Not sure who made Emily Stewart the new beer guru but her opinions carry as much weight as Homer Simpsons'.
It's a yin and yang thing. You need boring/bland/cheap macro beers to offset the strong-tasting, high-ABV expensive add-junk craft beers. Macro beer will always have the higher sales-volume because most people can't/won't spend a lot to catch a buzz. And there will always be people able to afford the higher cost of stronger-tasting craft beer. You know that craft-beer worries the macro-beer industry, because they try to make their bland beer seem 'crafty', and they even buy craft breweries. And of course both macro and craft have chased the THC, seltzer, cider, cocktail/mocktail, etc market.
I don't drink any of that fizzy yellow stuff. Ever. If that's the only option, I'm drinking water instead. When we buy 'drinking beer' it's a 7% IPA.
I didn’t know her until now. I agree with your assessment. This here sounds a bit demeaning and condescending… highly doubt it’s meant in jest in this so-called article though. In short. I don’t give two toss about some piece of opinion from Joe or Emily Nobody. I drink what I like, no need to label us or the current craft beer scene anything.
I mean I'm definitely seeing a market shift towards more drinkable beer with the rise of hoppy lagers instead of IPAs and a lowering of ABV overall even from the period I started drinking to now. A lot of breweries with any influence around me are either starting to brew more lagers or are gaining influence bc they're a lager brewery. Burial is a generational haze merchant and all I see in distro from them any more are lagers.
On LinkedIn, she says "I am not a beer gal, and when I am, I like gross little IPAs, but I am like a decade late to the trend, per usual. Craft beer is on the outs, and regular light laters are on the up". Her expertise is in business, not beer or brewing. I have a business degree too. Saying craft is passe by citing a one year decrease in sales is like predicting the end of mankind based on normal weather cycles. But to be fair, not all of this are her conclusions. She's a reporter.
Peter Griffin? LOL. This is EXACTLY how I do things! x3 100% "Craft beer is on the outs"? Dumbest statement that I've heard in a while. The entire beer segment is on a down-turn. Craft just happens to be one part of that. Indeed.
Attended a family wedding last night. The beer choices included Mich Ultra, Coors Light, Miller Light. So my beer choice was... bourbon! Ooh, they have Woodford Reserve. My BIL/SIL/myself each asked for a finger, neat. And they got confused, almost tilted their heads like dogs, wondering why we weren't mixing it with anything.
Exactly. Look at the wine and spirits world. You are going to sell more way more of the lower priced stuff that doesn't challenge anyone than a higher priced, supposedly more complex bottle. Even in cocktails, think about how many more people are drinking liquor plus mixer than those $18 cockails that someone in a vest and tie makes.
The article by Stewart suggests her subject choices are determined by throwing darts blindfolded,. From Wikipedia: Kelse has invested in private equity, mainly consumer products, and with his brother is signifcant owner of Garage Beer. It concentrates on Garage Beer, whose spokesperson claims 250,000 bbl., which seems . . . hopeful? I didn't notice a mention (I admit I partially skimmed) of Constellation's Modelo, which has some new ethnic-adjacent advertising and is actuallly selling strongly. The article gives the impression that the craft market is somewhat jumbled. I'd agree as far as it goes. But it doesn't give much insight into how brewers might cope. And there is an attempt to analyze craft trends with customer stereotypes of consumers that aren't useful. I suppose the article is intended to provide insight into investment opportunities (crypto might be safer?)
I need to get back in the "writing for publication" game (have degrees in English and Journalism), so I can get paid for writing such drivel as this piece....just wow Oh, wait....never mind, I am retired!
I try not to have any caffeine 12hrs before bedtime, so just water for me unless there's a beer on draft that I really want. Spoiler: I usually really want a beer.
I will say that as I approach 70 years old I drink far less Imperial anythings, I am looking for more and more "dumb beer". I still love IPAs, but I drink more and more of the 6.5-70% ABV varieties. I drink more stouts/porters, craft Pilsners(La Cumbre BEER), and fewer beers that are challenging to my taste buds. I bought a sixer of Santa Fe Brewing's Social Hour-a 9.5%, hard to describe beer. The first 3 were excellent, but last night's can was tough to drink for some reason-too much grapefruit flavor. So today I was back to their Nut Brown ale, a 5.2% brown ale that is tasty and drinkable without having to analyze flavors.
Caffeine from iced tea has very little effect on me. Also I live in the woods 14 miles from a small town so restaurant eating is generally at lunch time. Coming back from town after dark involves too much dodging of the local wildlife.
