Has Craft Beer Jumped The Shark?

No. Craft beer has arrived

 

Ok I'm bored now.

 

Same, I just don't equate selling out to doing something wild and unexpected.

 

well rogue jumped the shark a long time ago but few other breweries actually took the plunge with them thank god

 

if you do something wild and unexpected just for attention then you are selling out. if that's how you started out, whether as a person or a brewery, then it's not. but if out of the blue you start doing crazy shit then you're doing it for attention (aka interest or profits).

 

Beer in general is pretty cheap in my state, so I'm can't complain. Great beer is still almost always cheaper than great wine or great whiskey, and I haven't tried a macro beer I thought was worth buying.

Don't like gimmicky beer? Don't buy it; somebody else probably does like it, and they're welcome to it. Same goes for expensive beer. If you keep spending too much money on beer you don't like, that's your problem, not mine.

And screw y'all, I'm glad it's pumpkin beer season.

 

No.

 

This.

 

Sometimes (and more often lately), yes...but not always. As long as Victory at Sea, 1050, and Founders RIS or Breakfast stour are readily available and maintain quality levels, I'm content.

 

I suppose 'going mainstream' and 'selling out' are sometimes but not always interchangeable. When I hear 'selling out' I think of all the bitching when metallica started making music that was LESS wild and unexpected... oh well, we're way off topic... carry on everyone.

 

How will the market share change now that the big boys are jumping in?

ABInBev has acquired Elysian, 10 Barrel Brewing, and Blue Point Brewing Company. Also, ABInBev has owned a third of Craft Brew Alliance for the last few years and also acquired Goose Island. Lagunitas just entered into a partnership with Heineken and Firestone Walker is partnered with Duvel. Stone is becoming or is one of the big boys as they go global. So I don't believe the big boys need to come back, they just need to join in, and apparently they are.

 

Not sure craft beer has jumped the shark, but I have noticed a lot more breweries experiment with adjuncts and/or barrels before nailing traditional styles.

 

I'll have to agree with everyone who posted.

 

He'll no. Keep an open mind. I try think about when I just got started and I was enjoying everything I tried. Sure now things have changed, but I try not to nit pick and remember what my mom said and if you can't find anything nice to say. . .

 

If you are asking whether the industry has gotten gimmicky, yes. Not everybody who makes weird/silly/crazy beers is doing it as a gimmick though. Some just love beers and want to experiment.

If you are asking whether the industry has gotten gimmicky as an attempt to keep people's interest, then no. No way, interest is at an all time high, and there is no need for the industry as a whole to create marketing ploys just to get more customers. However, as an inevitable consequence of the great/growing number of breweries, anyone who wants to get bigger than purely local is forced to "be unique" or "stand out", and it is much easier to accomplish that feat with a gimmick than to achieve truly excellent beer.

 

Some breweries have jumped the shark for sure. But as an industry my opinion would be NO.

 

http://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/24701/100407/

Jumpin not Jumped..

 

Jumping the shark suggests ridiculousness and a decline in quality. I would agree with white noise but not jumping the shark.

 

When the number of breweries exceeds the number of wineries in this country I may reconsider this conversation...

 

I think this is a good point.

Same with points about relatively few new breweries failing. (They aren't all, or almost all, making great beer - there are other reasons why they aren't failing even though they may not be making great beer).

I take the jumping the shark phrase to mean that novelty things are being done that is indicative of a decline in quality. Much of what is all too often respectfully called "innovation" speaks to this quite loudly. Also I also think there's a lot of mediocre places opening up and staying in business, so overall yes there's something to be said for quality in that context, especially given how much they're charging for less than great product. There's far too much that is uncritically accepted.