The Problem with American Craft

Discussion in 'Beer Talk' started by JackRWatkins, Nov 18, 2014.

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  1. yemenmocha

    yemenmocha Grand Pooh-Bah (4,092) Jun 18, 2002 Arizona
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Enviable position to be in, Husky!

    So, imagine not having those top tier locals, and then in your area there's nonetheless a buy local movement anyway and the local stuff is taking up tap lines that could go to Dirt Wolf, Ballast Point, FW, Stone, etc. but aren't. Let that settle for a second and I think you'll feel how I feel. We really are far apart in this regard, as consumers and choices available to us. You have it made.
     
  2. DaveMiller

    DaveMiller Initiate (0) Nov 22, 2013 Minnesota

    I get what everyone is saying in this thread and can relate to many issues brought up, myself I started back in the mid 80's looking to go beyond the big boys at the time and discovered that the only beer that had that something I was looking for were European imports, so I started buying everything I could get my hands on to figure out what I liked and didn't like. Which in turn led me to start home brewing so I could always have something that I liked laying around and I would have no one to blame but myself for the quality...

    Move forward 30 years and in my area (Twin Cities MN) you can hardly find a European beer in most liquor stores, however, I can find just about any local beer MN or WI in their own special section... In the last year alone, I can think of at least a dozen new breweries to open just in the Twin Cities alone. Some bottle/can, some you can only find at the taproom, but in the end I am going to try them all, not just because they are local, but because I have this passion to try good beer. Have some of them disappointed and thus I won't be going back? Yes, but the point I am trying to make is that I at least tried them, as have all of you tried new breweries in your different areas, because how else are you going to find out if they make good beer or not... And if some like the beer that I personally think is not that good, more power to them, because calling out someone because you think the beer is not any good, just makes you look like a beer snob, which to some of my friends I am...

    In the end this is all a personal decision about what you like and thus where you are going to spend your hard earned money and if the liquor store dude does not sell something anymore because it is not selling, I am going to be disappointed but the dude also needs to make money. And if it is because he is trying to promote local it is his decision and yours to take your business somewhere else...
     
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  3. hopfenunmaltz

    hopfenunmaltz Pooh-Bah (2,611) Jun 8, 2005 Michigan
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Salzberg Austria, too.
     
  4. LambicPentameter

    LambicPentameter Initiate (0) Aug 29, 2012 Nebraska

    If Citra is the autotune of hops, which brewer is T-Pain? :sunglasses:
     
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  5. BeerHistoryGuy

    BeerHistoryGuy Initiate (0) Oct 15, 2014 Illinois

    With craft brewers surpassing the 3,000 mark and 18% growth last year in sales, etc., etc., etc, it is unlikely that the problems of "hops over flavor" is that pervasive. While I'm sure that there are hits and misses -- I've had a few misses, myself -- I would argue that craft brew has never been better. The growth can't be accounted for just by measuring the sales to beer enthusiasts. That won't cut it. In truth, it's the average beer drinker, the next generation of beer drinkers, etc, that has craft brew sold in places like drug stores and 7-11's. If most of the beeer tastes badly or makes up the majority of beer sold -- notably beer that is just so hoppy. that it's bitter without flavor -- it would not be that popular. The sophisticated palate usually gravitates towards hoppy beers, like IPAs and double IPAs, but many people prefer lagers, pilsners, wheat beers, and maybe some seasonals. So, a beer that is pure bitter with little flavor? That would not make craft beer sales go crazy as they have, notably in the last 10 years. Simply put, people like what is being sold to them. That's why they are buying it.

    Obviously, with the immense growth of the entire industry, there will be some breweries that go out of their way to make it hoppy without thinking about the balance of flavors. Others will not be consistent brew-to-brew, and others will care way too much about spices/flavors rather than the beer, itself, as a whole. That happens in the food industry, too. Good chefs make a good meal, not just food with abundant spices that are not balanced, etc.

    In the end, I have to disagree with your assessment. I think there are some bad beers among the tens of thousands of varities that exist -- and maybe you are not a fan of heavy hoppped beers (is that a term? lol), but all in all, craft brewers have succeeded in appealing to us geeks, and a whole nation (and world) of people -- and the economic numbers prove how appealing craft beer has become.

    Maybe you are more of a wheat, stout, etc. type of guy? Also, this is wet hop season, so maybe you are noticing the more hoppy brews that are prevalent at this moment?

    That's my $.02 worth, if that. My humble opinion, of course.
     
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  6. BeerHistoryGuy

    BeerHistoryGuy Initiate (0) Oct 15, 2014 Illinois

    I meant to add....I'm on board with supporting the local breweries, too. If I find a brewery has little to offer (one, close by, is really sub-par, sadly), I will not go back, but that's been really rare. In the Chicago area, we have nearly 100 breweries now and, so far, I've had great experiences. I just went to Imperial Oak in Willow Springs and it's freaking amazing. Pollyana, Urban Legend, and few others are all excellent, too. I can't imagine going to Binny's in lieu of visiting a brewery and getting something crafted "on location." That's just me, though. :slight_smile:
     
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  7. Nlawrence301

    Nlawrence301 Initiate (0) Sep 26, 2013 Maryland

    I'm all about drinking local, but most of the local breweries in my town are not very good. Flying dog makes some good beer, but I get the impressions they care more about marketing, than they do about their product. And the other two actual local Breweries are owned by the same company, and just plain suck. The best "local" beer comes from PA or are three hours away in evo & burley oak (forgot about jailbreak brewing in laurel)
     
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  8. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    In NJ a Brewery can self distribute. It doesn't matter if your a Nano or AB-InBev.
     
  9. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    You could also find a store that shares your sensibilities enough to be willing to either carry some of what you request or just special-order a case every now and then.
     
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  10. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,181) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Michel, that is a capital idea. I have had the pleasure to get to know a number of my local beer buyer guys and they will make the effort to special order beer for me when I request it. The types of beers I want is not available to them 100% of the time but more often then not I am successful here.

    Cheers!

    Edit: A related story. A couple of years ago I once asked one of my beer guys if he carried Schlitz Gusto beer (I did not explicitly ask him to get it for him). The next time I was there he mentioned he had a 6-pack in the back for me. Matt is a GREAT guy!!
     
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  11. herrburgess

    herrburgess Grand Pooh-Bah (3,053) Nov 4, 2009 South Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I have done this with kegs, actually. Since we ramped up to the 1 BBL home brewery, I have been able to keep myself in the types of beer I prefer, for the most part. Would be a bit worried about freshness, since, as many have noted, these beers don't move as well anymore. Still, good call.
     
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  12. bambinichole

    bambinichole Initiate (0) Aug 23, 2014 Ohio
    Deactivated

    People think craft beer is a style that is something new. But, a lot of these beers and styles and flavors have been around for a long time. We as people, in our minds, have developed this so-called style. "Craft" beer is how beer should be and when people see something different that's been around for a long time, it becomes artesinal or craft.
     
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  13. TongoRad

    TongoRad Grand Pooh-Bah (3,848) Jun 3, 2004 New Jersey
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Yeah- I don't have the same problem @herrburgess has (my local was well-stocked with plenty of German O'fests this year like always) but I'm still being very pro-active lately anyway. Sometimes it's a request for a particular beer (Weihenstephaner Oktoberfestbier in this instance, because that's the one they didn't have last year), and sometimes it's to give a heads-up about something upcoming (like the Ballantine IPA, which nobody knew about at the time). If you find the right place, then that's a great ace to have up your sleeve every now and then, and it sure beats driving all over the place looking for something :slight_smile:.
     
  14. mccorvey

    mccorvey Initiate (0) Dec 3, 2013 North Carolina

    IMO this whole thread/argument is a straw man. There's no "problem" with craft beer in America.
     
    #194 mccorvey, Nov 19, 2014
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2014
  15. yemenmocha

    yemenmocha Grand Pooh-Bah (4,092) Jun 18, 2002 Arizona
    Pooh-Bah Society

    ^^^Maybe McCorvey is right. What were we thinking? /slapforehead.
     
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  16. Brolo75

    Brolo75 Initiate (0) Aug 10, 2013 California
    Deactivated

    Completely agree, there is a lot of quality in American craft beer. Is there bad beer out there? Yes but it is such a good time to be a beer drinker in the U.S.
     
  17. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,677) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    My God, global warming raised up too big a storm in too small a teapot. There is nothing wrong with American craft beer that wise consumers cannot discern. I've read as much of this as possible. Good product is good product, pure and simple. One should not stress over this stuff.
     
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  18. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    Just curious, why would you want to rate beers you don't care for in the first place?
     
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  19. mccorvey

    mccorvey Initiate (0) Dec 3, 2013 North Carolina

    I think the baseline assumption the title makes is that there is some "problem" with American craft beer, or basically that there is something inherently wrong with the whole craft beer phenomenon. I disagree with this assumption.

    Just because you don't like a trend or style within the market, doesn't make it a bad market in general.
     
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  20. JackRWatkins

    JackRWatkins Maven (1,448) Nov 3, 2014 Georgia
    Trader

    with anything as big as this there will always be problems, the principle issue with anything classified as a movement is that movements by their very definition will end. I don't think it's unreasonable to attempt to discuss the problems an industry this big is bound to have, be they what I initially suggested or any of the issues mentioned in the thread. the idea of discussing it here is to make sure that none of the issues grow in secret and kill this whole thing that we love so much. Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting beer will ever die, hell it survived being illegal, but we as consumers need have ultimate control here and need to promote the kind of market we like and would like to see flourish. to say that there is no problem is kind of naive, there's nothing wrong with disagreeing as to what exactly the problem is or even stressing that the word problem but sound too much like a deathknell to be the word to describe the issues, but that sort of idealism is impractical
     
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