GUEST TAP


BeerTubers & The Transcendence of Text Reviews


By Ryan Reschan


chase. However, reviewers can feel lost in the sea of text. Some craft beer fans have turned to YouTube to review beers, show off their cellars, interview industry member and take you on virtual tours of their local breweries.


W Although aroma and taste are aspects of a beer that you can only get in person, the


best BeerTubers (a self-dubbed name for the community of craft beer drinkers on You- Tube) take you on a sensory tour of the qualitative parameters of a beer’s character: aroma, appearance, fl avor, mouthfeel and taste. The reactions to these aspects are also something you can’t obtain from an ordinary text review. Grimaces from the skunked aroma of a light-struck beer or the utter joy visible upon fi rst sip of Pliny The Elder personalize the experience, oftentimes making it more entertaining. The reviewer gets to see how the beer changes with each sip, guzzle or chug - and more often than not,


hether you are a beer geek or a craft beer newcomer, there’s a good chance you have been on either BeerAdvocate.com or RateBeer.com, reading the text reviews or perusing the forums to gather information on your next pur-


the viewer will get a much more descriptive evaluation of the beer. Text reviews can read like quickly jotted-down notes by someone trying to “tick” off as many beers as possible.


Recently, more and more craft beer enthusiasts have left their keyboards behind and rigged up their cameras. The range of reviewers runs the gamut from long-time beer drinkers and homebrewers to those newly caught up in the growing momentum of the craft beer movement. BeerTubers are all over the world, so you can fi nally learn how to pronounce Nøgne Ø or fi gure out which real ale to order on cask if you make it across the pond.


Going beyond the basic beer review, some BeerTubers have taken their cameras around to bars and breweries to help promote events, interview brewmasters, take you on tours of breweries you may never visit and point out the great bottle shops and beer bars in their area. Going beyond that, pairing beer with food has become a recent trend, taking on wine as the superior food beverage. If you’ve been to the dinners at The Lodge, Rock Bottom La Jolla or Churchill’s Pub & Grille then you know how well beer can pair with food. Even Stone’s own “Dr.” Bill Sysak has taken his Master Pair- ings to the website to educate beer geeks on what’s best to eat with their favorite styles of beer.


If you’re not one willing to put your face on YouTube, check out your fellow craft beer advocates and leave some feedback on their videos. A fantastic starting point is BeerGeekNation.com, a collective of nine BeerTubers from around the world boasting hundreds of reviews to watch.


Ryan Reschan is an avid BeerTuber & San Diego Craft Beer afi cionado. He frequently produces content for BeerGeekNation.com. To see his review, visit beergeeknation. com/?cat=161


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Guest Tap is a new column we are trying out. Think of it as an open mic with a fi lter. We’ve received interest in writing for West Coaster, so here’s your shot. Shoot us 500 words with art on a topic you are knowledgeable about related to the San Diego Craft Beer Community. Understand that it may be edited ruthlessly. Controversy welcome. -Ed (mike@westcoastersd.com)


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