When can we stop calling it "craft"?

I always refer it to as simply just beer, no matter the style or rarity.

 

Funny, I just looked up Michelob's website. Their tagline is "Crafting a better beer."

Edit: In fact "Craft" is all through their site.

 

The only time I call it "craft beer" is when I'm talking to someone who does not know anything about beer. Like if my macro-drinking co-workers ask me what I drink, I have to use the term "craft" so they don't think I drink the shit that they do.

 

Go tell your 60 year old uncle to go grab you a six pack of 'beer' from the store... enjoy that coors light.

 

I only call my beer craft when I'm asked if it is craft.

 

The issue is that we aren't just drinking this good beer, but we are part of a culture that is a real thing and should probably have a name.

 

When we can get over the "us vs. them" mentality. Every beer you buy from a store is "mass-produced".

 

When ABInBev goes out of business.

Seriously though, I just use the term when necessAry for context.

 

I still call it craft beer. After working in restaurants that feature beer that I recommend and beer that I don't, it's a nice way to steer people in the right direction. You have to remember that more people are still incredibly naive to the concept of good beer than vice versa. For some of us, we know that a company like Avery or Troegs is going to make a lot less beer than a company like Budweiser or Heineken, and them making less most likely also means they're making better quality products. Sometimes this has to be explained, and calling better beer "craft" is just a nice way of saying it. Until all beer is equal in quality, I'm using the term.

 

In principle, I'm with you guys on this. I agree that what we drink is just good beer and if you want to, you can call it just that. However, try to explain what kind of beer you drink to someone who drinks macro and really has no concept of what else is out there. If I try telling a guy who's been drinking Bud heavy his whole life "I like good beer. You know like Sucks, Abt 12, Union Jack, a lot of stuff by Ommegang..." he's not going to know what the hell I'm talking about. I think calling it craft is just a nice way to conceptualize what we consider 'good beer' for people who don't know. I mean calling it good beer or microbrew as opposed to craft is just semantics.

 

Not always. When my nieces and nephews go for beer they come back with bud ,coors or pbr.The only time they drink a decent beer is when I offer it to them.

 

I think we all just call it beer unless we need to show someone a distinction. I don't actually think that if we went to some BA's house they'd say "Hey man, want a craft beer?" They'd just say, "Want a beer?" (or better yet not even ask, and just start pouring).

OP, let me ask you this. How would you handle this situation:

You're at a family reunion and your long-lost Uncle whom you haven't seen in ages comes up to you and the following conversation ensues:

Uncle: "Your mom tells me you really like beer."
You: "Sure do."
Uncle: "I do too. Come check out the cooler I brought and help yourself." (you both walk over to the cooler and open it)
You: "Wow that's a lot of beer."
Uncle: "Yup, I've got Labatt, Stella, Heineken, Rolling Rock, Coors Banquet, Miller High Life and some Bud Lights. What'll it be?"
You: "Actually, I think I'll just stick with a gin and tonic."
Uncle: "What? I thought you liked beer, what kind of beer is it that you like?"
You: .......

Now answer your Uncle's question without using the terms craft, artisan, microbrew, or any other word that would show a distinction between what he drinks and what you drink.

 

That's because it is separate. Of course we need a term to distinguish what we love from the other 94% of the market, and "craft" has real traction right now. So much that more and more people are coming to know what it means. So much that the macros are trying to jump on board and co-opt it. "Playing offense" means doubling down, keeping it "our" term and remaining as clear as we can be about what is and isn't included.

 

In my opinion, it IS different than the brews that are cranked out by the BMCs of the world in a number of ways. You seem to imply so yourself in your last sentence. Everything from the ingredients to the final product and the people who make it varies wildly between mass produced (millions upon millions of barrels a year) & marketed in every major media platform versus smaller quantities and marketed in niche publications and word of mouth promotion.

Why? They're the majority. The vast, overwhelming majority. If anything, what differs from them is what seems to be more appropriate to single out and distinguish from the rest.

Honestly though, it's not a big deal to me. I rarely use the term "craft" myself. I don't walk into a store and say "what have you got for craft beer?". I don't use it to help choose a restaurant, because if I go someplace for dinner out of sheer hunger and don't see a beer I like, I simply don't order beer. It's a nice money saver.

 

Banquet Beer every time! Mmmmm tastes like childhood.

 

When it stops being "us vs. them."

 

Fine by me. I generally just see it as a term that describes a brewery which happens to fall in line with the Brewers Association definition, anyway- i.e. belonging to a particular trade group- rather than being synonymous with 'artisanal' or 'quality'. I also buy a lot of European beers made by places that probably wouldn't fit the BA's definition. If somebody asks me if I am into craft beer, my usual reply would be "sure- that and then some".

I've learned to head those things off at the pass before they even get to that point, or you come off looking like a dick once you see what they are offering. In your scenario I'd just grab a Heineken to be polite. But, as to the substance of what you are asking, sure there is a distinction- it's just how you phrase it. I'm usually an "anything but industrial pale lager" type drinker, so I'd try to get that point across without looking too snooty. The situation does make a difference, though- with new acquaintances I'd be more polite or just make the best of it with what they have, with close friends or family all bets are off: "sorry, man, none of that crap for me" .

 

You- I prefer an all malt ale, don't care for lagers. Thanks a lot though.

I do agree though that the word craft has become ubiquitous, and while we may not like to use it, when we do those to whom we speak generally understand us better than if we use some other word(s).

 

Actually now thinking about it, I'm pretty sure this will happen to me at least twice over the next month. I think I'll use it as an opportunity to conduct an on the spot blind taste test with the "uncle" or friend or what have you.

 

Nice way to (again) sacrifice the worlds of styles and flavors that comprise lagers at the alter of "craft" beer. Without the BMC bogeyman, craft beer's identity quickly crumbles.