When was "micro brew" renamed "craft beer"?

Yes early to mid 2000's IIRC, though most of the general public (even at normal restaurants/bars) seem to still only know microbrew.

 

Michael Jackson used the term "craft brewery" in his first World Guide to Beer (1977) but most credit
Vince Cottone Good Beer Guide: Brewers and Pubs of the Pacific Northwest (1986) as the source in the US of it becoming as standard term. Jackson also used other terms, notably "boutique brewery".

The definition of "micro brewery" (originally, often expressed as two words) was always limited to the very small breweries- in the beginning (early 1980's) it was under 10,000 bbl/yr - so, basically simply smaller than the smallest oldline US brewery at the time - Anchor.

By the mid-80's, the Brewers Digest used 12,000 bbl. and it was eventually bumped up to 15,000 bbl. and there it's stayed. While the public used "microbrew" to mean any craft beer, the industry didn't. Certainly "craft beer" was used in the industry by the 1990's, as many of the early brewers grew beyond the 15k limit.

I've seen interviews with Fritz Maytag claiming he coined the "microbrewery" term, after "micro computers".

I can't say I ever heard "microbeer" much, "microbrew" was always much more common, even when used incorrectly.

The forerunner of the Brewers Association, the Institute for Brewing Studies, was using "craft brewery" in place of "microbrewery" by the 1990's.

Not quite. Boston Beer Co. release Samuel Adams in April, 1985- nearly a full decade after the founding of New Albion Brewing Co. in California in 1976. (Maytag had bought Anchor and revamped the recipe of it's Steam Beer even early, of course, in the 1960's). Sierra Nevada and Boulder (the latter the acknowledged oldest US craft brewery) were both brewing by 1980 and Pete's didn't hit until 1986.

 

If you ever wanna write a badass history of brewing/beer in the States or whatnot, I would be down to assist in any way I can...I think it would be a damn fine tome...

 

Agreed. As a beer geek I still called it a 'microbrew' until maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I never heard the term craft in the 90's, even though it obviously existed. People definitely still do say microbrew for anything that isn't BMC, but I have noticed the word craft is finally in the more general consciousness.

 

I never liked the term craftbeer/craftbrew, it's subjective, qualitative and virtually meaningless. Who gets to decide the designation? Can Sam Adams be considered craft when they brew Raspberry Twisted Tea?

 

Lots of terms are subjective and that doesn't stop people from using them to communicate effectively. ( e.g., freedom, justice, liberty, equality) But yes Sam Admas can be considered craft when they brew the beer you mention, because craft descirbes a way of brewing beer, not how much you will enjoy it.

 

And what is that way of brewing beer? Does it mean it's made with love?

 

They brew their beers to be flavorful. That's the core thing that separates BMC from craft. BMC is basically reduced flavor beer, or beer that is lightened to not taste much like beer.

 

Or in Sam Adams' case raspberry flavored tea.

 

It is a way of brewing that focuses on using high quality ingredients to produce a beer that expresses and exemplifies the textures, flavors and and other qualities of the ingredients rather than confirming to an external standard established by the market place. As with the production of any high quality artifact or product it requires more than love.

BTW: thanks for correcting the typo. I'm sure many people would have been confused by it.

 

How do you quantify that? I think brand X is craft and you don't, who is right? Also, what if a small, independent brewer wanted to produce a traditional lager, pilsner or sour, would that be craft? Clearly those styles conform to an external standard established by the market place (and tradition). By your definition those brews would not qualify as craft.

 

BMC:
uses adjuncts in brewing
heavily marketed; relies on TV, sporting events,etc.
low price point

Craft:
does not use adjuncts
does not usually advertise on TV (Sam Adams being one of the exceptions), does not sponsor major sporting events.
price is usually much more than BMC per unit

 

Haven't you ever heard of MicroCrafts?

 

From memory we began calling the new wave of breweries as micros from the 1970s and the expression is still widely used on this side of the pond.

 

Except for wheat, rye, grapes, berries and other fruits, pumpkin, other vegetables and legumes, maple syrup and other sugars. (And even the most notorious - corn and rice - at times, as well).

 

Quantify it? Why would that be necessary? Can you quantify what it is that differentiates the work of Renoir in Grand Illusion from other works not so well respected? Can you qantify what constitutes a game? Once we have some objective metrics and measures for identifying what is a fine game or a great work of art we can address your question. And I'll be quite happy to see your suggestions for metrics and measures for quantification of what constitutes a game to see if we can apply them to what consitutes craft beer.

As for traditional lager, pils style or sours, some examples of those styles may conform to tradition and some may represent the brewer's individual sense of interpretation of the style that s/he wishes to produce. But they certainly do not conform to the standards established by the marketplace. If you want styles that conform to the standards of the marketplace you are talking about such beers as Becks, Stella, Jupiter, Bud light and Miller lite, each of which is more popular in the marketplace than are all of the sours, traditional lagers or true pils style beers put together. In addtion such beers as Becks, Stella, Jupiter, Bud light and Miller lite are brewed to suit popular tastes and what the vast majority of beer drinkers prefer.

 

Strange isn't it that corn and rice are BAD yet it's OK to ruin a perfectly good beer with coffee, vanilla, fruit or rye in the name of craft brewing

 

Is it a beer? I assume it isn't. Ther's no analogy here whatsoever.

 

You can't quantify it. It's like any other artform - it's highly subjective, but anyone with a certain baseline of knowledge/experience with the artform knows good vs bad when they hear/see/taste it.