"Does American craft brewing have a quality problem?"

Thanks.

 

You're right. Funny to notice in my area though a brewpub that is the oldest brewer in area has had a slide in quality for years, and despite this somehow stays going cause of the three L's of real estate.

 

But...they haven't screwed it up for everyone yet? Hmmm.

 

I'm terrified that they value "Meticulous record keeping" more than "obsessive cleaning."

 

Haha no, in fact their slide has led to Bacchus putting in a brew system with a guy I know who is a genius brewer as one of the brewers. They basically are across the street from the brewpub with technical issues. And another nearby coffee house has now done the same, also making really fine beer, and they even bottle now. Neither of them can keep up with demand.

 

If this were true I would have quit drinking craft beer after about the third different brand I tried, back in the early 90s.

 

what one glass of shitty beer does to me, though, in a town where there are more breweries than I can get to, is this: on a first time visit, it gets a "Check, please!" and no return. On a visit to a place I've had good beer before, it puts them WAAAY down on the list for a return. There are just too many choices, and too many places I want to get to and haven't, for it to be any other way.

 

Breweries have a tall order to fill. In NC where we can get some really good west coast things fresh (Ballast Point, SN to just name two) plus expansion of west/mountain breweries to the state-SN/OB/NB--the bar is even higher. Local breweries have stepped it up--Foothills, NoDa, Olde Hickory, Wicked Weed, Greenman but some are falling behind. I see less production of fairly routine offerings like pale ales and focus on good seasonals, a solid IPA or something unique to craft brewing (Olde Meck) because a mediocre or even a decent pint of a pale ale doesn't get you much.

For the early part of the thread where 8/10 needed improvement at a beer fest--find that somewhat vague and unhelpful--few could not stand improvement. I have never seen a festival with a poor hit rate like that.

 

The difference from the 90's til now is that there are SO many more resources and knowledge. There is no excuse to make shitty beer these days with all of the products and support.

 

That's all well and fine when you're an knowledgeable, experienced consumer (as you obviously are). I don't think it's that simple when you are a member of the industry or someone new to beer.

I think this is a key point. How much effect does a lack of quality by one brewery affect its peers? According to the OP's article and plenty of other sources, many members of the BA are concerned about standards (rightfully or wrongfully). Whether it is feasible or not, it seems understandable for the BA to want to maintain a high level of quality in their industry, have customers that appreciate technically sound product and to limit the amount of negative exposures to their products.

 

We've already done this dance, so why not take steps to cut off the music before the intro is done?

When the problems are pervasive, and seemingly every 'new' guy on the shelf has issues with the beer, and that goes on for a number of years, well...you pretty much stick with the tried and true, and that's it. And so do a lot of other people. This isn't so much that there will be fewer incoming craft beer fans, although there will be, it's that the existing ones will stop believing in the new blood and things suddenly become less dynamic.

 

Sure I agree with you that markets differ and you can get away with more in some places than others. I was talking more about breweries that put out beer that actually has something wrong with it, not just beer that I don't like. If they're staying in business, folks are buying it, so they must like it, right? I don't buy a beer I don't like twice. If mississippi has such a beer vacuum, go there and put Magnolia out of business. I suspect the lack of good craft beer in mississippi is mostly because their economy can't support a robust craft scene. Folks are too broke to pay $12-$15 for a six pack and the economics of craft brewing demand that you charge that much. Mississippi lacks a good craft scene because they lack the market, and if you live in mississippi, I 100% agree that the market is unlikely to fix this problem. My comments, admittedly, only considered markets where craft beer is thriving.

 

@jefffalcone posted: “If they're staying in business, folks are buying it, so they must like it, right?”

It seems to me that is really is as simple as that. If any business produces a product that customers find objectionable (a non-quality beer in this thread discussion) then customers will choose to not purchase it.

I read the post by Mitch Steele where he stated: “What I am talking about with regards to quality is an ability to brew sound, consistent beer on a regular basis.”

My question to @MitchAtStone, if a brewery is producing beer of low quality by a premier brewer’s standard, how is it that the brewery continues to sell product?

Taking the example that @stakem provided: “Heck, one other establishment has been making terribly flawed beers for 17 years and yet they continue to open up new location after new location.”

How does ABC not only survive but in fact thrive by producing non-quality beer?

It seems to me that customers, who vote with their dollars, are of the opinion that these beers are quality as in deserving of their money.

Cheers!

 

I'm going to ask a few questions that seem to have been overlooked. I really don't have my own solid answers, just want to see what others say:

1- What does it matter? I think a consequence of bad beer was mentioned once in the article. "...to color the willingness of the beer drinker to try new brands." It seems paranoid to think that a new-to-the-craft-beer-scene consumer tries 1 bad beer and shuns the rest. Now, if said consumer tries 10 in a row...then maybe this could happen. Since craft beer is eyeballing 20% market share, it seems this isn't hampering much

2- Is it that big of a threat? Look at any industry where mediocrity (and just plain bad) rules. There are tons of wine labels that are bad, but sell nonetheless. I can't stand McD' or BK, but they don't stop me me from enjoying burgers at other places

3- Is this just a learning curve? Some of these subpar breweries will go under. How likley are they to take others with them? Perhaps this is hypothetical or unknown...

4- How in-tune are new-to-the-craft-beer-scene consumers' palates to notice off-flavors? Us beer geeks can pick out subtle hints and criticize; does this mean others can do the same?

 

It doesn't. People will keep experiencing the things they love, and paying for it. Even though sometimes there will be bumps in the road.

No. This was a poor attempt at a pep-talk from industry leaders.

Yes. Highly unlikely. When Saturn closed down, they didn't take GM, Toyota, and Kia with them.

Not very. The mass majority have bigger issues in their life/more interesting things to do than to worry about honing their senses and judging every beer they drink so severely.

 

RblWthACoz nailed all of those questions. Put a gold star on his forehead!

Cheers to RblWthACoz!

 

Dave, which is the coffee house brewing and bottling?

 

All I know is that I really need to bone up on statistical jargon and maybe understand a bit of it. I remember an intro statistics class with the text, "The Fundamentals of Statistics" by Carlo Lastrucci- I read the first few paragraphs and dropped the course the next day. I can taste a flawed beer, but I'll be damned if I can rummage through lots of the logic here in this post thus far and make much meaningful sense of it. I'm fairly certain that statistics can "prove" anything, and I'm very fond of anecdotes.

 

They actually are ready to move out of the coffee house for good now, I have heard. Gonna be in Gardiner near the Mountain Brauhaus.

http://www.yardowlcraftbrewery.com/

And at Bacchus they are set to upgrade fermentor capacity, the sours and stouts they brew last less than a few days now.

 

Thanks bud. I've actually heard of them but never had the opportunity to give them a try. Will do next time I visit the folks though!