Monday beer links return, and context still matters

MONDAY BEER AND WINE LINKS, MUSING, 11.07.16

The crawl is on.
Curiosity and the skunk.
The concept — “the crawl is on” — should be enough to suck you in. If you follow John Duffy on Twitter you know he was knocking about the US recently. Last Monday he began chronicling those travels. As always, excellent drinking notes paired with telling cultural commentary. [Via The Beer Nut]

Data Says Women Driving Craft Beer Growth.
A lot here, including that sales data from the big stores are going to overvalue the hard sodas and undervalue the North East IPAs. Leading us to . . . [Via BeerGraphs]

A Proper Conversation with Randy Mosher about Murky Beer.
And, among other things, Randy has this to say: “My guess is that if you presented some ‘normal’ IPAs with added flavourless haze, or clarified some of these cloudy NEIPAs, it would change their perception in a similar manner. And of course any moron can make a cloudy beer, so there’s no challenge to that part. Making a delicious beer is very difficult, cloudy or otherwise. So, if it’s the cloudiness that’s important to people, then other things may not matter as much.” [Via Total Ales]

Carlos Brito and the Fallacy of Too Much Choice.
[Via This Is Why I’m Drunk]
The Paradox of Choice.
[Via Beervana]
Editor’s Note: Choice Matters, But So Does Context.
[Via Brewbound]
I already offered my two cents, but beyond figuring out if we are talking about paradox or fallacy there is plenty more to discuss.

2016 GABF Medal Winners Analyzed.
For your (OK I’ll be honest) my inner beer geek. [Via Brewers Association]

WINE

Talking About My Generation: Wine Spectator Turns 40.
I don’t give a diddly about Wine Spectator but Mike Veseth has interesting things to say. Consider this: “It is important to put wine in context. The world of wine in 1976, as represented by that first issue, was pretty closed. If you look at recent Wine Spectator issues, on the other hand, you can see that it is not just wine that has changed but our idea of wine and how we relate to it, which I believe reflects changing social patterns generally, and not just about wine.” Beer too. [Via The Wine Economist]

Wine Blogging: A Few Changes in 12 Years.
Alan McLeod has written several times about how conversations at beer blogs have dwindled. It would seem the same thing has occurred with wine blogs. “The primary change that has come to the realm of wine blogs is that a shared camaraderie among wine bloggers isn’t nearly as strong as it was in the years 2005-2010.” [Via Fermentation]

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS

Loved to Death: How Instagram Is Destroying Our Natural Wonders.
“It’s a tricky situation. But we ask people not to share places that are really sensitive environmentally, places that can’t handle larger crowds.” [Via The Ringer]

There’s No Such Thing As ‘Wine Drunk’ or ‘Tequila Drunk’ — It’s All One Drunk.
“The difference, then, is in when and where you drink it, and whom you’re drinking it with. ‘It depends on what mood you were in when you started drinking and the social context,’ Clayton said. If you’re doing tequila shot after tequila shot, you’re probably geared up for a wild night anyway. On the other hand, if you’re slowly working your way through a bottle of wine, odds are higher you’re settling in for a more mellow night — and, by extension, a more mellow drunk. Contrary to the way we see things, it’s the context, not the drink, that matters, because the context often determines the drink.” [Via New York Magazine]

FROM TWITTER