‘Smooth’ Is As Good As Any Dopey Beer Descriptor

What does “smooth” mean when describing beer? Don’t say it doesn’t mean anything because you ALL know what it means!

So, people out there on Beer Twitter making fun of smooth because it was the top description on Untappd last year.

Don’t get flipped, bro! Neophytes? Go back to your spirts cave. That’s not what most people are saying.

It’s not bitter. Easy to drink. Drinkable. Hence: SMOOTH.

Yeah maybe it’s lazy but we ALL KNOW WHAT THE FUCK IT MEANS!

So back the hell off of SMOOTH! Back the hell off because smooth isn’t the only common term that means something and nothing all at once.

How about?:

  • Crisp
  • Bright
  • Flavorful
  • Light
  • Hoppy
  • Thin
  • Accessible
  • Complex
  • Balanced
  • Clean

See?! It’s all crap AND useful, at once. Unless you tear down all beer descriptors, leave smooth alone.

Deeper Take

As humans, all we really want is for things to go smoothly. We want our day to go smooth. Wedding. Trip. Latest hazy release.

Smooth is good. Smooth makes us happy.

So, as a brewer, don’t you want your beer to make people happy? If someone says your beer is “smooth”, they like your beer. Pretty nice if you think about it.

Smooth might be the most positive beer descriptor out there.