What are newbs like these days?

In general I’ve seen most folks progress down one of two paths. They start to get into beer, get their hands on a belgian start trying new shit. That goes on for awhile then they find they prefer IPAs or Imp Stouts. After sitting for a good long while there they tend to start leaning to sours or lambics. Finally, once the road is so traveled they know all the curves....they reach their final destination in mild land.

I work in a liquor store as the resident beer geek, though i know a decent amount about beer, i know I’m no where near expert level, I’m constantly dealing with newbs. Atleast once a month i i get someone coming in with either the top 50 from here or the top beers from beer advocate or some other site and are immediately looking for: Westy 12, Pliny older and younger and several other hard to find beers. Some newbs prove to be very knowledgeable about beer but don’t do research in to distribution of beer. They figure its really easy to get these beers and only want the ultra rare, and aren’t willing to give any other beers a try.

Same as above, its seems the new guys into the craft beers only want the top stuff, and refuse to get anything in between. Its funny mentioning Dark Lords to them when they don’t have appreciations for Old Rasputin, Bell’s Expedition, Ten Fiddy, etc. I always try to explain that they will not enjoy the "Best" beers when they don’t fully understand the style yet. Then they buy IPAs and leave.

In Slovakia there if fair share of young women among newbies. And beerwise, newbies want to discover new styles, mainly ales. Of course IPA and Imperial Stouts are in foreground.

The implication of this thread is that we are mostly old farts who are out of touch. So not true. Now Get Off My Lawn!

entitled

I’m finding people to be genuinely curious. That’s a bit step up. The brewers have been forced by imports from SEA and PDX to start trying harder and beer bars almost always offer samples so people are able to feed their curiosity. I don’t see a massive trading issue (Canada Post steals your beer). We’re kind of in that happy honeymoon phase with craft beer right now.

Over time, some of these new breweries (the bad ones) will struggle, more corporate money will flood in, and the scene will start to turn on itself a bit, but for now all is super-happy.

Originally posted by Oakes
I’m finding people to be genuinely curious. That’s a bit step up. The brewers have been forced by imports from SEA and PDX to start trying harder and beer bars almost always offer samples so people are able to feed their curiosity. I don’t see a massive trading issue (Canada Post steals your beer). We’re kind of in that happy honeymoon phase with craft beer right now.

Over time, some of these new breweries (the bad ones) will struggle, more corporate money will flood in, and the scene will start to turn on itself a bit, but for now all is super-happy.

I guess it depends on what your definition of "noob" is...I just had a guy in one of my stores yesterday with a 6-pack of Bud tallboys asking about craft beer. He was scared of high-ABV stuff, had heard "Founders is good," so I showed him some All Day IPA. He asked if it "tasted like Budweiser." That’s as new as it gets. I admire the spirit though. Hopefully, he finds out he likes flavor.

A lot of what I’ve read in this thread I have seen in my area. You’ve got the people who do half the research ("do you have Pliny the anything here in Indiana?"), you’ve got people who just tasted hops for the first time and it blew their mind, you have people who have no idea where to start but their friends have turned them on to something cool. What I’ve been fortunate enough to encounter is folks of all ages, genders, races, tax-brackets, who have at least a slightly adventurous spirit, a basic idea of what they would like and not like, and are open to advice and direction. The people who have to have Zombie Dust can go get bent.

I do lament the lack of interest in the classics in general, whether it’s from noobs or seasoned craft vets. Belgians have been hard to sell in the era of fresh, local, and hoppy. German lagers and restrained yet well-balanced English stuff doesn’t fly, unless you have someone who can really push people in that direction. Even classic American craft like Anchor and flagships from nearby regional breweries are overlooked in favor of the latest and greatest. Price point is also a big deal with the newest of the noobs: they aren’t necessarily ready to drop $10+ on a bomber/750 or $14 on a 4-pack if they’re transitioning from BMC or even Sam/Sierra/New Belgium. We do the mix and match 6 pack/12 pack thing, so that gets people trying new stuff easier, but the classics do get overlooked in my area. Hell, I consider myself a "noob" in these categories, having only rated a little over 20 Belgians and not nearly enough German or British Isles stuff. But it just shows how it really is a journey and we’re all in the middle somewhere.

In my area, I think that the recently opened breweries (Iechyd Da, Bare Hands, Greenbush) along with restaurants carrying craft have really helped drive the explosion of interest just in the last couple years. I’m sure lots of other parts of the world are seeing something similar. New craft drinkers are armed with way more info and options, which is more than I could say 10+ years ago. That’s why I had such a gap between when I got into craft (03-04) and when I *really* got into craft (08-09-10).

In my neck of the woods, most newbs are interested in trying new tastes via styles and different brewers. Nothing extreme here, but certainly more willing to ditch BMC now than in the past. A couple stores offer a mixed sixer section and they see frequent use. I’ve hosted a couple tasings and the big draw is always "what’s new?"