I am not much of one for fads and fashions, I can't be bothered with getting a smart phone, I have never downloaded music from Amazon instead of buying the CD and poring over the booklet. I don't buy things because they are trendy or because they make some kind of comment about my lifestyle.
Beer is, at its very essence, simple, though not simplistic. The every man drink, enjoyed across continents and social strata, from Prince Philip to President Obama to some bloke called Honza drinking in his village pub near Prague.
Beer transcends class and status, which is why people who attempt to claim some elevated status for beer are, in my as ever unhumble opinion, missing the point.
Interesting post Mr V.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right that many people are missing the point of a nice pint of beer. However, I'm not sure that beer totally transcends class and status. I think that beer has it's own class system...a stratification of beer that is brewed with certain people in mind. I'm not big on the history of beer so can't quote from it, but I think that certainly in the last few years, beer has it's working and middle class consumers (and in some cases elite or upper) and brewers brew for their slice of the market. There is no rule to say that all people will subscribe to this way of thinking, but I'm guessing that the majority of people who drink say a generic lager do so based on price and quantity. Whereas a fewer number of people will drink a vast range of beers that will be both expensive and often limited editions? i.e. not entirely classless. Not sure my ramblings are making sense, so time to stop!
I think both arguments have validity, some people think I'm bonkers for paying over a tenner for a sometimes very small bottle of beer (sometimes I do), on the other hand I can't understand people who go out night after night drinking the same bland tasteless beer just because it's cheap.
ReplyDeleteI do think that class and your social make up plays a part in that.
Reading this though I got something different and I'm not sure if that was in the back of Velky Al's mind when he wrote this, but I do think that some people are missing the main point about beer in all it's various guises and that's to just enjoy it for what it is and have fun doing it?
Cheers, Phil
@filrd
Hey Phil,
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on paying £10+ for a small bottle of beer, it's perfectly fine to do so and I plan to continue while I can afford it? :-)
I agree that my comment was no related directly to Al's post, but it just got me thinking. Beer is first and foremost for the drinking and the enjoying!
Cheers,
Dave
@broadfordbrewer
Phil,
ReplyDeleteThat was very much at the back of my mind when I wrote the post. But also, it really drives me nuts when people start becoming like that sneering pontificating twat Oz Clarke but about beer.