Curmudgeon's Corner: Beer Experts vs. Beer "Experts"

The following is a guest column from the Craft Beer Curmudgeon, a crusty old dude who has forgotten more about beer than you can ever hope to know. Read his archive of wisdom on MittenBrew.

The Craft Beer Curmudgeon

In Randall Munro's excellent comic "xkcd" one panel shows a lone figure feverishly typing away at a computer. From out of frame, a voice asks if he's coming to bed. "I can't... someone is wrong on the Internet."

Well, of course. Every basement-dwelling misfit with an internet connection and time to waste can position him or herself as an expert in anything from politics to beer. One guess as to which most annoys your faithful correspondent.

Here's my beef: If you prefer cheap mass market cider and heavily flavored gimmick beers chock full of hazelnut or tangerine or raccoon or whatever, that's fine. Your taste is yours alone and not up for a vote. However, your opinion on a particular pale ale is then suspect at best; you've tipped your hand to show that you prefer your beer flavors to be disguised with things even Faygo might reject.