Why is craft beer so hard?

One of the best things I was able to do in my journey as a craft beer drinker was learn not to be (as I call it) a slave to the ratings. I used to be that guy in the liquor store on BA and RateBeer checking ratings for everything before I would even consider picking it up. Same would happen when I was staring at a beer list at a bar or restaurant. Sure, I was playing it safe but I wasn't allowing myself to learn what I truly like. I was biased going into every single beer I was trying for the first time.

I've since learned to ignore ratings, often times not even checking them at all. If I do decide to look up a rating for a beer, I hold off until I've formulated my own opinion.

In response to the "I feel like craft beer is going down hill" statement ... Dude, seriously? We are living in the golden age of beer in America.

 

I've had your experience. Plus a follow up - on the next visit the Stone IPA is gone and yet another mediocre product took the tap line. That trend is growing.

People buy products for reasons other than taste, especially taste relative to the best of what is available in their market. So then the rest of us have to endure the situation you describe.

I sure as hell can't wait for the thorough cleansing situation that you describe, but I'm skeptical it will happen.

 

Sucks to be you, man.

 

Preach it brother!

I was recently asked about when I thought that the craft beer bubble would pop. I attribute the last down-tick in craft beer (late '90's-early '00's) to savvy beer drinkers who decided to weed out the bad breweries. And I think that we'll see another downturn when we decide to weed out the average ones next.

 

Your post is long on emotion and accusation and short on details. Why was it bad? What were the flavors that made you feel that way? Is this a price vs. expectation thing?

 

Ok, first, I think the decline in number of breweries in the country had a little more to do with Prohibition than consolidation.

Second, so you ordered a bad local beer at a bar. I don't see how the heck you generalize this to all local beers being bad. Yes, bad local beers do exist. So buy a different local beer.

 

Craft beer isn't hard at all. It is beer. It is a beverage.

The transaction is simple. I order a beer. You give me a beer. I pay for the beer.

I like the beer. I am happy.

I don't like the beer. I am unhappy. It is beer. I choose to finish, or not finish.

Repeat, substituting the word "Water". or "Coffee". or "Wine" or "Milk". Ad nauseam.

 

Nice extrapolation from nothing.

 

The Bogforce is not with you.

 

Beer is just like any other product. Some are good some are not. I guarantee back before prohibition with the 4000 breweries there was some terrible beer being brewed. Not everyone can produce a world class product, but that doesn't mean I will stop trying the local options. I would rather drink the local option and give it a shot if it sucks over a big beer.

 

Bogforce:

I feel your pain! Just because a beer comes from a small brewery doesn't mean it's good. Some of these obscure brews suck. Buyer beware.

 

Generalize much? Which breweries might be weeded out? I called this on cigars in the 90s, but they went bust before I could name them. Dare me to prove it.

 

NO BEER FOR YOU!

 

Not negative, but perhaps realistic. I often get the feeling that we are reaching a saturation point with the number of craft breweries in the U.S.

Sure, tastes vary greatly; but there is a great deal of mediocre beer out there. Some of that mundane brew would have been considered above average 10-15 years ago.

I feel like a big contraction is coming in the next decade or so. Many might find that disappointing but I think it will serve to weed out the breweries that churn out decent but mundane offerings.

 

And you suck it up. I paid for a beer I didn't like. Boo hoo.

 

A saturation point? Hardly. This may vary by region, but you cannot make this generalization.

A contradiction in the next decade? Try text three years, son. The market moves fast, and the brewery market will mimic the restraurant market (mobile v. brick & mortar).

A decade for a shake-out is incredibly generous. To a fault.

 

Agreed, I don't necessarily think that craft beer is "going downhill". But I do think that there are so many start-up breweries that are making average beer that it's watering down the market a bit. Each of these breweries have the fanboys and fangirls and some of them will become content in their mediocrity as long as the cash is flowing. Others will challenge themselves to make beers that can compete with the Russian Rivers, Three Floyds, Founders and Hill Farmsteads and with a varying degree of results. But thanks to sites like this one, and though I completely understand the original poster's frustration, I think that great beer is easier to find than ever!

 

Beer isn't hard. It never has been and it never will be. The enjoyment of what we do comes from our social interactions and the pleasure of taste. You can pretty much find an establishment anywhere that will allow you to have fun in this way with beer. The difficulty you suggest is really a matter of how complex the beer market has become and at the same time how involved you choose to become with it. Those who are new to this market might as well feel like they need a degree to translate this culture, but those who have been here a while have in all actuality already received such a degree.

If you really like beer that much you will want to read about it and understand it as much as possible. The "whales" aside, good beer can be attained most places. The challenge of finding what you like though is really a personal experience. Ratings only help you in gauging your own pallet and I believe that just as in life it is important to make mistakes in beer. If you buy something you don't like you are only learning more about the market.

Anyway, to answer your question more directly I will say that beer should never be hard because what we do is a hobby. A hobby is meant to provide pleasure in our personal time and there is no regulation in regards to how involved in a hobby one gets. Returning a beer because you don't like it sounds to me like you perceive this market as one which should provide you with perfection. There is no guarantee that a beer is delicious, regardless of what others say. If you don't enjoy a beer from an establishment maybe you don't go there anymore. In any case you can find somewhere else that you will enjoy.

I know this response is long, but its importance lies in the experience of those who have involved their lives with beer and are proud of it. If you have a problem with a hobby of yours perhaps you simply need to drop it. No one is making you buy, support, learn, or fight for beer, so if you think it is too hard you need to find something else.

I hope you choose to stay, however, because the more of us there are the more we get to try.

 

Wait. I'm confused. You're saying that it is hasty to proclaim a saturation point for the number of craft breweries but you also think that a big contraction in the number of breweries is coming in the next three years. Which is it?

 

It is certainly easier than ever to find great beer. That's why I think that it is only a matter of time before the number of craft breweries begins to decline.