People who say a certain beer sucks... suck

[Cape Brewing]

I've been guilty of it in the past but I like to think I'm now a bit more enlightened as I age. It seems like it is a growing problem in craft beer that I think is only going to get more and more prevalent the more and more craft beer spreads.

That issue? People simply saying "that beer sucks" when referring to either a specific beer or even a brewery.

Quick side-note.... We Massholes have a dear friend who's palate has not matured to the point where he enjoys sours... Which is fine... But when he's tried sours... "Blech!!! That beer sucks!!"

Ummm. I can assure you that various offerings from Cantillon do not "suck". He just doesn't like them. There is a huge difference.

That's one big aspect. Just because YOU don't happen to care for a beer, that doesn't make the beer "suck".

Secondly... simply labeling a beer as "sucking" with no other info is such a bllsht cowardly way out. At least have the sack to explain why it actually sucks. "Ugg that beer sucks. It was way under-attenuated and there was definitely some sort of twang to it that can't possibly be intentional". At least that shows you have some sort of clue you know what you're talking about (assuming you are correct). Otherwise, I think it comes across as an internet tough-guy just spewing ignorance.... which is unfortunate.

There ARE a lot of BAD beers out there. Having people actually capable of, and then engaging in, educated discussion around those and the good/great beers only improves the beer overall, for everyone.




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[MagooBrew]

Lagunitas Sucks.....

Ha. But this is a terrific beer.

Sent from a dark place in the corner of my mind....

 

[knyland]

Lagunita's Lucky 13 sucked. It was way to sweet like a crap ton of brown sugar had been left in it and didn't finish fermenting. Now the rest of their line I like.

 

[blizzard]

Fair enough. I have had plenty of "good" beers that I didn't care for and a few that were truly terrible due to some major flaws or god-awful combo of flavors.

That said, what is your opinion on beers that are labeled incorrectly. Like labeling something an IPA that is pretty much a lighter lager? <I'm looking at you, Alexander Keith's.> Not a bad light lager, but not in any way an IPA. Therefore, sucks.

 

[roastquake]

I'll drink anything with beer in it

 

[ICWiener]

Wait a second, you gave Cantillon to a sour beer virgin? Even on the off chance that he likes sour beer on his very first sip, which is not likely, that **** is way too delicious and expensive to be handing out. I won't even give out a sip of Rodenbach. But then again, I'm cheap.

Other than that, I agree with the rest of the post, carry on.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

I at least understand these people more than the fools who craft exquisite beer reviews on sites like BA and RB despite the fact that they've got *no clue* what the hell they're talking about.

Horse blanket? Really? You live in the suburbs, moron, it's not like you have any reason to use the term "horse blanket" when speaking about Brett.

There MIGHT be people with sophisticated enough palates to really describe a beer in that way. Chances are 98% of the people using the terms don't have those palates.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

ahem. errrgghghghgmmmm. *singing* personal taste! *stops singing* main reason why anything "sucks" is due to personal taste. I don't like sports. sports suck. I don't like The Beatles. they sucked. I don't like the vacuum of deep space or the black/grey hole theory. they suck. ok, the last bit really sucks for the reals.

 

[jdot6]

I hate this too. On my untappd i rate beers as they're labeled or intended to be. I'm not an IPA guy but I'll drink them (drinking harpoon long thaw now. Boston strong) and rate them as I think they are to the style. It seems like if ur not chewing a hop then it's not a real IPA. It's betta to understand than just say this sux. Lol.

 

[BrewerinBR]

I do not like sour beers, but I do not believe or say that they suck. I just do not like them.
I have brewed beers that when I tasted them and dumped them out I said that they sucked, however I claim "brewers privilege" when labeling my own brews as "SUCKS". Reason number one why I dumped them down the drain when I was in need of bottles.
At the point of dumping no one else has tasted these beers so no one else can know if it SUCKS nor would I ever allow someone to taste a beer I brewed that I thought SUCKS. So in the end it is only opinion that it sucked and no one else knows as I dumped them so know on else could ever taste the SUCKS beer that I made and dumped so no one knows that I did in fact make a beer that SUCKS

 

[Punity]

I think all my beer sucks. I let the people who buy it tell me otherwise

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[Homercidal]

I will reserve the right to use the phrase, "This beer SUCKS!" when I do not like a beer. It's implied to be a personal opinion. In fact, a personal opinion so strong that simply stating it as my own personal opinion would not state it emphatically enough. Therefore it needs to be stated in such as way as to imply that it is not ONLY my personal opinion, but also as a FACT.

It's like using the term "Literally" when it's obvious the correct term would be, "Figuratively".

So yeah, all sour beers suck.

 

[Billy-Klubb]

I will reserve the right to use the phrase, "This beer SUCKS!" when I do not like a beer. It's implied to be a personal opinion. In fact, a personal opinion so strong that simply stating it as my own personal opinion would not state it emphatically enough. Therefore it needs to be stated in such as way as to imply that it is not ONLY my personal opinion, but also as a FACT.

It's like using the term "Literally" when it's obvious the correct term would be, "Figuratively".

So yeah, all sour beers suck.

have you been listening to David Cross?

 

[DanH]

If I prefer not to drink it then it sucks.


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[day_trippr]

Can a bad beer unconsumed still suck?

Cheers!

 

[JBOGAN]

I rarely ever dump a beer on the first sip but the old Michigan Brewing co Badass beer..Tasted like a very bad well..A$$.Although the brewer has moved on to the uber hyped Griffin Claw with a lot of backed cash to burn.

 

[Beernik]

This was a "break through" moment for me both as a homebrewer and a beer drinker: the day that I drank a beer and realized that I wasn't drinking a bad beer, I was drinking a good beer that I didn't like.

 

[Zuljin]

Preach on!

Shiner Smokehaus sucked. It tasted like a boiled, yet somehow still carbonated, mix of beer and cheap artificial liquid smoke.

Big Flats from Walgreens sucks. It tastes like salty water from an old iron pipe.

Steel Reserve sucks. Aside from being strangely green tinted, it tastes like old battery acid and makes people fight over something called "nakes", which are apparently more beneficial to the ecosystem than they are dangerous to people.

Beer 30 is surprisingly good. Mainly because of how surprisingly not bad it is. It's a little like sex on a river bank; fuqqing near water.

 

[sudbuster]

I will reserve the right to use the phrase, "This beer SUCKS!" when I do not like a beer. It's implied to be a personal opinion. In fact, a personal opinion so strong that simply stating it as my own personal opinion would not state it emphatically enough. Therefore it needs to be stated in such as way as to imply that it is not ONLY my personal opinion, but also as a FACT.

It's like using the term "Literally" when it's obvious the correct term would be, "Figuratively".

So yeah, all sour beers suck.

Exquisitely stated. Wish I could write so well.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I think its an issue with people less inline with the world of craft beer than it is with those who actually know beer. I know I for one can tell the difference between a bad beer and one I just don't like. As part of studying for the BJCP I've actually been making a push lately to become better acquainted with styles I don't enjoy solely to be able to recognize quality vs crap. But with the vast amount of newcomers to the craft scene they don't know/understand the styles well enough to know what they are drinking or even what to expect from a given style of beer. So to them instead of realizing they dont enjoy a particular style they just write it off as sh!tty beer. Best you can do is help them learn a little something and either they'll eventually get it or they won't.

 

[Vaureywwc]

Never judge a beer by its cover. If I didn't always try new beers and brews, to this day I would HATE IPAs, and I would HATE porters. My first couple IPAs were not good.. Not one bit. My first Porter was a black butte, and I really still can't stand it.

Luckily enough, I love Porters now and there are some fantastic locally brewed IPAs in my area that really changed my opinion about those Pale Ales.

However I do think Light Lagers are the worst beers there are. Tasteless, flavorless, and all around boring. But then again that is why a lot of people drink cheap crap, because it doesn't TASTE like a real beer.

 

[eatmorefrogs]

I agree with your sentiment, OP, but I disagree with part of the premise. Ish. A beer can actually suck. For some beers you can pick out a single characteristic and say "it'd be a good beer if only this one thing was different." Those beers don't necessarily deserve the word "suck." For some beers, the brewer followed apple maps so far down suck avenue that so many things are wrong that a generalized term is appropriate. In the spirit of calling a spade a spade, in this situation it's fair to say it sucks.

As a homebrewer, I'm sure you have made a few that weren't good by any stretch of the imagination. I know I have made my fair share. If you don't believe me, drive out here to Worcester and I'll let you drink as much of this blueberry wheat as you can stand. I have some mead for you, too.

That said, I agree with the sentiment in that 99.99% of the beers that go to market don't actually suck and that just saying it sucks is a cop out. Stating that a beer sucks when you don't like a style says more about your ignorance than your experience. Nine times out of ten it comes across more arrogant than I do. Yeah. More arrogant than ME. And I'm the best at being arrogant.

The most common example is saying light beer sucks. Light beer doesn't actually suck. American light lager is a legitimate beer style that actually daftly accomplishes the objectives it sets out to achieve. It feeds into the misconception that saying a beer sucks gives the perception that you know what you're talking about. There aren't many New-Recipe-Coke situations in the beer world and they don't last long when they happen.

I've come to articulate it as "beer snobs" vs "beer geeks." Beer snobs won't pick up a blue moon because it's a BMC brand and therefore sucks. Bud light? Sucks! Beer geeks enjoy the beer for what it is and how well of a representation of the style it is. There's no shame in voting against multi-national brewing juggernaughts with their dollars most of the time, but they haven't placed themselves above enjoying any brew the come across.

But seriously, trying to get this blueberry wheat off my hands.

 

[cheddarhed3]

In my entire life the only beer I've tasted that really "sucked" was MGD and Budweiser.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

That said, I agree with the sentiment in that 99.99% of the beers that go to market don't actually suck and that just saying it sucks is a cop out.

Unfortunately, I doubt it's 99.99%. That's one out of 10,000 beers sucking.

My guess is that if you look at the ~2700 breweries in the country, at least 50 are regularly putting out sucky beer. That's about 2%. It wouldn't shock me if the numbers were even higher.

I agree with you that there are some beers that one can legitimately say "suck". Like another poster above, I can tell when a beer is a good beer that I simply don't like. I would never say such beers suck. But at the same time, I've tasted plenty of commercial beer that's on the level of mediocre homebrew. IMHO, those beers suck.

 

[Homercidal]

Unfortunately, I doubt it's 99.99%. That's one out of 10,000 beers sucking.

My guess is that if you look at the ~2700 breweries in the country, at least 50 are regularly putting out sucky beer. That's about 2%. It wouldn't shock me if the numbers were even higher.

I agree with you that there are some beers that one can legitimately say "suck". Like another poster above, I can tell when a beer is a good beer that I simply don't like. I would never say such beers suck. But at the same time, I've tasted plenty of commercial beer that's on the level of mediocre homebrew. IMHO, those beers suck.

And yet they stick around because people drink them. So to them, they don't suck. Even if they are flawed.

 

[Cape Brewing]

I never said there weren't horrible beers out there. I even said "There ARE a lot of BAD beers out there" in my post. I also don't expect everyone to be Cicerone's either... I just get aggravated when someone dismisses a beer out of hand as being a shtty beer when, 1) there is nothing at all technically wrong with the beer and 2) it is simply a style they don't care for. It's not the brewery's fault you don't like that style and simply saying, publically, that a beer is terrible is bll****. The beer isn't the part of the equation here that "sucks"... the person claiming things from an uneducated point of view.. is.

Now... if a beer IS bad all around... real issues from bad brewing procedures, etc... then absolutely, that beer should get negative reviews but I think people should at least have the decency to try to explain why. Even if they aren't a long-time BJCP judge, they should be able to explain what it is about a beer that makes it so bad.

 

[KeyWestBrewing]

I never said there weren't horrible beers out there. I even said "There ARE a lot of BAD beers out there" in my post. I also don't expect everyone to be Cicerone's either... I just get aggravated when someone dismisses a beer out of hand as being a shtty beer when, 1) there is nothing at all technically wrong with the beer and 2) it is simply a style they don't care for. It's not the brewery's fault you don't like that style and simply saying, publically, that a beer is terrible is bll****. The beer isn't the part of the equation here that "sucks"... the person claiming things from an uneducated point of view.. is.

Now... if a beer IS bad all around... real issues from bad brewing procedures, etc... then absolutely, that beer should get negative reviews but I think people should at least have the decency to try to explain why. Even if they aren't a long-time BJCP judge, they should be able to explain what it is about a beer that makes it so bad.

I totally agree 100%. Like I mentioned in my earlier post... I feel like a lot of those comments come from people who don't know the difference between an ale and a lager so they never put 2 and 2 together to realize its the style they don't like. Not the fact the beer sucks.
Having said all that... Some people just aren't that good at explaining what their palate is experiencing. So even if they know they don't like it they may have a hard time describing why its off putting to them. The only way to change it is by helping teach those that aren't as educated, though its up to the beer holder to embrace the knowledge being shared.

 

[progmac]

I don't think we need to read too far into glib comments from people generally not into beer.

I'm sure plenty of us might say, for example, that a piece of artwork 'sucks' or is 'stupid' even though it is considered a very good or worthwhile piece of art.

 

[LandoLincoln]

I will reserve the right to use the phrase, "This beer SUCKS!" when I do not like a beer. It's implied to be a personal opinion. In fact, a personal opinion so strong that simply stating it as my own personal opinion would not state it emphatically enough. Therefore it needs to be stated in such as way as to imply that it is not ONLY my personal opinion, but also as a FACT.

It's like using the term "Literally" when it's obvious the correct term would be, "Figuratively".

So yeah, all sour beers suck.

I don't take that implication. When people tell me "Sam Adams' beers suck!" they are implying to me that they are being very myopic and can't comprehend that people have differing tastes.

Now if they say, "I don't like Sam Adams' beers" then it does imply that they are aware that while they don't personally like Boston Beer Company's beers, other people do.

 

[betarhoalphadelta]

And yet they stick around because people drink them. So to them, they don't suck. Even if they are flawed.

They might still suck. For example, Stadium Brewing Company in Aliso Viejo CA is ~2 miles from my house. Their beers (at least last time I was there, which admittedly has been a while) suck.

Why are they still sticking around? Because they have a great location in a primo retail strip, right next to a major movie theater in the area, have generally decent food and can supplant the beer with a lot of wine sales, other breweries' beers. It's not a "beer geek" destination, so the bar for their beers is pretty low.

I think the beers there (again, it's been a while, for all I know they've hired a new brewer and fixed the problem) are objectively flawed. The brewpub succeeds despite their beer. Interestingly, their marketing---offering drink specials on macro beers and rarely even promoting their own beers---I think belies the fact that they don't rely on their beer to keep the bottom line in the black.

 

[LandoLincoln]

objectively[/B] flawed.

There is no such thing as an objective flaw as far as taste of beer goes. Style guidelines are only guidelines.

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

Justin Bieber Sucks... BMC Sucks...

 

[losMythos]

It's all Opinions People....If I have a beer that i like in my fridge that I offer to a friend and they say "this is awful" I smile and say....Yup they do and then get one for myself. More beer for yourself is never a bad thing.

 

[n00bBrew3r]

makes me mad when i let someone try a beer and they tell me "that taste like straight piss, just give me a bud light and i'm happy." Yes, i guess you are happy since ignorance is bliss. I'm sure that bud light and the beer they just tasted was probably the only 2 beers they have ever tried.

 

[BUCKNUTS]

I will reserve the right to use the phrase, "This beer SUCKS!" when I do not like a beer. It's implied to be a personal opinion.

My feelings exactly.


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[Jayhem]

The saying "This Sucks" is very personally specific. If you trip on a rock in a parking lot and fall on your arse in front of a group of people "This sucks!" to you but it's pretty entertaining for the rest of us.

 

[Zuljin]

The saying "This Sucks" is very personally specific. If you trip on a rock in a parking lot and fall on your arse in front of a group of people "This sucks!" to you but it's pretty entertaining for the rest of us.

Why are there such rocks in the parking lot? Is it being used as rock storage?

 

[day_trippr]

There is no such thing as an objective flaw as far as taste of beer goes. Style guidelines are only guidelines.

I think you're conflating "objective flaw" with "hews to style".

The latter could be subjective (how much clove in a hefe is correct, for instance); but if the former involves, say green apple, an outright/unintended infection, or Band-Aids, those would be purely objective flaws...

Cheers!

 

[Billy-Klubb]

And yet they stick around because people drink them. So to them, they don't suck. Even if they are flawed.

have you been drinking at The Firehouse in Rapid City, SD?

edit: and beers are like opinions are like a-holes. you should never put things that don't belong in them into them. tomato juice doesn't go into opinions, shampoo bottles don't go in beer, and barley doesn't belong in your butt! bank on it!

 

[aiptasia]

This thread has gone from suck to blow.....

Anyway, using the term suck (in general) shows a marked pocity of intellect. I much prefer to say a beer "completely blows" than "completely sucks." It's classy.