The truth behind "bitter beer face"

[MrWiggles]

So I was cooking tonight and had another one of my "major" revelations.
"What's the deal with bitter beer face?!" I asked myself. "Theres absolutely nothing wrong with a well made bitter beer, sure IPA's can be quite bitter. But when they are done right, they are great!"

So my question was why does bitter beer face look like this...

Rather than this...

I'll tell you why! Right after this short intro...

I remember as a kid seeing those beer commercials where the guy drinks a beer, gets the bitter beer face, and then all is well after he tastes a BMC... Somehow this stuck in my subconscious, and by the time I got around to drinking beer so in my early days I didnt stray far from BMC due to the fright of the infamous "bitter beer face". Honestly even Guinness was too bitter for me, because it wasn't fizzy yellow water.

Now onto the explanation, I'm sure you see where I'm going with this...

BMC had a subliminal campaign against "bitter"/craft/micro brews! (since the majority of them are NOT fizzy yellow water and therefore "bitter")

Discuss

 

[WillPall]

Okay, I'll bite. Social conditioning. You've already talked about it in your intro. Bitterness is something that most Americans are "afraid" of. Coffee is one of the few examples I can think of where people brave the bitterness for the reward. But even in that instance, how long did it take you to stop making the "bitter coffee face"? The difference between coffee and beer is that all coffee is somewhat bitter, while people can get that alcohol "buzz" they want without drinking a bitter beer. The result? People give up on those bitter ones before they've truly learned to appreciate the complexity.

Done discussing for now.

 

[TxBrew]

I always thought it was more stank can taste than bitter, I like bitter. I guess I just thought it was ignorant advertising.

 

[HokieBrewer]

McDonald's isn't going to be advertising an Offal burger anytime soon. Same idea.

 

[Airborneguy]

The result? People give up on those bitter ones before they've truly learned to appreciate the complexity.

I truly can't understand this attitude. Since I don't like "bitter" beers, there must be something wrong with me? What ever happened to people having different tastes? Or is that for everything else except for IPA's?

The truth of the matter is that some people enjoy bitterness more than others. Some people, no matter how many IPA's they drink, won't enjoy IPA's. It's not some lack of training or deficiency, it's personal taste preferences.

So enjoy your IPA's all you want, but don't talk down to the people who don't like them. It's a bad attitude to have when we all have the same general interest in craft beer.

 

[SwampassJ]

My failure of a mash hopped pale ale was the start of, and still reigning king of bitter beer face.

 

[MrWiggles]

I truly can't understand this attitude. Since I don't like "bitter" beers, there must be something wrong with me? What ever happened to people having different tastes? Or is that for everything else except for IPA's?

The truth of the matter is that some people enjoy bitterness more than others. Some people, no matter how many IPA's they drink, won't enjoy IPA's. It's not some lack of training or deficiency, it's personal taste preferences.

So enjoy your IPA's all you want, but don't talk down to the people who don't like them. It's a bad attitude to have when we all have the same general interest in craft beer.

I dont think he was trying to talk down to those who don't enjoy IPA's and the like, I think he was just promoting a sort of 'dont knock it till you try it' attitude.

Oh and WillPall, I always have my coffee with sugar and milk, and my tea with honey.

 

[WillPall]

I truly can't understand this attitude. Since I don't like "bitter" beers, there must be something wrong with me? What ever happened to people having different tastes? Or is that for everything else except for IPA's?

I dont think he was trying to talk down to those who don't enjoy IPA's and the like, I think he was just promoting a sort of 'dont knock it till you try it' attitude.

Yeah, sorry if I came off that way. Just using it as an example. A very drunkenly posted example.