BBC - US influence on UK beer scene

So we borrow a name from the US yet don't accept the meaning attached to it? Our American friends most emphatically would call the products of our smaller breweries craft beer.And of course the influence in beer is two ways ! Many American brewers do in fact produce mainstream English type beer.

 

"mainstream English type beer" - is that a new style???

 

Hey I'm just saying its a useful differentiation point for the consumer. Much like terms such as American pale ale. It's still a pale ale and yes It's not just Americans making them, but its still useful to have the term.

 

Good post. I'm hoping that once the craft beer scene really takes hold in the UK CAMRA & more traditional cask brewers will really turn it up to '11' and show the world the true potential of cask beer. At present too many traditional breweries are just dragging their feet.

 

Exactly. Too many cask ales are generic and could be exactly the same recipes as a hundred others. Still decent most of the time but I would hardly want to use the term craft, to describe such dull and unimaginative brewing. Like when I spent a month in Somerset - good cask ale from Otter, Sharps, Yeovil, and Teignworthy amongst others, but it was pretty much like drinking the same beer each night. In fact I had actually switched to cider by the end of it.

 

I don't really need to pay that much attention- they're all the same. As you say, I wouldn't expect you to be able to say the same of me.

 

If I was to set up a 'Next Generation' cask ale brewery I would only brew high ABV Old Ales , barley wines and stouts and forget about low gravity beers. 'Session' drinking is so passe.

 

Session drinking isn't passe just don't make boring 4% golden / blonde ales part of your session ramp it up !