The Beer City USA poll, an unofficial online poll, arrives next week. There’s been lots of discussion about the merits of the poll, which Asheville won last year over much bigger cities, including Portland. Asheville tied with Portland the first year.
Now comes some evidence that Portlanders might purposefully throw the poll. Check out these comments left in a blog post about the poll over at thedailypull.com, a post that notes the beer poll discussion here.
Jeff: I’m with you, Brady. Boycott the poll!
Rob B: Total farce. Hope all of the PDX beer media ignore it this time around.
Bill Night: Correct strategy for Portlanders this year: vote for Asheville.
Shauna C: And since when does clicking, refreshing and retyping a same city’s name over and over again = that city making the best beer? Keep on clicking Ashville…
I like Bill’s idea… vote for Asheville… Keep Portland Weird!
14 Comments
In all honesty, they need to stop using PollDaddy. It is extremely simple to manipulate that poll. Its more of Dev on Dev war.
Like Im the only person that complains on here, Nice changing the argument though to something unrelated. People are sick of hearing about the lame Beer Garbage . . . .
I may have to start my own blog to give you something to really complain about.
Did you ever notice how this complain-a-bot called "Asheville Dweller" sounds exactly like this former terminally-complainging negga-blogger named Michael Long? Any connection?
http://ashevillettruth.blogspot.com/
To those that think you can keep voting over and over for the same city, you are wrong. It limited you to one vote based on your IP address.
Its because this poll means nothing, 100% nothing, its not official its one poll out of a thousand.
Asheville has a lot of growing up to do.
Asheville as Beer City USA is a total joke.
I'm so sick of hearing about this. The "reviewers" simply don't do a professional job reviewing beer or restaurants here. All they mostly do is rave on about how great every single thing on the menu is and how we are a fine and unique beer and culinary capital. That is so ridiculous. How about a serious restaurant or brewery review.
And now about this silly poll — just how small town and elementary can we get? Polls like this are a total joke.
I like what was written earlier about how the one poll is done. Yeah man, let's get a group together, get drunk and type "Asheville" over and over again. Now, that's the way to win a real genuine poll.
Why so much negativity around a poll that it just so happens, more people voted for Asheville in it over Portland. If Portland wanted to win I think they could, why hate on Asheville for getting excited about it? If you like Portland better, vote for them! Don't hate on Asheville or the Asheville beer scene because they are proud of themselves.
It's just like in politics, your voice counts at the polls. Speak with your vote.
Remember the poll doesn't say Asheville is better than Portland, it just says more people voted for Asheville (last year) than for Portland. Don't hate the player's, hate the game!
IF your hating on the fact that Asheville promotes this poll, and the beer community hangs on it, it comes across as Crass and Ignorant. The "beer scene" is a self fulfilling prophecy, in the sense that it is what it makes itself. If you are bothered by it, don't participate in it.
It's been a successful part of the Asheville community that MOST Ashevillians are very proud of. I am proud of the Asheville beer scene NOT because I think we have the best breweries in the world, or that we necessarily have the best beer scene in the world, but we are extremely proud of what we have.
It's funny how some people just don't like success or recognition.
Somethings cool until it becomes cool, I guess.
Please. Enough of this!
Wow! I can't believe how far that one post has gone. Even though I wish some of the language were different in retrospect, if nothing else I'm glad to see that it struck a nerve and triggered a debate regarding our lack of quality journalism on this subject.
It's a serious question: why the lack of critical review in our local media? Is it because Asheville is just too small of a town? Are these writers afraid they're going to run into that brewer or restaurant owner they wrote about at the next big-wig social gathering and be faced with an awkward moment? Is the Mountain Xpress editorial board simply too fragile, too frightened to stick their necks out and potentially offend advertisers? Is it beyond Tony Kiss at this point to consider doing anything other than copy and pasting press releases?
With more and more restaurants, bars and breweries opening, isn't it the duty of a Lifestyle/Entertainment section to sort out the good and bad of what's out there? Worse, we have all this attention on beer, and not one serious attempt by either local paper to produce a column that takes this subject seriously. Why are we supposed to take note every time our papers mention something to do with beer, when those same papers have not once tried to educate us on the subject. It would be as if a political reporter wrote a story about an election that mentioned only the results and nothing about exit polls, current events, national mood, etc that lead to those results.
We need and deserve better from our local Lifestyle/Entertainment media. Maybe you have some insight, Ash, as to why we have never had Creative Loafing quality writing on these subjects at the Xpress, and certainly not the C-T?
Come on AVL peeps…….let's get together and get really, really drunk and sit around typing "Asheville" over and over again until we pass out. That's the unique "beer culture" that makes this town so damn fine!
Portland people know a fake, bogus, meaningless online poll like this one. Without doubt, Portland is far cooler than Asheville could ever dream of being. I hope their boycott does throw this poll and makes the local beer belly brigade here look like the idiots many of them are. Take note Tony Kiss & Jason Sandford, your drinking from a tainted tap!
This poll means nothing . . .
I don't know who is taking the poll more seriously: Asheville residents getting all jazzed up about it, Portlanders getting all butthurt about losing, or this blog for reporting it with the same sort of gusto that a right wing blog does about black panthers.
Portland: Haterade City USA 2011 winner.