Alliteration? It has come to alliteration? Good Lord. Anyway, Pete Brown has pointed out that Obama is turning out to be beer's best buddy:

Why would Obama invite both men for "a beer here in the White House" rather than simply invite them to get round a table and discuss it without stipulating what refreshments were on offer? We all know why. But I'll spell it out anyway. Because beer is the most sociable drink in the world. Because in every single culture where beer is drunk, to invite someone to share a beer with you is not just politeness; it symbolises an offer of friendship.

Exactly. And it seems to answer the question whether that photo from last winter of Obama having a beer at a game was the most important beer photo of the year. It is.

Now... I have to admit something. I have been a little cranky. I have been cranky about extreme beer. I have been cranky about food and beer. But each thing is only a facet of beer culture which has at its heart sociability and friendship. So, if it rocks your socks to put on a black t-shirt and go for a extreme beer fest to bath in 11% imperial this and bourbon barreled that - great even if some can find it a bit much. If you want to drop a couple hundred clams with pals over linen, tiny portions and pairings - fill your boots but keep in mind that others can afford it and may even be put off by the rigourous demands of using the correct glassware. I suppose if you even want to tick you can do that, too. And, if you are like me, you want a craft beer on the basement sofa, after mowing the backyard or in another country after a game of vintage base ball with folks you would only meet through the weird obsession with the 1864 rules... why the hell not? Great beer is a great good which supports the common good. And the thing that all these ways of enjoying beer have in common are just that... convivial enjoyment.

But let's not duct tape on those rose coloured glasses just yet. All is not well and that (I think) is why I came up with BBADD. I do think craft beer should take a stand against the bad. It should actively stand against drunk driving. It should also take a stand against immoderation and against the problems associated with beer and health, too. The fact is that beer in excess can be the source of great harm. Craft beer should disassociate itself with that. One of the other main harms it should reject is exclusion. Whether the exclusion of premium expense or of precious style or otherwise exclusiveness needs to be rejected because any approach to beer that says "the next guy doesn't get it but I do" is anti-social. It is snobbery and snobbery is the antithesis of sociability. It is, therefore, anti-beer.

There. That is as close as I can get this morning to a unified theory of the point of good beer. You may disagree. That is fine. Unless you are a snob. Then it isn't.