“But the reason I’m now a wine writer, not a beer writer or a cider writer, is not because I was brought up on wine (I wasn’t) but because it was the only alcoholic drink which had that apparatus of elitism which spawns a tradition of criticism and discussion.”
Oz Clarke, in the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 1990 (1989)
3 replies on “Elitism in Beer”
Which at the time was pretty much true.
Maybe, but it’s an odd choice of words. Is it elitism which creates a culture of informed critical discussion?
It’s a great little essay.
His point (we think) is that the desire to keep beer ‘grounded’ made it hard to hard to talk about it creatively or thoughtfully without being accused of pretension.