When Sideways came out in 2004, it was wine’s time to be the thing that the broader public found to be so inspected, chased, and over-seriously consumed that the only way to approach it was to mock it. My goodness, the film posited, could you imagine living your life wandering day-drunkenly from vineyard to vineyard, unleashing torrents of preposterous tasting notes and giving a shit about whether it’s “okay” to drink merlot?
We’re there with beer, friends.
There hasn’t been a hobby-defining (or maligning) film for beer like Sideways or the 2012 documentary, Somm, but people can find plenty of room for mockery. And that’s before the casual observer even knows things like Untappd and private Facebook trade groups exist.
Unlike the world of wine fandom, beer culture is not constrained by growing region. Great beer is just as likely to come from anywhere, not just where the early morning sun is warmest on the vines creeping up a rolling hillside. I am far from the first to say that beer is a much more small-D democratic hobby, because it’s true.
While craft beer is full of market sector growth, beer fans can still just get together and have a good time with craft beer. I find that even the least purely fun beer or bottle release events have still lead to some real friendships in the broader beer community.
Take my buddy Juan. I first met him at the pre-Dark Lord Day 2015 bottleshare at a hotel not too far from the Three Floyds brewery. This is kind of a legendary scene, with an annual crowd of beer dorks looking to pop their most braggy bottles and cans. We were sitting next to each other, chatting occasionally as each new bottle made an appearance. And then I saw him again at a Funk Factory event, and again at a New Glarus R&D release, and pretty soon, totally organically, we were on a first name basis, connected on Facebook, and picking up bottles for each other in our respective markets.
I’ve similarly made beer friends in lines at Third Space in Milwaukee, and tried coveted beers during bottleshares at New Glarus, Surly, and Central Waters releases. This kind of community isn’t just breweries, either. Thanks to the good will of beer fans, I was able to cross the whitest whale off my list at Showboat Saloon in Wisconsin Dells at an event tapping. There’s no bar of entry for these occasions, no VIP hour. Anyone can get in these lines, walk into these venues, and have just as good a chance as me or anyone else to experience this.
Events like those that happen at craft beer weeks in various cities, including Madison’s, aren’t just about the pursuit of novelty tap takeovers. Cynics that complain that there’s no point to Craft Beer Week if the beers aren’t novel, might consider instead that it’s the community that’s novel. Always has been. The availability of crazy rare beers was a bonus perk of being in on the ground floor of something new. And crazy rare beers can still happen, because there are still new breweries opening all the time. New breweries expand into new markets. Small breweries make small batches. Things are afoot!
It’s the job of craft beer fans to keep the scene welcoming to new experiences, and events like Madison Craft Beer Week are a perfect time to swing the doors open wide. When newbies feel like it’s safe to walk into a bar they’ve never been to before, or a taproom crowded cheek-to-jowl, and order something they haven’t had before — and yes, let their absurdly detailed tasting note freak flag fly — that’s when we stand the greatest chance of fostering new friendships and enjoying beers both novel and familiar in a new way.
