From the Editor: Agreeing to disagree

I have a beard. I own several check shirts. I drink craft beer and flat whites. I even own a fixie bike although a combination of Bristol’s hills and having to transport two small children means that it doesn’t go for a spin as much as it used to.

Does this make me a hipster? According to this recent opinion piece in Bristol24/7, I also fulfill the criteria because I read books, enjoy watching live music at the Louisiana and frequent Cafe Kino.

And according to this even more recent piece by Emily Waddell that has raised several hackles since being published, it is people like me drinking craft beer that meant cider drinkers are being discriminated against. What complete and utter codswallop.

…………………………………………………………………

Read more: Are craft beer pubs ruining Bristol?

…………………………………………………………………

Our newest columnist Emily is right to recognise that Bristol is an undeniably cool city and our new shops, restaurants, pubs and bars is a great sign of a thriving economy. Just not for cider drinkers like her.

I was at Moor Beer brewery’s tap room in St Philip’s on a recent Friday night and a punter next to me asked if they served any lager.

To paraphrase Emily: “YOU’RE IN A CRAFT BEER BREWERY MATE, IT’S NOT CRAZY TO ASSUME THEY WON’T SERVE CIDER.”

Hipsters have come in for a bashing on these pages recently, much of it quite remarkably unfair for a group of people who if we were to categorise them share an ethos of enjoying and supporting the authentic and small, compared to mass exploitation and destruction of resources and the planet. Small batch craft beer versus mass-produced cider, if you will.

It has been far too easy for opinion writers to target this group of people, to lazily infer that these are the people to blame for gentrification and rising house prices. The term hipster here isn’t a subculture but a term of abuse.

Here’s Emily again: “If you’re trying to buy a house for the first time in the place you grew up in and you can’t afford it. But you walked 10 minutes to a craft beer pub, paid £5 for an imported American beer then you’ve answered why you cannot afford to live where you grew up anymore.”

I drink craft beer because in Bristol we are so spoiled for choice in this ever-evolving scene. My two daughters and I enjoyed cycling to Good Chemistry‘s open brewery last weekend, and when I’m not refilling my two-litre growler in Moor Beer I’m refilling it in nearby Left Handed Giant (whose tap room is our current bar of the week), where a table tennis table isn’t among the crates of beer because it looks cool but because it’s fun to play.

And when I’m not buying some of the UK’s best craft ales direct from breweries right here in Bristol, I’m buying them in cans from the brilliant Brew on St Nicholas Street. Craft beer is often more expensive than other drinks because it costs more to produce. And it tastes a hell of a lot better because of the use of some of the best ingredients, especially those imported from other countries, the smaller scale of the production, and the ingenuity and creativity of the brewers.

I have a beard because I can’t be bothered to shave, not because it’s hipster fashion. Half of the check shirts I own were bought for me as Christmas presents from my mum.

I drink coffee in Small St. Espresso not because it’s a hipster hangout of choice, but because it’s my hangout of choice. I have spent days of my life here with family and with friends, in meetings and on my own, passing the time of day with owners Chris and John, and with excellent and passionate staff like Jack who also happens to have a beard and enjoy drinking craft beer.

Why should what I drink define me and others like me who enjoy drinking good beer and good coffee, two of life’s greatest pleasures?

How can a craft beer bar not serving cider be criticised for its specialisation? That’s like criticising the ss Great Britain for not being a bus, or criticising the Clifton Suspension Bridge for being a bridge and not also a tunnel.

It’s also not quite strictly true. Bristol is still fantastically well served for places where cider drinkers can get their fill. Not just in places like the Cori Tap, Orchard or Apple either, but in pubs in the heart of neighbourhoods. Small Bar on King Street, Bristol’s bastion of craft beer, also has two rotating guest ciders. If, however, you see a name like The Beer Emporium there is a clue what liquid they serve in their subterranean bar.

The joy of Britol24/7‘s comment pages is that we offer space online and in our monthly magazine for our readers to say what they want. And I of course respect people’s right to share their opinions. To quote Evelyn Beatrice Hall: “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”

Criticising people for the fact that they enjoy drinking craft beer and bringing a loose definition of hipster into the argument is one of these times when I disapprove of the theme of an opinion piece in Bristol24/7, but will nevertheless happily see it published.

“Is Bristol24/7 actually trying to alienate the business that they claim to support?” asks one reader on Facebook. I sincerely hope not. Emily’s debut column is an opinion piece, aiming to provoke opinion, and certainly not claiming to represent anybody’s views other than her own. I shall continue to frequent, support and write about Bristol’s dazzling array of excellent independent businesses.

“Wow this is just a rediculously (sic) bad article,” went one comment underneath the piece. “Poorly written, terribly researched. No balance to the argument at all and terribly offensive. Just a standard day for this crappy crappy rag I guess.”

I’ll agree to disagree with most of that.

Another reader emailed me on Tuesday morning to politely ask if I could “consider your columnists before allowing them to deliver damming, poorly thought out and ill informed opinion pieces” such as Emily’s first column.

That will not happen as although, in the reader’s words, it is “a piece of self serving, long winded, offensive, opinionated rubbish (that) does nothing to start an opinionated debate”, it is still their opinion.

If you want to share your opinion on anything from hipsters to hypnotists and everything in between, please email editor@bristol247.com

Read more: Are craft beer pubs ruining Bristol?