User generated content is now reigning supreme online, an element of Web 2.0. Porn has been a big component of content online since the inception of rich multimedia, but so have user generated websites such as Myspace, Facebook, and now Twitter. The advancement of mobile phones with cameras and laptops with webcams has helped enrich the multimedia space online.
The best part of the online beer community for me has been the sharing of knowledge of beer, whether viewing photos, reading stories, or living vicariously through others online. But there needed to be a term for it, and a fun one at that.
Beer Porn
Beer porn is a collection of information, images, and other media that can be pored over for hours by a beer-loving male or female, just as cookbooks have always provided similar stimulation, allowing you to look at recipes being prepared that make you want to eat it through the page. Finding beer visuals can be as easy as picking up a book by Michael Jackson and poring through the images of old beers that he was able to try. But it is not just books anymore, but online images, websites, and stories.
The sharing of beer knowledge, ideas, reviews, and pictures occurs on websites such as Rate Beer and Reddit. Pictures can be of rare, popular, or new releases that many haven't tried yet. This is one of the key points about craft beer: some releases only happen on the east or west coast of the US. Russian River Brewery in California released Pliny the Younger at their brewery door in February and it sold out in six hours. This beer will go down as one of the special beers of 2010, but many beer lovers could only watch reviews, updates and photos of the experience during San Francisco beer week in February.
There are beer meccas such as the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, with over 2000 different beers poured over three days. The event charges $55-80, but includes all tastings in that particular session. It is the ultimate beer-geek experience, and if you love beer you have to attend this event once.
Article comments
1 - Muncher
Cheers for this fascinating insight into Beer. In the South West (England) the savory snack of choice is the Cornish pasty and there have been some folks experimenting with pasty porn in a similar way - mash ups of different crusts and filling - all very mouth watering.