Facebook UK "Craft" Beer Network

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Why separate real ale and craft beer? Real ale is simply craft beer which is allowed to improve after leaving the brewery.

 

There is little, if any, distinction between the two in that particular group Marquis.

 

We took the term from the US , but judging by the threads on the subject on this site nobody there has a clue what craft beer means anyway! Over here it seems to be used instead of "expensive"

 

Ingredient costs are a trivial proportion of the price of a pint.And many brewers have for a long time been using the best ingredients on the planet. Many US beers have to be brewed with pretty nondescript malt because that accounts for the vast bulk of what's available yet their results seem to speak for themselves.

 

They are different because a lot of beer can't be called real ale due to having ingredients other that yeast, water, malt and hops, and being kegged and canned etc.

Basically craft beer is, to my tastes, a better term (or even better: "beer") because it can be made from whatever, and judged objectively on quality by the consumer rather than touted and superior because it's made the old-fashioned way.

 

According to the Boak & Bailey book it might have been popularised in the US, mostly by Vince Cottone but the term was coined in the UK and used by Michael Jackson back in the 70's. Cottone says he might have picked it up from CAMRA.

 

Yes, American 'craft' beer continues to inspire and lead the international pack. And without their recent inspiration the UK beer scene would be fairly dull with only a handful of contemporary peaks.