The first Friday of every month, a group of beer bloggers around the globe come together to write a post for The Sessions, also known as Beer Blogging Friday.For the month of January, Rebecca, who writes The Bake and Brew, chose the topic, "How much is our taste or opinion of a craft beer affected by what friends and the craft beer community at large thinks? What beer do you love that no one else seems to get? Or what beer do you say “no thanks” to that everyone can’t get enough of?"
I love this topic as it is something that seems to be a topic of discussion on a fairly regular basis. For myself, it may not be so much a specific beer that I may not like that others favor as much as a specific style. I feel I am still quite young in my craft beer journey, having only been introduced to craft beer in the past few years. As with many craft beer drinkers, I found IPAs as my favorite style very quickly and still tend to favor the style. While there are beers from styles I may not usually like, I will still try them.
I have found there are beers that I do not like upon first sip, but when given a second chance, I have fallen in love with them. One beer that comes to mind is Beachwood BBQ & Brewing System of a Stout. When I first tasted this GABF bronze medal winning beer, which many of my friends were raving about, I wasn't a fan. Of course, it happens to have upon first sip been one of my boyfriend's favorite beers. When bottles of the beer were released, I made the trek to Long Beach to get bottles for my boyfriend, not thinking I would even drink any of them. I decided to have another try of the beer and it is now among one of my favorites. Not because anyone told me to try it again, nor because so many people loved it, but because I found to like the beer on my own.
For myself, my tastes and opinions of any craft beer is not affected by my friends or what the craft beer community at large thinks. I'm thankful that I have access to such a wide variety of beers and styles of beers on a regular basis. It is definitely an exciting time in the craft beer community and industry.
