Generally, people like to think they are getting something more than they are getting and are even willing to pay for it to provide themselves with the proof.

One about spending as a manner of showing off, the other about how the acting of spending brings pleasure to some and pain to others.

I’m probably not in the 25% tight-wad group (though some would disagree) but I do think before I spend. Beer makes a much better fit than wine.

People would rather drink an expensive wine than a cheap wine. It’s nothing more than a way to show one’s social status. Or, in my case, I don’t buy Natty Light but I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment to pick up the latest brew from Real Ale Brewing Company at twice the price.

And it’s not like this is news. When I was in high school, Shiner Bock was a cheap beer sold mostly in cans. When the current owners took over the brewery the first thing they did was raise the price to match premium beers, and switch over to Longnecks. Sales went up.

When I write about an individual beer (say Cambridge Cerise Cassée if you pick up DRAFT) then I can write about what I perceive as character, and why it is there.

But the character of Cerise Cassée si different than the character of Russian River Blind Pig IPA.

And (going on and on because I know we share this interest) I have no problem with anyone saying something has “character” but as that is a non-descriptive general phrase which really means “I like it because…umm…I like it.” After all “je ne sais quoi” just means I know not what but it’s still useful as it means you can’t yet put your finger on it. But “character can also have sort of a passive aggressive aspect, too, when used not as you describe but as in the phrase “people should learn to pay for character” that challenges you to accept something has a characteristic that you can’t see but they can which is in excess of your perceived estimation of its worth. The cousin of snobbery.

But if I judge for myself that a beer has character then I’m going to pay more for it. I wouldn’t call it a puff word.

And I would see your “We should because they are worth more” and raise you “We should only when they are worth, in our personal estimation, relatively more compared to our other procurements and not when someone uses puff words like ‘character’ and ‘art.’”