Is Craft Beer Cringe Right Now?

That’s kind of my point. Language has power. And by ceding the word “beer” to the macro behemoths we are allowing good beer to be put off in an obscure little corner.

 

To be honest. If you only drink craft beer that is okay but man it hits the wallet sometimes. Budweiser and shit can get me where I need to be for cheap sometimes.

 

Good point. Instead of “microbrew” how about we call it “micro-beer”? That way, it’s still distinguished from the macro lagers while incorporating the word “beer” into it’s name. It doesn’t sound pretentious and rolls off the tongue with ease. However, it still makes the beverage sound small in size, as you and some others have mentioned.

 

Fleek fleek not chuggy with big rizz

 

The most recent episode of the beer temple podcast, a listener wrote in and discussed this thoroughly and intelligently and the letter was discussed for an hour about how there’s no space for gen z in craft beer. Taprooms are cringe. They are. Packaging and design at best connects to millennials and it’s bad all across the board. The best beer on the shelf is boomer beer.
If you’re shaking your fist at these damn kids and shouting at the coulds and telling no one to get off your lawn, you better start paying attention because in 10 years when all a sudden the beer industry is no longer growing because gen z has no interest in craft beer now. Will they ever?

 

What does this even mean?

I'm not trying to be dismissive but I'm genuinely confused about what changes you think are needed?

My, obviously limited, experience is that there's a pretty wide spread in both taproom experiences and packaging marketing. Most taprooms that I've visited fall generally into the spectrum of sit down restaurants. They're very clearly trying to be maximally inoffensive, at least marginally comfortable, and generally cater to people with some disposable income in their area.

 

So, I don’t read so I assume what @Todd ’s point is how we BAs are sick of those stout dweebs choking up the threads, I mean, come on , man!


Yeah, I said it, stouties walk around throwing boulders, never change their facial expressions,
Ever interact with a Stouty Gorn?

Captain Kirk has

 

I’m saying that taprooms are boring as hell and gen z people don’t typically go to them. packaging design is bad and always has been. It’s a ton of IP theft and dad jokes. The best beer on the shelf is your bells two hearted/kalamazoo stout/amber, pub ales, Pilsner urquel, German imports, snpa etc. gen z people cannot relate to these brands at all.

 

Go visit Homage in Pomona and Chinatown and then get back to me.

 

Do what you think is right. I’m going to stick to “beer.”

 

Who gives a flying fart whether or not people like what you do. As long as you enjoy it. Jeez man I hope I’m cringe. Society is so ass backwards if they think I’m doing something wrong it’s just vindication that I’m right lol

 

Probably the worst written article I’ve read about craft beer culture ever.

 

None of this resonates with my experience. I realize that brewery taprooms tend to be mellower than many very young drinkers seek out most of the time. And they're also generally a pleasant space to spend some time.

As to packaging, i encounter a pretty tremendous variety when I go to the store. There is plenty of stuff that comes off as "dad humor" as well as stuff that seems shockingly juvenile. But there's also a ton of stuff l may or may not resonate with but which is fairly neutral and mature

 

oK bOoMeR

 

People who cringe are cringers,
which rhymes with idiot-ers. (Kind of, but you get my message.)

 

That’s such a classic episode!

 

This is an outlier. There’s obviously some outliers.

 

Homage, Monkish, Smog City, Arts District, Highland Park Brewing, Boomtown, Audio Graph, El Segundo Brewing are ALL places i hate cuz little shits are always there
Maybe it's cuz i live in a huge city...can't speak for all the bored landlocked people in the midwest with an aging population.

Which brings up something else


is this ***** article specific to a certain geographical area?

 

Always hated the term " Craft Beer".

As, at least in my circle, before the late 1990's, we referred to small breweries as micro breweries. Then they became to big to be "micro", hence "craft beer" and its shifting definition came into popular existence.

I always preferred to judge beer on it merits, not someone else's definition on what qualified as good beer.

As for it being "cringe worthy", I'm ok with that. Never minded being in the space that special people would cringe at.

But that's coming from someone that resembles OP's second image, and never circulated with people in the first.

 

I got most of the way through the article....There are "cringe" people in every hobby, job, sport, social setting, etc. Let people like what they like and don't judge them for it.
And don't get a jerk to people who don't like the same things as you.

‘You have to develop a taste for it.’ In my mind, if you have to develop a taste for something, you don’t like it,” she says.
^this is just a bad take. I'd go so far as to say just about all alcohol (maybe set aside heavily mixed drinks) is an acquired taste to some degree. Humans just aren't meant to, naturally, be drinking this literal poison.

“It’s literally a liquid, I don’t understand how people can get so passionate about it.”
^ another bad take. Everyone has a hobby / passion. Most of those hobbies and passions, to people on the outside are 'silly' and "just" trains, "just" liquid, "just" paint, "just" a game, etc. etc.

"“When I first started drinking, there would be people that brought IPAs to a function...The purpose of the party would be to play beer pong, and no one’s drinking those. But their [argument] would be, ‘Oh, you have to appreciate [the IPAs].’"
^ yeah, this person sounds like a doofus. I love craft beer (I'm here, aren't I?!) but I don't want to be doming Hop Slam in beer pong. Also, I find it a bit hard to believe that the person who brought the IPA is drinking it in the beer pong game as opposed to "appreciating" it on the side. Feels like there's a bit of hyperbole for the story's sake.