Fake Craft Beers

Worst as in lack of flavor perhaps, I don't question the quality standards with which it's brewed. It;s just a reduced version of the real stuff. The white Wonder Bread of the Beer World.

 

I don't want to live in a world where Minhas is a craft brewer and Founders and Lagunitas are not.

 

in 2014 that beer was iconic, legendary, loftily regarded, and trade-worthy even (my first venture with it was two bottles in a trade and I was absolutely over the moon).

we have so much craft beer now that we don’t know what to do with it so we complain.

we’ve all become picky little princesses.

let’s not forget where we started.

 

No surprises there.

 

Went to Devils Backbone outpost yesterday, 1st time back in a year. They now have a set of "exclusives" they put in 4 packs of 16oz. I grabbed some Papa Lilo, the "tropical" stout, but they also had a hazy, a spruce tip IPA, etc. Definitely riding the 4pack wave.

 

Hey everyone... ummm... 2011 just called and they want this thread back. Don't shoot the messenger. K thx bye!

 

Not to many of us wisened beer drinkers, but to the OP’s broader point, conglomerates absolutely take advantage of consumer confusion about ownership.

A certain subset of consumers are willing to pay a premium if they believe they’re supporting a small, independent or local business (not to mention a “cool,” “hip,” or “new” business), and they can easily be “faked out” by the options they see in beer aisles and on tap lists these days.

The question is not the quality of the beer, but whether the customer is being misled, and I believe they often are.

This is not restricted to beer (a huge range of items on supermarket shelves tap into this), nor is it anywhere close to the greatest evil under capitalism. But it’s certainly a real phenomenon.

 

Oh, no there's not! Some of my best friends are very agreeable even though they are wrong about most everything! He said, stepping out of a Dilbert or Pearls Before Swine cartoon balloon.

 

Only in 2011 there would have been even greater hatred of Big Beer, and our holier than thou attitudes would have been even more self-congratulatory.

 

This post might come off as mean or harsh. It’s not my usual tone. I don’t know what was worse, the scene a decade ago that had people rallying behind folks pridefully crying tears of joy from watching this embarrassing video, or the scene today that has people rallying behind folks claiming that there is no importance to ownership or meaning to “craft” in the wake of “captured craft.” Such extremes are fantasies that I guess people want to believe in… and the fantasy one chooses might depend on the way the wind is blowing.

The BA definition was always a logically ridiculous definition that mostly worked for their needs and the needs of brewers it helped. It’s on you if you thought “craft” EVER had anything to do with quality or ethics. It’s a marketing category and a business category. It continues to be a thing that is useful to some people for marketing and business purposes. I assume its attractiveness as a tattoo choice is mercifully eroding with time… and people can ignore it as a distinction, label, or category all they want. The biggest brewing companies in the world would certainly be happy with that (but I don’t say that as a judgement against the consumer). It’s up to the individual to decide if they care.

 

Indeed. And one that was completely without useful metrics even in those ways. At least nowadays we can discuss things like sexism and racism in our beloved "craft" brewers. When we can discuss employee compensation and worker safety/working conditions in breweries we will have moved even closer to reality.

 

Refreshing and excellent. Stodgy and old has always been stodgy and old in any business culture. Justifying one's importance becomes a goal and is kinda like a good bit of our governance. I do see hope dammit!

 

Indeed.

Well stated.

 

That video reminded me of this one

 

That video was AWESOME!

The only thing missing was a dozen folks proclaiming "Follow the science!".

Cheers!

 

I liked it.

 

I had replied earlier and someone pointed out an example (Piston Pete) I gave was independent and therefore craft under BA's definition and Founder's is not, that I used comparatively. I don't feel like trying to find that now. To that person and I guess the rest of the thread, I didn't actually know they are independent so I admit I was wrong there and apologize. It doesn't really change the fact Piston beer is indefensible garbage.

I guess I was more trying to provide an example of what the OP was getting at with "fake:" a beer that is in some/most ways inferior to macro brands, with craft on the label and charging a premium price.

The pedantry on display in this thread about the definition of craft only seems to exist here. The only time I hear craft being used seriously anymore is at work and it's usually just to quickly and easily differentiate from macro and import. I guess the other place I've seen it is dating profiles: the difference between "I'm an alcoholic" and "I'm a fancy alcoholic with taste."

So I guess that's kind of the point. If your beer is shit, does it matter if it's craft or independent?

 

That video should be locked away forever and never shown again. The irony is 90% of those people make hard seltzer now to keep the lights on.

 

I love reading your stuff, Jack!