Drinking in Boston: Snobbery

Here at the Bostonist Beer Drinking Department, we have occasionally been accused of being beer snobs. At first we were offended, the word “snob” having something of a derogatory connotation. But we eventually decided to embrace it; after all, part of being a snob involves knowing your subject well. (Naturally an incentive to becoming a snob is all the taste tests.) There is no reason to dumb yourself down or hide your knowledge of beer. Just because beer is not seen as the highfalutin’ stuff that wine is doesn’t mean we shouldn’t know the good from the bad when we taste it. And settle only for the good.

But there is also no reason to perpetuate the negative aspects of snobbery. There is a right and a wrong way to go about being a beer snob.

The single most important thing to remember is to not condescend to people drinking what you consider to be bad beer. This goes beyond restraining yourself from making disgusted faces or gagging noises when your friend orders his favorite stand-by. There is no need to insult a person’s taste or intelligence because their opinions don’t match yours. What this situation does call for is education. Use this opportunity to turn the phrase, “beer is beer” on its head. Let your friend have a sip of your beer. Offer some suggestions as to what may be a good substitution. But by all means don’t say too much: let the beer do the talking.

Image courtesy Oldmaison on Flickr using Creative Commons License.