Why you should never say “Their Beer Sucks”

Yes… I mean never.
And there’s a few good reasons to avoid using that phrase, so I’ll try to put some of them in a row

It’s biased

Even though you may think that a beer isn’t good, there are most likely others out there that do like that particular beer. Personally, I’m not a big fan of beers that contain copious amounts of Rye, but that doesn’t mean the “beer sucks”. It’s just not something I personally enjoy.

It’s disrespectful

Regardless of the beer you are drinking, somebody went through a lot of time and effort creating the craft beer. You are pretty much dismissing whatever hot, stinky, sweaty, hard labor and work someone put into creating this beer. Would you like someone to tell you that you suck at your job?

It’s hurtful

Someone made this out of love for beer. Trust me, they’re not in it for the money. Brewing is a low paying job and the people that work in the industry are doing it out of love for the craft. It’s like someone calling your child “ugly”

It’s flippant

It’s a very cheap and lazy way to share an opinion that deserves a better explanation. Try to at least form an educated opinion why you didn’t like the beer. Because of a certain flavor ? You just don’t like this particular style of beer ? Was there a certain aroma that put you off ? Or a carbonation issue ? Learn to recognize why you don’t like a certain beer.

It’s (potentially) damaging

Not just to the brewery in question, but to the whole craft beer world as a whole. In this day and age of quick tweets, instagrams, snapchats and one-liners, people take these opinions and run with it. Especially people who are only now venturing out and are starting to explore different beers. Imagine they find themselves in a place with a single lone craft beer on tap. The establishment owner is venturing out and giving it a try, advising his regulars to try this new beer made around the corner. Can you think of one reason why they should try something you have just labeled as something that “sucks”. Result: the beer doesn’t sell and the owner goes back to selling the big three. You’ve just ruined the possibility of any other craft brewer making their way into that establishment and promoting craft beer.

So what about “bad” beers ?

Yes, they exist. But learn to recognize what makes a beer bad. Take an off-flavor class. Read some style guidelines. Learn to detect aromas like Acetaldehyde (green apple or cut grass), Di-Methyl-Sulfide (cooked vegetables) and Diacetyl (buttery popcorn). And then realize that some of these are even acceptable in certain beers. For instance, levels of Diacetyl are acceptable in English style beers. You may not like it, or there may be too much of it. But saying something like “This beer had way too much Diacetyl for me to be an enjoyable ESB” is quite a more nuanced and constructive feedback for the brewer than “This Beer Sucks”. Learn to recognize “badly executed” beers and tell the brewer or brewery why you think it’s “badly executed”. And please, learn to say “I think there’s some flaws in here that I didn’t like” instead of “sucks”.

Does that give everyone a free pass ?

Absolutely not. I have personally told brewers why I didn’t like one or other of their beers. I was at a brewery last week where I found something off-putting in a beer and asked, tactfully, “Hey…do you smell <this> and <this> ? I would have a hard time really identifying it as <enter the beer style> in a blind tasting line-up.” Result ? The brewer tasted it, looked at the keg, discovered it was the bottom of the keg, tapped a new one. The beer turned from a “mediocre execution” of a given beer style to a very well made beer that I thoroughly enjoyed. A little conversation goes a long way.

Yes, it’s more work. Yes, it takes some practice and education. But if you are as passionate about craft beer as we all claim we are, isn’t it worth it ?