Is Craft Beer Cringe Right Now?

Or maybe we lost them because the resale profits were better.

 

“Cringe” is when a beer section looks more like a candy aisle

 

The one redeeming value of "craft beer" was that it was better than "microbrew".

"A microbrew? Sure, I'll have one. Wait, let me get my tweezers..."

 

That’s a big factor. Also, good riddance

 

Article title: "Is Craft Beer Cringe Right Now?"

Answer: Was there ever a time when it wasn't?

 

It doesn't matter whether you care about GenZ (or other) consumers. In the beer market everybody does what they want (reference the controversy with Bud Light or the strange rise of Corona and Modelo) whether you like it or not. Already, some of my favorite craft styles (especially my preferred brands) are either discontinued or harder to get. Tap handles of my go-to beers are being crowded out. It's OK. I'll survive. It might be more productive to understand their political opinions, and either adapting to or trying to influence their views (but I don't think I'll try).

 

It’s not cool anymore?

shoot, I’ll promptly update my tastes because that’s super important to me

 

I lose interest in consuming any beverage during the consumption of which I can't discuss the beverage's complete historical significance and chemical makeup. Didn't read the article but do you suppose it's referring to my type of beer drinker?

 

Yeah, see -- when the whole Microbrew Era® started to emerge I completely embraced the term because it divided the brewing of better beer from the swill that was the norm -- besides, most of the better breweries were small.

The transition to "craft brewing" always seemed a bit pretentious to me, though I never really cared one way or another -- but I think we really ought to evolve to some way of saying "good brewing vs. mundane brewing."

But what do I know? I've been hunting good beer since 1985 -- pre any of the terms, pre any of the current social media memes too!

 

fuq u talm bout ?

we bippin out here!

 

You sure are easy to please. I insist on triple decoction, open fermentation, extensive lagering and super fresh beer.

 

There was a post a few days ago about Shock Top and many of the initial comments from seasoned users of this site did indeed make me "cringe".

 

It's like anything else that people are passionate about and want to elevate the quality of.

Just like food and wine. It's not so much about 'craft' part but you should be able to distinguish between McDonald's and any farm-to-table restaurant. The whole point was that a majority of beer was sh!t. There's no such thing as a beer nerd, or foodie, or wine snob. They are merely people who care about the quality of said product.

As for the socially awkward, TMI, and not being able to 'read-a-room', following beer trends in lieu of quality, trying to 'flip' product for a quick buck, seeing the # you've drank or top 250 as a trophy -- well those are traits not solely isolated to people who enjoy craft beer. That is what's cringe.

 

“At this time, the industry developed a dynamic that is less present today but still exists, which is a sort of hero worship around brewery founders. White male brewery founders, of course — your Sam Calagiones (Dogfish Head), your Greg Kochs (Stone), your Jim Kochs (Sam Adams), your Ken Grossmans (Sierra Nevada)”

While the point here is noted and is a good one, Garrett Oliver was well recognized and respected when the likes of Sam and Greg rose to fame (I realize he’s not the owner).

I think the article focuses too much on the IBU wars which at this point are a blip on the recent boom’s radar. New England IPAs are what really took a foothold, but that style and why people liked it wouldn’t have fit the author’s theme.

 

Definitely a good point. However Gen Z is between 12-27 right now. Can those that are even 21 afford craft beer?

Also breweries tend to be a calmer family friendly environment these days. That’s certainly not the types of places I was hanging out in my 20s (not that tap rooms were a thing when I was).

 

Yeah, and thanks to the ever-changing definition of "Craft Brewer" by the Brewers Association, meaningless, too. Besides being small ("only less than 6 million barrels") and independent a craft brewer "Has a TTB Brewer’s Notice and makes beer." So... not a bootlegger? For a short time they used to claim:

So, "craft beer" never really meant anything to them.

Some credit beer writer Vince Cottone for coining the term. (Although I've found a couple earlier citations, including in Jackson's World Guide to Beer) In Cottone's 1986 book
Good Beer Guide; Breweries, and Pubs of the Pacific Northwest he wrote:

So, a bit more specific that the B.A....

 

What’s wrong with “beer”? Do people say they like “craft wine” so that you know they don’t drink it from a box? Why do we need to justify our passion for beer by putting a pretentious adjective in front of it? I guarantee that where I live at least, if you ask some friends to meet up and have some beers, they don’t think you mean you want to go chug Corona and Bud Light.

 

Every hobby/pastime I've been lucky to have found before it gained a much greater popularity has suffered from this effect. Can't explain why, but assholes certainly came on scene and in many ways ruined skiing, Grateful Dead, mountain biking, and Phish. No reason that effect shouldn't extend to better beer.