Polish "Homerism"

Somewhere inside this thread is a good German joke looking to take over.

Originally posted by bytemesis
Actually, we do :)
The threads light up with Cigar City and Arizona Wilderness bashing all the time.

I may be wrong, but I think homerism shoud be at least tolerated (certainly not encouraged though) if it’s done without malice or bad intensions and in Countries with zero tradition in the craft beer scene.

Or do we expect every new person who is approacing different beers to be already 100% objective and unbiased ?

Maybe those same users who are now rating 4.8 a generic Polish IPA will re-rate it in a few years according to their better trained palate, travels outside the Country, tastings and beer events etc. etc.

I certainly know I did, as I was rating tons of beers in the 4-4.5 range only because I was blown away by those strange and new flavours and aromas, without realizing that there may have been thousands of better beers. Everyday is a learning process..

Now, if there are experienced raters (let’s say with more than 500 rates) who are deliberately over rating local beers for trading purposes, that’s obviously a different story..

Because legitimate non-Polish raters have verified that the beers are more or less deserving of the "hype". That’s when allegations of "homerism" cease mainly. Because nobody uprates them as trade bait. Because it’s a more or less normal thing in most places unless it’s a situation where the system is clearly abused. You may note that said Polish raters rate foreign stuff quite highly as well. ;)

This discussion is fairly big back in Poland with various bloggers discussing this topic. I tend to stay away as such matters clear on its own. I have been admin here for almost 15 years and noted many local booms over the time. This is nothing new here. Best suggestion is to try on your own and see if the hype is real. All things tend to be verified by time.

After 10 days in Poland, including 3 at the Warsaw beer fest, the scene is really booming. From talking to many brewers the whole thing really took off in 2012, and about every week a craft brewery opens, with about 100 today.

Part of the homerism goes back to how rare this type of product was not too long ago. I’d certainly point out that price is also a major factor since many imports are usually 2 or 3 times higher than what you can get locally, and to many Poles, price is a big factor. The attraction factor coupled with quality and a fair prices for locals is ideal for many to have their first foray into the craft beer world.

Additionally, they brew amazing styles; their IPAs, Black IPAs, stouts are outstanding. It seems the crowd wants IPAs so that’s what they get. While there are some superb products and wonderful talented brewers (Artezan, AleBrowar, Pinta, Pracownia, Olimp to name a few), there are also mixed reviews for other beers but none that I would honestly rate as bad but about average. In terms of IPAs, they beat anything brewed in Belgium by a very long shot. The are also not afraid to try new things,mix up classics with new ingredients or new hops. Same goes for the reintroduction of old styles like Grodziskie, to the point that the big brewery Fortuna reopened a brewery dedicated to that style after having closed the old brewery due to lack of financial returns.

Barrel aging is still rare, brewers shared that buying the barrels was expensive as would be the sale. Bottle size is still a mindset issue with most people wanting 50cl, 75cl being associated with pricey imports.

All in all, I met folks who were deeply passionate about their jobs, beer geeks who love to try new products and are open to the world.

On a side note, mead is also making a slow comeback with a few folks having some interesting ideas. Definitely a beer scene to keep under the radar, and my experience was more than a very pleasant one.

Originally posted by Marko
Because legitimate non-Polish raters have verified that the beers are more or less deserving of the "hype". That’s when allegations of "homerism" cease mainly. Because nobody uprates them as trade bait. Because it’s a more or less normal thing in most places unless it’s a situation where the system is clearly abused. You may note that said Polish raters rate foreign stuff quite highly as well. ;)

Originally posted by Ragnampiza
I may be wrong, but I think homerism shoud be at least tolerated (certainly not encouraged though) if it’s done without malice or bad intensions and in Countries with zero tradition in the craft beer scene.

Or do we expect every new person who is approacing different beers to be already 100% objective and unbiased ?

Maybe those same users who are now rating 4.8 a generic Polish IPA will re-rate it in a few years according to their better trained palate, travels outside the Country, tastings and beer events etc. etc.

I certainly know I did, as I was rating tons of beers in the 4-4.5 range only because I was blown away by those strange and new flavours and aromas, without realizing that there may have been thousands of better beers. Everyday is a learning process..

Now, if there are experienced raters (let’s say with more than 500 rates) who are deliberately over rating local beers for trading purposes, that’s obviously a different story..

Originally posted by ContemplateBeer

Originally posted by bytemesis
Actually, we do :)
The threads light up with Cigar City and Arizona Wilderness bashing all the time.

Yes, I know- which leaves me to wonder why the same label isn’t applied here...

I’d call it homerism if the same guys were rating polish beers much more highly than simple freshness can explain, and there was an attempt to skew the stats. However, if you look at some of their other ratings, they’re just really generous with points everywhere.

Some of the polish stuff is excellent. I often look forward to a new polish tick more than a Danish or American one.