Sayonara, Joe Sixpack?

Soon after returning from the February BeerAdvocate Extreme Beer Fest in Boston, I noticed an old book sitting on my kitchen table: Beer Can Collector’s Bible published in 1976, a gift received for my tenth birthday. Paging through the dusty volume, I was amazed by the number of beer brands pictured that no longer exist. I wasn’t drinking at 10 years old, but I venture there wasn’t a significant difference between the beers labeled “Premium Beer,” “Premium Light Beer,” “Premium Draft,” “Extra Fine,” etc.

Despite the variety of labels, the contents inside were unremarkably similar. Creativity had been stripped from the craft of brewing beer. As a beer drinker, I have no desire to return to those days! The book was a stark reminder of how mercilessly beer can be commodified in this country.

Thankfully, the recent craft beer movement has transformed beer. At the Extreme Beer Fest, I tried at least five new styles of beer created this past year! We can now order complex, cork-finished, barrel-aged bottles of beer at restaurants for less than the price of a bottle of fine wine. Brewers have also been pushing the alcohol limits on beer, creating a new breed of beer that rivals classic liquors.

Take us, for example. Ever since we brewed our first batch of Allagash White, uniqueness and pushing the limits of beer have always been important ingredients of our brewery culture. For years, we have been bottle conditioning, finishing bottles with Champagne corks, and experimenting with new styles. A year ago, while sampling Interlude, a 9 percent beer that had been aging, we noted a distinctive Brettanomyces character. It was an unintended but pleasant surprise. We complemented the yeast character with wine and oak notes imparted through months of aging in French oak barrels. A tremendous amount of work goes into each batch of Interlude, but we think it’s worth it, and we couldn’t be more excited about it.

Yet, amid all this discovery, we still hear from time to time that beer has become too extravagant, too posh, that the Everyman quality of the old suds is being washed away by the craft beer revolution. This is nonsense. If we see the value in a $5 cup of coffee, a $50 bottle of wine, or a $2 bottle of water, how can we not see value in a $10 barrel-aged beer or a $9 handcrafted six-pack from a small, local brewery?

The problem for many is that we’re still living with the stigma illustrated in that old beer-can-collecting book—that beer is cheap and all of it tastes and looks the same. The fact that beer can be barrel-aged, served at a fine restaurant and finished with a cork is not extravagance, it’s merely giving this multi-faceted, deeply historied beverage the respect it deserves.

But if you’re still concerned that the $4.99 six-pack of factory-produced beer will go away, don’t worry— I’m sure you’ll find them on shelves for years to come. But thanks to craft beer drinkers, we now have a vast selection of beer experiences to choose from, and limitless options to come! ■