Poll: should we continue using the term "craft" to describe beer?

From Merriam-Webster: CRAFT
: an activity that involves making something in a skillful way by using your hands
: a job or activity that requires special skill

"Craft" replaced "Micro" as soon as the "Micros" became "Regional". Now "Craft" has come to include industrial beer, too, that is beer brewed on an industrial scale with very little need for actual skilled "brewers" involved.

Now, much of that industrial beer is excellent beer (SN, Oskar, Stone, etc), some not so much. Meanwhile much small scale beer is drain cleaner and some is great, some can be considered requiring special skill while others are all-malt with random flavorings added, we now even have actual hops flavoring.

So, the "Craft" label no longer means craft in the dictionary definition sense, and have devolved into it's not BMC, just in case people don't want to accidently drink Macro. Now, I'd take a Mich Draught over much of the swill that has passed to me as "Craft", but I understand the orthodoxy.

Euphemisms evolve, I expect this euphemism will too.

Let's just call it all IPA and be done with it.

 

Brewer's Association was only one example. I understand their angle from a business perspective, but like many other people that doesn't mean I have to accept their definition universally. If an overwhelming majority of people agreed that the BA's definition of craft brewer is the one and only definition, then I would go along with it, but that's simply not the case. The problem is more this:

What defines "craft beer" is a question that has been discussed many times on these boards over the years I've been a member here and there is never any agreement. That lack is agreement is what makes the terms largely irrelevant. Individuals on these boards define craft beer by any number of the following criteria (and more):

1. Taste
2. The brewer's "passion"
3. Quality
4. How industrial/automated vs "hands-on" the brewing operation is
5. Size
6. Distribution
7. Profitability of the brewer
8. Ownership, of which opinions fall into sub-categories of a) Independent; b) publicly-traded; c) owned by a BMC; or d) owned by a holding/investment group (i.e. NAB, Duvel Moortgat, etc.)
9. Use of all malt versus adjucts
10. Brewer's Association definition of craft brewer (defined by total barrels per year and % ownership)
11. Some combination of the above
12. EDIT: Dictionary definition of craft [credit to @beergrrl ]

#1-#3 are incredibly vague and vary wildly between different people and the rest are quite arbitrary where you draw the line. Furthermore people around here tend to only consider US brewers, and when you point out a classic European brewer who has made a classic beer(s) for literally hundreds of years and doesn't meet their arbitrary criteria things just get downright silly.

So, back to what I originally said:

 

I am uncertain how much longer this thread/poll will be active but it certainly appears that the majority of folks who took the poll do indeed think we should continue using the term "craft" to describe beer.

Cheers!

 

Obviously you can't get agreement on what is "good" beer. Defining beer should be easier, but apparently there are a few grey areas even with that.

Lots of English words have A. multiple definitions and B. Disagreement about exactly how any given definition should apply. That does not mean they are not useful. For example, one person can use BA's definition, and another person can include, say, Goose Island (I can certainly see the rationale behind that) They will both understand each other when someone asks "where is a good craft beer bar in South Succotash" or "Are neckbeards a threat to craft beer?" The only place where they will not is when the discussion of GI, or of AB's acquisition strategy. In that case people should simply make clear what definition they are using, and move on to the substantive argument.

 

I've never liked the term "Craft Beer"...makes me feel kinda snooty just saying it.
I like good beer just like I like good whiskey and good tequila...it doesn't have to be the best, but it can't be some crap.

 

No. Sounds stupid.

 

In what way then does Weihenstephaner fail the "craft" test ? Or Timothy Taylor's for that matter? Beers brewed with a passion for quality.

 

I'm not saying they fail the test. I'm just saying that when some individuals apply opinions and arbitrary criteria to define craft they often inadvertently and comically wind up excluding some classic brewers/beers, which highlights the futility of defining "craft beer" in a specific way.

 

OP, the problem is that the USA was born and raised on shitty piss beer, then a new term was coined when real beer was finally brewed. Woooah, it's craft. You crafted that. Damn delicious brah. Crafty....craft....it's craft.
Other cultures/nations have always had good beer and it wasn't like a big, new movement that was alien to what had come before.

I don't think the tables will ever be turned where the macros aren't called "beer" and craft isn't this new thing that everyone makes a mess in their pants over.

 

It seems to have been the distinction Michael Jackson settled on, as imperfect as it is. I was thinking of his saying :"Industrial Lagers are the fast food of the beer world". I'm sure he also realized that there is automation and repetition in many of the best breweries he visited, however. Anyway, if there was a word swap, it was the other way around .

But that's the heart of the thing, I suppose- it's not the size of the brewery that really matters. Big, small, tiny, or gigantic- it all amounts to trade-offs and the hows and whys of the end product. The conceit of the word 'craft' is that it implies this mythology whereby only small breweries can produce great beer, which is manifestly untrue. The difference really seems to lie in the independence and corporate structure of the brewery (although even the bigs can surprise you every now and then- see Spaten everything or Ballantine IPA).

 

Actually the term Micro Brew was used for about the first 15 years. The things we find to fight about.

 

The word “craft” appears to me heavily used in San Diego. Watch the news video and count the number of times you hear the word “craft” uttered (including by Greg Koch):

http://www.10news.com/lifestyle/local-brewing-company-crashes-european-market-04112015

Cheers!

 

I really don't see why beer needs the "craft" descriptor. When I shop for whiskey, I just assume that the good stuff costs more. If I pay $10 for a 750ml bottle of Heaven Hill whiskey, I'm not gonna expect it to be a smooth easy drinkin' whiskey. Life's too short for cheap booze.

 

Do we need "craft" burgers/burritos/chicken to differentiate from mass-market fast-food versions of those things?

 

Gourmet?

 

No, because the the mass market/fast food versions already self identify themselves as mass market/fast food so the default is the better versions of those foods.

Bud already called themselves Macro Beer but if you can get all the people who drink BMC beers to change their mindset so they don't go on a beer run but go on a macro beer run or drink out of a industrial beer bong then they are setting themselves apart and 'craft' isn't needed to identify that subset of beer.

There is a local liquor store of mine that advertises they have many cooler doors worth of craft beer, imports, and micro brews. I haven't asked them yet how they define what is craft and what is a micro brew.

 

It sounds like most (not all) people want on this thread some way to differentiate craft from non-craft beer, even if they don't like the word craft itself. Using terms like "good" and "bad" beer is subjective. However, one thing everyone can agree on is that craft beer has more intense and varied flavors. Even people who don't like craft beer agree. Isn't the flavor the reason most of us drink the stuff? Shouldn't any new term to separate craft from non-craft focus on this difference?

With all of that, I still think craft is an okay term. It works.

 

Do we need this term which is frequently used by people who frequent the Germany forum: Fernsehbier ?

 

Just beer. Even the big guys 'craft' their beer and we can't take anything away from the head brewers for making a consistent beer that a lot of people buy. They just happen to work for 'the man'.
Also, it just saves a step in the conversation.
Instead of:
P1 'Do you have any craft beer?'
P2 'Yes.'
P1 'What kind?'
P2 'Blah blah blah'
You can just say:
P1 'What beers do you have?'
P2 'Blah blah blah'
Genius!

 

I don't think most self-identify as mass-market. Also, there are numerous mass-market places that use the term "gourmet" to describe their burgers.

Absolutely not. People include under that term beers such as Jever, Koenig, Paulaner, Spaten, etc., etc. It's absurd in any context other than a marketing one.