I hope not, but my neighbor stoppped over yesterday evening and he mentioned that he hit up a brewpub over the weekend(+1!). He told me that his favorite was an oatmeal stout because it reminded him of Guinness(-150).
This hasn't been the first time someone has compared a beer to Guinness just because it's dark. So just like other times, this time I just bit my tongue and deflected the conversation to another topic.
How does one handle this situation without coming off all pompous? It seems like a good educational oppurtunity, but I just don't know how to do it without being an ass.
I prefer "beer aficionado" to "beer snob".
Well, if he's comparing it to Guinness Draught, I'd say he just has an undeveloped beer palate.
If he's thinking of Extra, well, he's still probably got an undeveloped palate, but the confusion is perhaps a bit more understandable.
If I'm drinking with people who aren't beer aficionados (which is most of them), I try to not be critical of their observations at all. Taste is a fairly subjective experience, and just like with wine, it's not really that easy for the average joe to really describe what it is he's tasting beyond "I (don't) like this" or "It reminds me of (something)" for some subjective reason (e.g. color, texture, etc). Color also seems to be a big influence on many non-aficionados. If it's light, they expect it to taste like a pilsner, and it's been my experience that a lot of people expect a dark beer to be heavy and ominous. One guy won't touch dark beer because he "hates molasses".
To many, every "dark" beer "reminds me of Guinness".
So rather than be critical, or otherwise come off as a jerk, I take a different approach. I won't say "no, dude, Guinness (Draft) is a dry stout, and not at all like oatmeal stout, duh." I have a friend who is not a beer drinker, but is perfectly willing to taste whatever it is that I'm drinking. So far she hasn't really been able to accurately describe the flavor profile, or really even identify the qualities she does / does not like. So what I do is ask questions.
Does it taste malty? Sweet? Bitter? Can you taste anything other than the malt or bitterness from the hops? Roasty? Coffee? (and so on) Does it seem dry to you, light body, full, or somewhere in between? Ask about the aroma, the carbonation, etc. Steering them in the direction of making observations about the experience I think is more helpful than talking about the characteristics of various styles, or comparisons with other beers they may have had.
In other words, talk about the taste characteristics of a beer, rather than what it might remind someone of. I think most casual beer drinkers just aren't really aware that beer can have a very complex flavor profile, and never really consider the flavor of what they're drinking beyond "I (don't) like this".
Some don't care, and I'm you're drinking with someone who doesn't seem interested in the above style of inquiry, I drop it, and enjoy my beer while they do the same. It's just not that important to a lot of people, and if they don't want to learn more, it'll just annoy the hell out of 'em and make you sound like a know-it-all beer snob jerk.
P.S. Fairly unrelated, but regarding the friend above I mentioned. It's my belief that many people who "don't like beer" really mean "I've never had a beer I liked", and there's likely one that they will. So if they're game to taste a few, I'm more than happy to help out. I've found with a lot of beer drinkers, what turns them off is bitterness, strong flavors, etc. So I often try things like a good balanced pale or pilsner, or a hefeweizen to start with, and avoid anything strong, hoppy, overly malty or otherwise unbalanced or "weird". So after a lot of "I (don't) like this one" across the board, I finally found one she said she actually really liked: a 9% ABV Belgian Tripel. Go figure, would have never guessed.
