Credit: Jack Diddley

This started as a Facebook comment that kind of grew…and I thought it was worth a post.

As with all spiritual teachings, it will probably grow further and be added to. If you have a teaching to add, drop it into the comments.

It started with the photo (right) posted on Facebook by someone called Jack Diddley, which followed on the heels of the very funny video (below) that’s been doing the rounds this week.

Anyway, it got me thinking. Beer appreciation is great. Beer enthusiasm is to be encouraged. Beer advocacy is wonderful. But when does it make that misdirected turn into ugly wankery?

We’ve all been out to dinner with ‘the wine guy’ that makes everyone a little bit nervous about ordering the wine they like lest their selection be found wanting. If beer ever gets to the stage that the beer wanker escapes from the parody video into a mainstream movie with a line like, “I’m not drinking lager. If anybody orders fucking lager, I’m leaving“, I think I’ll go teetotal.

Anyway, here’s the opening thoughts in:

Brews News’ The Tao of Beer

• Beer is a richly varied and fractally interesting thing. Beer appreciation is disproportionately rewarded by even a little knowledge. (Thanks to Zen-master Phil Cook for this near-perfect expression.)
• But don’t be a dick about it. Take beer seriously but never yourself while you do. It is a hedonistic pursuit not an intellectual one. If a beer brings you or someone you know pleasure, on that measure it is a good beer.
• Drink widely and drink well.
• Know that fads are fads. Just try to find an Imperial White IPA hopped with Mosaic on the shelves next year. Fads flower then die. The two great things about them is that they seed the next season, and sometimes – just sometimes – they will throw up a mutant offspring that will permanently occupy a corner of the garden.
• Appreciate the blooms, nurture the garden.
• The best beer is often a good beer thoroughly enjoyed.
• If a brewery is good, there’s every chance it will grow. Don’t hate it for being successful.
• If a brewery grows, there’s every chance it will be bought. So what, if the beer doesn’t change.
• Encourage diversity, both in style and ownership, through your own purchasing habits.
• But don’t be a dick about it.