Think of it like beef.
If you say you like beef, it's more than likely that you like multiple styles of beef. I.e. you like cheeseburgers, you like filet mignon, you like roast beef sandwiches, you like carne asada, etc etc etc.
With beef, you know that no matter how it's prepared, there is going to be some level of consistency in what "beef" looks like, tastes like, etc.
I personally love beef, but I'm not particularly a fan of beef back ribs. I find them to be full of the least palatable parts of beef, without enough "meat" on them to make up for it. That doesn't mean I don't like beef. But if someone doesn't like steak, doesn't like roast beef, doesn't like carne asada, but absolutely LOVES Taco Bell beef tacos, I'm going to say that their taco meat love is an exception, and they really don't particularly like beef.
Same with coffee. A lot of people I know like coffee, but don't like to drink it black. It's just *too* bitter. But they like it with a little cream and sugar, or they like a latte. I personally like it black, but I understand that can be too aggressive for some folks (just like West Coast IPA can be too aggressive for some folks).
But if someone ONLY drinks coffee when Pumpkin Spice Latte season comes around, or only drinks the most froo-froo Starbucks drinks that are just buckets of sugar with a tiny amount of coffee added in for color [not flavor], I'm going to say they don't really like coffee.
I feel the same way about beer.
Juicy IPAs are beer. They're even "real beer". So is Raspberry Lambic. So is Keystone Light, the beer that helps you avoid "bitter beer face". Heck, you can make a case that Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy is beer.
That said, "beer" encompasses a whole wide range of characteristics. Usually it includes a level of malt flavor/aroma, a level of moderate [to high] bitterness, and some level of hop flavor/aroma. The degrees of which they're present is dependent on the beer. More often than not, people who drink beer do so because they appreciate these qualities.
Raspberry Lambic, while it's undeniably real beer, has a whole bunch of different qualities. I would make a claim that if you only drink Raspberry Lambic, and don't like other beer, that you don't really fit in the category of people who actually like beer based on the one-off.
I think
@Qhrumphf is making a point that if you go to a beer that looks, tastes, and approximates alcoholic fruit juice, that if someone is all about that but thumbs their nose at a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, that they probably like what's trendy and aren't really someone who likes beer.
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