No More Excuses

We recently attended the annual Craft Brewers Conference in Philadelphia along with over 13,000 industry professionals and guests. We literally walked miles on the expo floor, caught up with scores of industry brethren, met some new start-ups and hit a bunch of taprooms (and one cheesesteak joint) in between. Good times for sure, but we went home with the realization that there can be no more excuses for bad beer and bad practices in the world of brewing.

Thanks to beer’s rise in popularity, there is now a plethora of companies and people who are more than willing to offer their services and resources to help nearly anyone succeed. We saw hundreds of them on the expo floor, but it’s apparent that far too many brewers aren’t utilizing them as the same issues that everyone has bitched about for years still persist. In fact, they’re increasing at an alarming rate. With thousands of breweries vying for a piece of the market, quality, safety, innovation and differentiation are more important than ever.

Let’s face it: Today’s industry has matured. It’s high time for the people behind it to do the same. Simply having passion no longer cuts it. Competition is becoming cutthroat, consumers are increasingly savvy and, frankly, our beer deserves better.

Respect Beer. ■