Is Beer the new Wine?

I sense a pattern among people my age (late 20's, 30's): we are dropping words like IPA, Porter and Stouts versus the traditional Pinot or Cabernet. A growing case of beer snobbery. 
Previously, I've always associated beer with the Homer Simpson's of the world- beer bellied and drunk by the 6-packful. But thanks to the more sophisticated "tasting" instead of chugging, and the fine biological structure of "better beers", the caloric intake is still minimal. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that most of the people that crowd these popular microbrew/gastropubs are fairly young and in good shape. (Could be an LA thing or a deeper circle of yuppie-dom).


Collectively,  we rush to get the new exclusive beer that came from a very far remote microbrewery where the local beer buyer had to sacrifice a finger for or just a little dignity for a keg. Yup. No grocery beers for us- just the stuff worth research and traveling hundreds of miles to taste. And why not? I enjoy going over to the local gastropub/brewery to taste something entirely new and different. Granted, I had to work myself up to the IPA level, but I now appreciate a good beer. As I've always appreciated a well-crafted drink that people put some thought into (like coffee or tea) and doesn't empty my wallet.


Mike introduced this new interest. He and his friends began visiting local breweries near out of town bike races (which is often the case), and now find themselves deciphering flavor profiles and using words like "hoppy" and bold as adjectives. Now, we find ourselves tasting new premier beers nearly every week, but we're far from being the only ones.  PS.  Don't worry we won't judge your PBR, but we'll probably prefer not to drink it.


My favorite beers are Russian River's Supplication, Rodenbach Grand Cru, Russian River's Pliny the Elder and Mikkeler's Beer Geek Breakfast Weasel