Are American Craft Breweries Ruining Beer?

If you know the history of Greensboro, you know the last battle of The American Revolution before Yorktown was fought here out Battleground Avenue. Greensboro is named for a Quaker general from Rhode Island, Nathanael Greene. The original Red Oak Brewery was located at Guilford College (a Quaker school). Red Oak was started in 1991. A Quaker general officer has always amazed me....

 

Dang, it done fell down and got up again. How'd they do that?

 

They are just going with the flow. The flow never seems to be stagnant, does it?

 

For around the same price point is Founders Solid Gold and at least while in season, Bells Oberon. Both excellent choices for a reasonable price that should be able to be found most places across the country. Cheers.

 

Looks like there’s a split opinion here. But the consensus for those of us who do believe there’s an issue, are all basically saying the same thing. That their favorite beers are being replaced with more popular beers that other people like and they’re unhappy with it. And in my humble opinion, that’s a hard case to make because as so many have already said, stores/breweries/pubs make and sell what sells and moves the best. It’s hard to even be upset about it when you think of it in such simple terms. Cheers.

 

Pretty much, except I think people tend to think of the "craft beer scene" as a monolith, and it's anything but. And that's a good and healthy thing! If some of the bars, breweries and stores around you are concentrating on a subgroup that doesn't include you, just make an effort to find the ones that cater to your particular wants, and patronize them. The only downside is that you have to be more selective and not think you can just hit up places at random.

This is pretty much how we approached things in the 80s and it eventually led to where we are today.

 

I agree with many that have mentioned it is the consumer demand that drives production. Fruity and citrus beers sell well especially in the summer. Sure I'd like more traditional European varieties brewed, but I'm not surprised why an European/German Pale or Dark Lager doesn't sell as well amongst American craft beers.

 

Little Brother is a cool place in a building that housed a tavern over 100 years ago. I have never had a beer there that I didn't like. Natty Greene is Natty Greene and they legally stood A-B down over their name. They are a pioneer in the region. OMB retrenched to Charlotte only sales a while back, but I think that may have changed. If you are to find any it would be at the Lowes Food on New Garden Rd. Cheers neighbor, I've lived here only 70 years.

 

No. It still surprises me that as one travels the country it is amazingly easy, with a little care, to find some excellent beers just about anywhere.

 

THIS. I've held off jumping into this thread because I know that my experiences are world's away from the OP's. Living in the shadow of Chicago offers an embarrassment of very good beer in almost any style you could hope for, whether through local breweries or what we receive via distro. Sure, there are some hyped places that have done kids' cereals, Portillo's chocolate cake, all manner of fruited "sour" smoothies, dessert-style milkshake IPAs, and on and on and on. BUT, two new-ish breweries that have gotten a lot of love and respect from Chicagoland folks in the Great La...er, Midwest forum are

• Goldfinger, lager-focused and doing single or even double decoction mashing on some of their brews, and
• Art History, which does a range of styles but has excellent lager offerings

Heck, one of the great threads in the former GL forum was Chicagoland Lagers (2020 version linked here). Even some of the smoothie/hazy/pastry shops have a respectable breadth of offerings. So my take is that it's never been a better time to be a craft beer lover, but I know that large chunks of the country don't have access to what I do.

That said, I'm going on 25 years of drinking craft beer (I still miss Pete's Wicked), and there have been multiple "death knells" for the industry (can't compete with imports, IBU wars, Big Beer buyouts, the small brewery bubble, gimmicky experimentation, etc. etc. etc.), and yet no matter where I've lived or traveled, I have managed to find good beer worth drinking.

Find the places that make what you like and SUPPORT THEM. Visit them, buy their beers, bring your friends, spread the word, and let them know how much you appreciate them.

 

This is what occurred to be reading some more clarification from OP. Gone are the days of just picking a brewery at random and expecting to be able to find something you like (assuming you don't like ipas and dessert beers). Part of that is surely me moving on to a more clear understanding of what I like, but part of it is also breweries (in a more mature beer culture) shifting from super wide offerings to focusing on a niche. And if you don't like their niche then you're not going to get something you desire

 

Beer, just like any other food or drink will continue to evolve and change as people experiment with it.

Someone might think that anything but a margherita pizza isn't true pizza and that pineapple and jalapenos don't belong on pizza. That's a perfectly fine opinion, because it's their personal preference.

I actually quite enjoy pastry stouts and barleywines with crazy adjuncts, it's fun. But, I always have Pfriem and/or Crux Pilsner in my fridge. Also, these smoothie beers? They're definitely not beer in my eyes, but they're fun to see what someone is coming up with.

I guess what I'm saying is, drink what you like and don't stifle creativity because it's something you see as bad. It's beer, it's meant to be enjoyed, even if you, personally, don't enjoy it.

 

Though I've reviewed beers from all styles and like many traditional beers, plus BA beers, I'm really into add-junk beers (not adjunct) like pastry stouts, smoothie sours, puree sours, smoothie NEIPAs, etc. I'm into more intense flavors.

 

I think some are downright frivolous and don't need to be taken seriously. Too much crap crowding out good real beer though.

 

I'll take six Bro Culture is killing Craft Beer, please