"Why do we covet what we don’t have?"

It's rare to find a conscientious, balanced self-examination -- from anyone, anywhere, and not just from a better beer fancier. Humans don't do introspection particularly well. Having offered this disclaimer, it strikes me that Cresant Smith's essay at LouisvilleBeer.com is worth noting.

Beer Chasing

 ... The “hunt” switch was on and humming in my head. I had to find the best beers out there. Find the good stuff I couldn’t get at home.

Cresant's thoughts are worth reading in their entirety, so please do. Her words caused me to think back on my own introduction to beer. Without going into great detail, it was different, and it probably can be explained as a generational thing. Coming to better beer during a time of relative paucity, both of available choices and information about the wider world of brewing, was different for me than for those of any age who are coming to beer now, and are comparatively inundated with options.

I definitely was in favor of traveling to find better beer, and did. However, apart from isolated exceptions, it never occurred to me to become involved in a trading culture -- at least as a civilian. I suppose there's a strong case to be made that I did take part in such a culture, just via my original pub business and normal wholesaling channels. Where did my private interest end, and my mercantile instincts begin?

These days I read about intriguing beers and ponder how I may obtain them. I am not alone in this obsession. But Why? Why do we covet what we don’t have? Why do I, and so many others quest for the uncommon beers? Maybe it is the desire to be one of the cool kids, just like back in the day when you wanted the trendy toys? Do we need to prove that we can hang with the “big boys”? Are we trying to impress our friends with the most “ticks”, is it to show-off, the variety, the novelty? Do we want the validation of just consuming that hard to come by beer?

For me maybe it is a little bit of all of those.

And then there's this.

Generally, I just want to try something that sounds good and that I haven’t tried before. Although there are many satisfying beers that are readily available in KY, I am not satisfied with only drinking those. I crave variety and I suppose I like the challenge.

It's funny. I crave variety, too, and find plenty of it locally and regionally. I find more than I can drink, given how much I drink these days. But the challenge means almost nothing to me now. Perhaps we can conclude that for at least some enthusiasts, it's more about the challenge than the beer?

Kudos to Cresant for her writing.