- Beer Goggles. Man I hate that name and today they're in the news again (not they, I suppose, it's not a noun). Yes, to everyone's shock it has been scientifically proven that people become more attractive after a few drinks. I put this in the same category as testing how slow ketchup pours, common sense topics that are fun to discuss over a beer, but not something I really want money spent on to research.
Anyway, my annoyance. Beer still has this frat-boy image that is often deserved. The party crowd with funnels and kegs and half-naked co-eds makes for a good image for a lot of people in the media I suppose, but it irks me to no end. Why can't we call this booze blinders or something less about beer. - Statistics. In the news today it was revealed that traffic fatalities in the US were down 3.9% from last year (and at a ten-year low). Buried in the news was a bit about alcohol related traffic fatalities, turns out they were also down 3.7% compared to last year. It certainly doesn't annoy me that fatalities are down in the US, but I didn't see anything in there about talking on cell phones, texting, eating or sleeping. I think we all know that driving when we're numb is a dumb idea, that's been drilled into our brains.
- The "turn-key" brewery. I've written about it before, but damn if these aren't still popping (pooping) up in my area. A disgrace to the word beer and the craft of making beer, these are the systems that allow bar owners to just dump powder into a vessel and add water - in a week you can call it beer and sell it for dirt cheap. Disgusting.
- Brewery T-Shirts. No, not the shirts themselves, but the ones people where for breweries they've never been to. It's not even that so much, but when I ask about the brewery I get looks from these people like I'm the idiot, it's just a shirt. If you wear a shirt for a brewery you haven't been to, that's fine, but if someone asks if you've been to the brewery don't treat them like idiots for being curious and trying to strike up a conversation.
- Myself. The other day I found a beer video on YouTube, a how-to-homebrew series by a guy who likes his homemade beer. I was quick to judge it, pointing out to nobody in particular the flaws in the guy's thinking. It didn't take too long for it to dawn on me that I was being a dick, I'm good at that. Instead of just being happy that the guy was happy with his beer and willing to share his passion with others, I was that douche that wanted to criticize. I became, for a moment, the guy that annoys me. I've seen others do it in bars, criticize someone for ordering the wrong craft beer (no, not just macros) or for taking notes (somehow we have gotten to a point where we distrust people who appreciate a drink enough to want to keep notes). It's not a healthy thing to do and I hope I can get to a place (and stay there) where I can just appreciate others enthusiasm for beer and life in general. Who am I, after all, to tell them the thing they are enjoying isn't right enough?
Just a few things on my mind. In general, life is great and I could not complain even if I wanted to.
