Editor’s Note: This sponsored column is written by Nick Anderson, beermonger at Arrowine (4508 Lee Highway).

Will Gordon writes about beer for Deadspin on their sub-blog, The Concourse. Earlier this week, he ran an opinion piece about how he thinks Yuengling, well, sucks (you can read it here).

After the piece ran, Gordon took to Twitter to talk about a phenomenon I’ve noticed not only in beer writing, but in most critique/commentary. Noting the rate at which the Yuengling piece was being read/shared/talked about, Gordon said “Hey everyone, good job reading about Yuengling at 8x the rate” as recent reviews of his on beers from Troegs, Boulevard and others are read. “Way to reinforce bad behavior.”

Gordon was merely expressing his opinion as someone who is paid to have opinions about beer, and because he “likes to have fun with the Yuenglingers,” he took a particularly edgy tone with his piece, only to find it doing “disconcertingly well.”

It’s obvious to brush off the lure of negative reviews and other critical writing for readers; we all know of plenty of commentators who thrive on “trolling” audiences — the “Shock Jock” principle, if you will. That’s not what I’m talking about today; I’m talking about why we, as human beings, are more inclined toward the negative. Gordon ran pieces over the past few months listing his picks for the most overrated and underrated beers on the market — guess how they performed against each other?

I’ve had a little experience with this myself: I posted one full-on negative review, one time, as much as an experiment in tone for the writing on my blog as anything else — and I still shudder when I think about it. Thankfully, it’s not the most-read post I’ve ever done, but it certainly provoked more reader reaction and interaction than any other post. It remains on the site because it’s the Internet and nothing ever really goes away even if you want it to, but that’s the only reason. That’s not how I want to discuss beer; even beer I don’t like.

The environment these days is such that some are finding “listicles” too much work, simply posting context-free “(Insert topic here), Ranked” lists and letting the public dive into confrontation, baseless argument and name-calling. Aggregate rating sites abound, along with the statistical analysis of nearly every subject imaginable.

The entire concept of opinion is coming into question: it’s not enough to merely have an opinion today — your opinion is expected to have to be quantifiably “better” than someone else’s. Some days, it seems that unless you have objective proof of an opinion being more relevant than another, than it has to somehow be “wrong” and no one can simply be “wrong” anymore. To paraphrase Dr. Zoidberg, your opinion’s bad and you should feel bad.

Everyone’s ready to uncork on someone, or something, or someone uncorking on something. Am I getting old (I know I am), or has this gotten worse over a relatively short period of time? I don’t like people enough to want us all to just get along; there will be no campfire singing and handholding over here.

But can we not all remember that we all perceive flavor, aroma and color differently? That beyond our physical differences, our experiences do much to shape our tastes, and that what I enjoy may not be what you enjoy and may not be what the guy who gets paid to write about beer enjoys? Knowing this, can’t we debate the merits of one beer or another with a little less anger? Can we have just a little more fun?

It’s beer, after all.

I’m feeling entirely too reasonable right now. I think I’m gonna go have a couple and write an unnecessary screed against something. Until next time.

Nick Anderson maintains a blog at www.beermonger.net and can be found on Twitter at @The_Beermonger. Sign up for Arrowine’s money-saving email offers and free wine and beer tastings. The views and opinions expressed in the column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of ARLnow.com.

Community discussion guidelines: Our sponsored columns are written by members of the local business community. While we encourage a robust and open discussion, we ask that all reviews of the businesses — good or bad — be directed to another venue, like Yelp. The comments section is intended for a conversation about the topic of the article.

Boycott Russian Beer Immediately

http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/40/1657798.html

a white truland union electrical worker, kinda a drunk but a beer expert, suggested to me Yuengling is made in usa. also tried to pick a fight with me and swore under his breath for no reason. i just attributed it to he'd already had too much that day. no it's NOT asian name - not at all. it's historical usa.

i did try Yuengling and it was great. i'll never buy a foreigner beer again when it is available to me (well except maybe room temperature guiness extra stout)

excellent if your an occasional drinker. perfect if your a daily drinker too !

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hey is that a spread eagle? i guess he's saying "fuck you ARLnow foreigner" right about now

I made it through about two or three paragraphs of that opening post and I agree that Yuengling sucks, assuming that was the point of the post.

Don't waste your time reading this trifle.

People don't really agree on what makes a great pie OR a great beer. I first had a bottle of something called Yuengling sitting in the upper deck on the 1B side at Crosley Field in Cincinnati back in late the 1960's. Reds versus Dodgers. The vendor was hawking it as "that Chinese beer". I'd never heard of it, so I got one. It was sort of okay. Beer back then was a regional thing, of course. Each city had its own distinct group of brewers. Cincy was probably bigger on Burger, Hudepohl, and Schoenling than it was on Yuengling, but all of those others are long gone now. People today claim that the "craft beer" era has taken us beyond the quality levels of 50 years ago, but I'm not so sure. I don't really taste much these days to show that the "craft" has actually been mastered by very many. When I can, I'll have a nice Warsteiner (Germany) or Eggenberg (Austria) over any of them. The "craft" people there actually know what they are doing.

What the fuck is this post about? It is so poorly written and obscure that it is impossible to follow, along with the author's prose being ass backwards and boring...

What are you trying to say?

Is Yuengling a craft beer? No. And it ain't priced like one either...

Is Yuengling a premium QUALITY beer? No. And it ain't priced like one either...

Anyone (whether they're from PA or not) who tells you that Yuengling is the "BEST" beer they've ever had is either uneducated about beer or have no taste buds.

In closing, I challenge you to find a better TASTING beer AT THAT PRICE POINT.

NOVA.Dude Wrote:
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> In closing, I challenge you to find a better
> TASTING beer AT THAT PRICE POINT.

"Price point" is a redundancy -- the second word adds nothing. Taste is a personal matter. You may not like what somebody else finds entirely pleasing.

I was cooking Brats and it was the cheapest beer at Harris Teeter, so I picked up a 24 oz can to boil them in before grilling.

NOVA.Dude Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Is Yuengling a craft beer? No. And it ain't priced
> like one either...
>
> Is Yuengling a premium QUALITY beer? No. And it
> ain't priced like one either...
>
> Anyone (whether they're from PA or not) who tells
> you that Yuengling is the "BEST" beer they've ever
> had is either uneducated about beer or have no
> taste buds.
>
> In closing, I challenge you to find a better
> TASTING beer AT THAT PRICE POINT.

a better tasting light continental beer (sweeter, not like german), with a dark color and head (ie, not budweiser) made in U.S.A. with a patriotic history, on tap at a bars anywhere in usa. sam adams excluded: it's main label is a bitter beer.

go ahead. what? don't give me any of the "from my basement or has been made locally at one time" talk. brewery brands that ARLnow would be pointing their middle finger at in the original topic i mean.

what brand(s) are you saying beats Yuenling hands down?

that reminds me of a Tex Mex bar in mannassas

some white lady talked me up sweet to meet her for a date on a dating website. said i could meet her at a bar in manassas (the tex mex place)

when i got there - date never showed. fucking bitch. after say 1/2 hr i ordered a beer. i noted the owners were not from the country, felt cheated, they sold mostly foreign beers, so i ordered Yuenling (only usa brand they had) and the pretty white very young large breasted waitress said they happened to have a keg and had to put it on tap. i said don't trouble yourself she insisted. i was only too happy for it.

i later found out the white lady was infact a spic who'd made her self up to look white lady - was the bar owners wife. i'd been had.

for years these spics did that - the wife was online on dating sites talking guys up to meet her to get them to their bar to order a beer. i kicked her off a couple times - but she kept getting back on to get more victims.

when i first got in the area Manassass was hardly populated, had farming, and was mostly people who considered themselves historic family southerners and our country people. there was no manassass mall, no, just proud family stores, famous eatery, a union hall, and such.

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fucking democrat sacks of shit. i thought in manassass how you got business was to get on COX and lie to people.