Sneaking up a bit on me through the holidays is the next edition of The Session, taking place this Friday the 3rd of January. It’s hosted by Rebecca of The Bake and Brew and is titled “Against the Grain.”

How much is our taste or opinion of a craft beer affected by what friends and the craft beer community at large thinks? What beer do you love that no one else seems to get? Or what beer do you say “no thanks” to that everyone can’t get enough of?

I can find myself wondering sometimes when I’ve had an extremely popular beer, but haven’t been all that “wowed”…is it me? Am I missing something here? Was there too much hype? Could there be such a thing as taste inflation? If we really want to dive further into this, is it really only “good” if a large portion of the craft beer community says it is or is our own opinion and taste enough?

I’ve often wondered this myself—and it’s a similar train of thought that spawned our Session discussion on Hype back in #70. How much does popular opinion influence how “good” a beer should be?

Write up your thoughts on Friday and post a link to your article over at The Bake and Brew.