to easily recreate an illusion of terroir with little regard to location.
Lost in all of this is the idea that humans can be a part of terroir. Literally, terroir refers to the land. However, this has been generally understood to include the water, climate, and other local factors. So, why not the people? They too are influenced by local factors and bring cultural perspectives to craft that can be unique to a particular terroir. People have to be considered whether you have a strict understanding or terroir or not.
At this point, I get that my interpretation may be too loose, too deconstructed, post-modern for your tastes, but I make similar arguments for many traditions and constructs beyond brewing (and music). For example, English is an evolving language that reinvents itself constantly, inventing new words, spellings, and conventions at every turn. The ideas or art, marriage, race, or the role of government are changing constantly. So, why can’t we adjust our idea of terroir to match the global times in which we live?
Now that I’ve cleared that up, I’d like to move on to terroir in music. Terroir, IMO, manifests itself in two ways when it comes to popular music. First, there’s the scene. There was a reason all the major labels flocked to Seattle 20 years ago. They all wanted a piece of that grungy terroir. Second, bands take on the terroir of a place when they write and/or record in a particular place. Why else would bands opt to record in Memphis or Chicago?
The music scene is an indie thing. Corporate leaches try as they may to capture the excitement of a thriving rock scene, but they’re often three or four years too late. Bands in scenes feed off each other, encourage one another, and often influence each other’s sound. There’s a reason most bands in Brooklyn sound like the Walkmen. Those aforementioned gunge bands all had a similar aesthetic even if they were decidedly different bands. I still get confused when I hear the opening bars to any Chicago band from just before the turn of the century. These scenes represent a very human, inorganically organic terroir like one can never find in wine.
Eventually, bands look to capture a sound that’s influenced them or turned them on. Beirut is a perfect example of a “band” that takes the influences of the road with it. Whether it be Gypsy music, French pop, or Mexican mariachi, Beirut has adopted each of these sounds as its own. (Although, it sounds as if the new one breaks from this. Stay tuned.) Another example is when a band like Pavement (among many, many others from the era) headed down to Memphis to recorded at the venerable Easley Studios, providing a certain amount of smoked BBQ and southern comfort not usually attained in northern cities.
Anything contains a certain amount of terroir. For me, terroir is a flavor or sound that can only be produced by the necessary ingredients from various locales. I don’t really care if it’s all from one location or whether it comes from all over. The end result is what matters. And within that beer or between the notes of a record, you can sense the regional influence. It’s that funk from Belgian yeast strands or the steel guitar from a month in Bluegrass country. Terroir is the undeniable piney character of a Northwestern hop or the grittiness of an album recorded in Manhattan.
I prefer not to be held down by tradition. Building International Coalitions Through Beer and Pavement is about redefining the world to better grasp humanity and the enjoyment of such things as craft beer and indie rock. If this blog has a bit of terroir, that might be it. Now, you should add your terroir to the mix and give me your take. Have I bastardized a concept that should remain unchanged or have I challenged constructs that needed challenging.
Or should I write about something else? Expect another top-5 on Monday. Cheers!
Um
There are things to post, but I just don’t have time. I have a top-5 (or 10) list, a couple Stephen Malkmus posts, and another post on some crazy chance meetings I’ve had. Stay tuned.
On Entitlement
“Entitlement” is a charged term in today’s political climate[1]. So, I’ll avoid the political angle and discuss the more important craft beer and indie rock sorts of entitlement we may encounter. I’ll also refrain from re-posting the video that prompted such a post, but you can find it here if you’re really interested.
Entitlement as a god-given right is an American ideal that won’t die. Even Tea-Baggers feel entitled to all their money and guns[2]. We all feel we deserve whatever we get…as long as it’s what we want for ourselves as well as the evil wishes for our enemies. This entitlement isn’t always even that related to the American dream. Nope, sometimes it just has to do with stupid shit like expecting the President won’t preempt your stories or Dairy Queen won’t run out of sprinkles on your birthday.
Despite the fact that liquor and beer distribution laws in each state widely differ, beer enthusiasts expect every brewery to ship to their product to their podunk, little village way out in North DaIdaho. Sorry. Craft breweries are small and wouldn’t be as good if they were large enough to distribute to every 7-Eleven from here to Eternity, New Mexico. There are too many obstacles for breweries to distribute anywhere.
Even when a brewery does find its way into a market, whatever they send is never enough. We only received four cases of that. Or We never saw any of that super rare brew you put out last year in gold casks. For one, be happy with whatever you get from your favorite breweries. For two, they’re not called “white whales” for nothing. Sometimes we have to put forth some effort for rarer beers. That or we need to be fine without a rare beer now and again.
For the most part, if you want better beer distribution, you have to work for it. Write letters and blog posts urging breweries to come your way or up their stock making its way into your state. Then, once it’s on the shelves, buy the shit out of it. Drink every keg and cask dry. Otherwise, there’s no incentive for breweries to fulfill your entitlement.
Music brings a slightly different set of entitlements. We’ve been able to get music just about any way possible over the past couple of decades. I always complain about the fact that there are no good record stores in this town (more on that later), but I can generally get whatever I want via the intertubes, specifically through Insound. No, music fans feel entitled to see their favorite musicians and bands live, in the flesh. It doesn’t matter that their market can’t possibly support such an act or that a 75-city tour every year just isn’t feasible. We want our rock stars and we want them now. Or something.
Even when our favorite bands make the trek to our little burgs with tiny clubs housing shitty sound systems, it’s not enough to just play an hour set and move on to the next city. Oh no. We want witty banter. We want our favorite song from your first album TWICE. We want to chit-chat after the show at the merch booth. We want the set list and a drum stick. And hey, if you get lucky…
We forget that touring musicians are working stiffs like the rest of us[3].They have to tour to sell records and often just to make a living. They owe us their allotted time on stage. Expect anywhere from 45 minutes to a couple hours of music. Banter and antics are extra.
That said, there are a few entitlements to which we are all…er…entitled. This is where the “life” and “pursuit of happiness” promised by our founding fathers comes into play.
- Every town deserves a decent record store. This means that we all should be within a 20 minute drive of a record store that stocks new and used vinyl and CD’s[4] for our perusal. Currently, my town does not have one of these. I once considered making one happen, but I don’t know that this would be the wisest of business decisions.
- If we are entitled to a record store, then we definitely are entitled to at least one bar with multiple revolving taps and a well-stocked bottle list. Luckily, my town does come through in this area. We have one really strong performer as well as several other, suitable options. We are not, however, entitled to one of those monstrous 40+ tap establishments. Those kinds of bars have to be earned.
- Clubs should feature an adequate sound system along with someone who knows how to work it. I won’t name names, but certain clubs seem to think it’s okay to set up the sound for a heavy metal act every night. Sorry, but Neko Case and Glenn Danzig probably don’t require the same set up.
- It’s really not so much to ask that half your taps and most of your bottle selection be craft beer. I get that there are certain industrial rice-adjunct lager-makers that compel ($) you to stock their beer-like products, but there should be room for some variety, especially local and regional favorites. Oh, and Blue Moon does not count.
Notes:
1That first line is for all those English professors in my life (particularly the one with which I live) as they return to their other jobs as teachers of America’s (and South Korea’s) future in the art of writing arguments and such.
2That’s the last time I get political. I promise. Maybe.
3OK. Not all of them.
4It goes without saying that this would include a substantial amount of indie, but every music/record store has that nowadays.
Grab Bag
I thought I was going to have many new posts for you, but time is running out and some of these topics won’t be as good if they’re not fresh. So, I’ll summarize some topics I was considering. They may turn into full-fledged posts on their own, but for now, they’re here. I guess.
I don’t really listen to much hip hop, nor do I listen to a ton of Shellac, but this story really intrigued me. Basically, Steve Albini (yes, that Steve Albini) called out underground hip hop up-and-comers Odd Future for being rude. More interesting than the simple fact that rock/rap stars were being assholes is the fact that they were in Barcelona (days before I arrived), a foreign country. I don’t know what this is getting at, but there’s something there. Maybe this should turn into a post on American exceptionalism. I mean, I do tend to gravitate toward American craft beer and American indie rock. Moving on…
Stephen Malkmus likes to hang out in record stores. I do as well. However, I live in a town without a good record store in which to hang. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to start up a record store in this economy or in such a climate that doesn’t seem to support independent music. So, I’m thinking there needs to be a beer shop that does what the record store used to do. Enter my next project: a beer store. I’m a long way from anything happening, but there are discussions. I may take some community classes this fall and start asking around. I already have some leads to distributors, an idea for a concept (Bottles and Cans), and a model based on a wine shop that also features a bar. There will be updates, assuming the beer bubble doesn’t burst.
Then, there’s this…
The whole idea of expecting so much more from our heroes has me intrigued. I’m thinking of music fans that expect bands to keep releasing records and tour their town every year, much like Jay Smooth’s point about Lauryn Hill. The beer community isn’t excluded from this phenomena. In fact, craft beer is worse. Beer nerds are incensed that we don’t get certain breweries distributed. When new releases come out, some are pissed that someone beat them to the final bottles in town or that the distributor didn’t send an extra case to their market. There’s a certain amount of entitlement we seem to have and it sort of ruins the enjoyment or takes away the potential of the hunt.
Still, there’s more worthy topics…
I’m still mulling over the beer blog vs. music blog post. There’s definitely a totally different beer blog scene than that of music blogs. In fact, I recently posted for the Sour Session and received a lot of feedback. Plus, any time I post on beer, there’s a spike in my numbers. It even lasts a day or two. This idea, like the others above, is only half-baked and will take some time to figure out…assuming something else doesn’t come up.
This article was shared with me and the ideas within basically encapsulate my entire record collection and/or aesthetic preference. Of all these, this one will deserve the closest look, but I may have to buy the book first.
And finally, I will be doing some sort of post for the 20th(!) anniversary of Nevermind. My entire worldview may have changed at that moment. Of course, I was 16 and doesn’t everyone’s worldview change somewhat at 16? Speaking of teenagers, Francis Bean Cobain is 19.
Oh, and grrrls covering Pavement is always a nice find. This should be worked into an addendum for that girls and Pavement post I did a while back.
Stay tuned…
No Time to Dabble
Since proclaiming myself a gentleman dabbler, time for such pursuits has been scarce. Or at least the time for blogging about my hobbies has. Work has been killing me. The heat has been debilitating. And my current obsession just proves once again that we should all kill our televisions.
Finding time for extracurricular pursuits as well as telling your about them has been a chore. Between traveling for work and family as well as it being the busiest time of year for my job, there just isn’t time for beer, Pavement, or coalition building. I recognize these are secondary or even tertiary in the grand scheme of things. Still, my hobbies and dabbles are a respite from the real world. No economic crisis or partisan blowhards here. Nope. I need my craft beer, indie rock, and this blog to keep me sane.
This post will get a huge monkey off my back. Over a week ago, I had a long list of things about which I wanted to blog. Most of those ideas have escaped me, but this feels like a comeback. There is another post coming on a Thursday[1]. Beyond that, I have at least one idea for another post. So, we should be good over here.
My other duties blogging have not come easy either. The work blog is barely keeping up and The CoMo Collective is sputtering a bit. Hell, the Twitter feed is even slowing to a halt. So, it’s not just here. I just don’t seem to have the time at the moment for any of these pastimes.
That said, I feel this post (and Thursday’s) will be my official slump busters. In fact, they are harbingers of good things to come, me thinks. Today busts the slump. Tomorrow will make my commitment to the beer blogosphere complete. After that, I’ll argue whether this should be a beer blog or a music blog. Somewhere, I have a show or two to attend and a record to review. So, Building International Coalitions should be fine regardless of how little time I have to dabble.
Note:
1That’s right. A Thursday. Actually, the post is set for Friday.
Why We Hate Geeks, Nerds, and Snobs
That’s right. I’m in-favor of the Oxford comma and I’m back from the dead.
I could have easily added connoisseur to the title, but that’s been covered already. Regardless, we hate them all, even if we are geeks, nerds, or snobs ourselves about beer, indie rock, or whatever. There are things we…er….they do and say that cause us to reject their ideas of beer and music. Although they are extremely knowledgeable in whatever special interest, we tune them out as to listen to them sucks all the fun out of something that should be enjoyed by all. Some acknowledge their own snobbery and are more accepting of others. However, most of us don’t like being told how to enjoy a good beer or an album.
Below are the ten things geeks, nerds, snobs, and connoisseurs do that makes it hard to take their advice and opinions on beer and indie rock seriously.
10. It was always better way-back-when.
Pavement was so much better on their Slanted and Enchanted tour than their reunion tour last summer. OR The ’08 120 Minute IPA was far superior to this year’s batch…For those who have discovered a band or beer just recently, there’s no way we can know what it was like to experience either when in their prime. It’s an unfair detail to mention in conversation. Age does not mean one has experienced all that is worth experiencing, particularly if you’re still in-search of white whales.
9. “Yeah, that’s nice, but have you experienced…”
It doesn’t matter what cool story you can bring to the table, the “expert” will always have one to top yours. I loved the Yo La Tengo show last month, but there are lots of people who thought the variation they saw on the spinning wheel was superior. Maybe. Why can’t both experiences be great? Why is a beer on tap automatically a better tasting experience than from the bottle?
8. No dialogue, just references.
This one is an epidemic for my generation. We don’t have conversations these days. We make pop culture references as way to make some meaning or connection in our lives. This practice is particularly bad when beer nerds and indie geeks “discuss” their tastes. Sea and Cake. Joan of Arc. Coctails. Rachels… La Folie. Russian River Supplication. Pliny. Dreadnaught.
7. Name-dropping when you’re not on a first name basis with anyone of note.
I love the guys who refer to their heroes on a first-name basis because they spoke to a guy at the merch booth or told a brewer how much you loved his beer. I met Brian Strumke of Stillwater Artisanal Ales at a bar in D.C. earlier this week. We chatted for while, we friended each other Facebook, but I don’t know that I’ll talk about “Brian” as if we’re close. He was a cool guy and I couldn’t resist mentioning him in this post, but our conversation doesn’t give me any more insight into craft beer than you may have.
6. Although that was great, I know how it could have been better, epic even.
You’re out, enjoying one of your favorite bands when your connoisseur buddy turns and says something like “This would have been waaaay better had they just played ‘South Carolina.'” Maybe, but they didn’t. Why ruin a good time by focusing on what didn’t happen?
5. “What do you think? I hate it.”
Ever been asked by a friend or acquaintance whether you liked a beer or were digging a band on stage and when you say you do like it, your partner proceeds to explain why this beer is infected or the band is completely off. Instead of offering his opinion first, he tests you to see whether you’re worthy or not and then details how wrong and ignorant you are.
4. “Have I told you this before?”
Snobs love to hear themselves talk and a big part of that talk is the one story he tells you over and over like it’s so amazing that you grow more impressed with every new telling. I don’t care that you saw Elliott Smith during his Either/Or days. Wow, great. You’ve been to Russian River and tried every beer on the sampler tray. It gets so bad that you start to think that this is the only thing your snobby friend has ever done and does that really qualify him as a snob?
3. Picking apart every last detail until enjoyment is impossible.
You’re sitting there, sipping on this excellent IPA, and watching the hottest band on Pitchfork. In one ear, you have your buddy explaining why the hop profile is out of balance with the malt bill. In the other ear, another friend is pointing out how the bassist is so drunk, he’s missing every cue. Who gives a fuck? Just enjoy the beers and show.
2. Once you come around, let’s throw out something shocking.
OK. So, you’ve figured out your discussion mate. He loves the sourest beers. He only listens to vinyl. Then, he drops the bombshell just to prove that he thinks about these things on a different level than you can comprehend or that he just knows more about everything… He loves the hop presence in a Miller Lite more than Pliny the Elder and still listens to his cassette tape of Hall & Oates’ Big Bam Boom, possibly the best album of the 80’s or so he claims. Really? Aren’t you just being ironic? Bad taste is bad taste, especially when one should know better.
1. The lecture.
Much of what’s been described above could be part of the snob’s lecture. The lecture is when your friend insists on dominating the conversation, constantly steering it to the one or two areas in which he assumes he is the most knowledgeable. There’s no listening on his part, just talking. And talking. And talking. Sure, he knows his shit, but there are other perspectives and opinions to consider in a discussion. Your opinion isn’t the only one that counts!
Of course, I resemble every one of these characteristics. I’ve done them all, but I feel I’ve been subjected to my fair share of each. Either way, I think it’s important we recognize these characteristics in anything in which we are knowledgeable experts and/or pathetic obsessives. And once we recognize the signs, we should try to avoid them and listen to others. When we see it in others, we should recognize that there’s good knowledge in arrogance and pretension.
Still, the backlash directed at beer nerds and indie geeks seems to resemble anti-intellectualism or anti-elitism that runs rampant through our political climate at the moment. These experts are valuable parts of our communities. They can connect dots and provide insight when it’s lacking. The trick is to not let that abundance of knowledge overwhelm or drown out enjoyment.
Update: Due to some developments elsewhere, I am adding an eleventh point. Since I didn’t rank the ones above, it doesn’t really matter where I stick this addendum. Once again, it should be acknowledged that I have committed many if not all of the above offenses. #11 is no different. In fact, if you follow the link at the beginning of this update, you’d see what I mean.
11. When someone doesn’t know when to stop…A new rule of thumb will be to limit myself to three comments in proving a point. In f2f situations, this could be a rule to make three points, then agree to disagree. The hated beer nerd/indie geek will not let something go. He has to have the last word, picking your argument apart, often diverting from the original statement. Normally, when I find myself in such a situation, I try to make a joke and move on. However, I recently engaged in an argument over the points made in this very post at another blog. I should have let it go, but I didn’t. In the end, I look like the ass. Of course, maybe it’s some strange consolation that my antagonist also comes off as an ass. Either way, two beer nerds arguing on a comment thread is a perfect way for said nerds to be ignored from here on out.
Special thanks goes out to Stan of Appellation Beer for linking back to this post and demonstrating an immense amount of patience and understanding. For a good read on beer and beer culture, I suggest you check out his blog immediately.
Beer and Pavement 
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