Are American Craft Breweries Ruining Beer?

That thread over in the 'Beer News, Releases...' forum about how the Sam Adams brand is now less that 8% of Boston Beer Company's sales is an eye-opener. Sure, a lot of that is probably caused by Koch's additions (or growth) of non-beer businesses to his stable, but stats like that also tell many craft breweries what's happening, and they are reacting by brewing stuff (pastry beers, seltzers, etc.) that are a hot sales niche to try to bolster their sales. If it keeps beer drinkers inside the craft beer brewery customer base, then power on, dudes!

 

need some cheese with that whine? Seriously, this complaint seems to pop up too regularly on BA and the answers are always the same...NO, current trends in creative brewing are not the demise of craft beer. Surely there are some weird beverages that stretch mental image of, if not the definition of ,"beer", but speaking for SoCal, there are still lots of traditional offerings readily available in lots of stores. Diversity is good. Creativity is good. I reject the argument that specific versions of beer should be eliminated because they take some shelf space from someone's personally preferred beer style. If the styles sell well they should be made.

 

To slightly tweak your words but paint a totally different picture, it can also be argued that "the craft beer revolution was and is a reaction to the ̶l̶a̶c̶k̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶ experimentation that in some ways resulted in the light-lagerization of the majority of the world's beer drinkers."

As a result of "macro" experimentation, craft beer once looked back and away from experimentation more than it looked forward. Today, that balance seems to have shifted, and "craft" seems to have partially settled on going down a path that a macro brewer would.

 

Ruining craft beer?......No.

It's all part of the "craft."

It may not be your cup of tea (it certainly isn't mine) but it is what it is. They wouldn't brew it if people didn't consume it (notice I didn't say like it.)

For me personally, once you add an adjunct to it, I'm out (Lactose, pastry, sour, etc.)

 

Is the issue here the American Craft Breweries or the American Craft Beer Consumers?



Cheers!

 

For my personal taste preference, YES! 100% YES!
To me, nothing beats a German, English, Scottish, Irish, Belgian, or French style beer.
No "groceries" in the beer.
Just the basic 4 ingredients is all you need to make a stellar beer if you know how to brew.
5 for Lambics.
I am so sick and tired of trying to find a "normal" beer at the bottle shop anymore without being fruited, soured and aged in casks with more shit added. And screw lactose!

 

Hopefully you have local brewery options, if the beers are not true to style at least they should be fresh or on draft.

 

It's a cross between enough is enough and enough is never too much. I think I'll have a chocolate latte seltzer and think it over...I don't care what people brew or what people buy. That was another life. Now I can find really great beer fairly cheap that is better than what I had available, say, back in the 70s. And I'm not worried about the state of beer. There are bigger things to worry about.

 

Yes they are! Blast their dark hearts and evil intents! Where's my pitchfork, anybody got a torch?

 

Here’s a “mix-a-six” list.

Pick as many as you like (you’ll get a 10% discount at the checkout lane), or pull random stuff from other baskets… enjoy!

Bro Culture is killing Craft Beer.
Hazy Beer is killing Craft Beer.
GMOs are killing Craft Beer.
The Gluten Allergy is killing Craft Beer.
Homebrewers are killing Craft Beer.
Italian F@#<|!’ Pilsner is killing Craft Beer.
Hard Cider is killing Craft Beer.
Hard Seltzers are killing Craft Beer.
Classic American Pilsner is killing Craft Beer.
James Koch is killing Craft Beer.

 

I'm always curious, for the people who think that the current beer scene is getting worse. What time/place do you believe had a better selection than today in any midsized or larger US city?

 

What!?!

How can a beer style which is barely produced be a killer here!?!

Cheers!

 

That was kinda the point I was trying to make as well. Maybe there are far more hazies on the shelf than you would like to see personally, but is there not also a far bigger selection of lagers on the shelves than you saw say 10 years ago?

 

Because it's not flavorful enough for craft!!1!

And the big dogs make it!

/sarcasm

Point is, the sky is always falling for some.

 

That is certainly the case for my area (Philly area) but based upon my travels I wonder if this is the case for other areas of the country (e.g., West Virginia, Louisiana, etc.). For folks who live in lager deserts they could in the recent past at least drink the lagers produced by larger, distributing craft brewers (e.g., Firestone Walker Pivo Pils, Sierra Nevada Summerfest, Founders Pilsner,...) but all of those example beers are either discontinued or severely restricted in terms of availability.

It seems common in these threads for people to view the beer scene in their area as being 'representative' but I for one do not assume that the rest of the country is similar to the variety of beer styles available in my area.

Cheers!

 

It's the absurdity, the absurdity!

 

I know this is more anecdotal, but having just visited the PNW, I can say the lager game up there is alive and strong. I had a great Czech Dark Lager (one of which they need to can, dammit). It seems areas like this have 'led' past trends, which would make me think breweries in more obscure/limited places will pick up on this in the coming years (in the same way it took my market a few years to develop a consistent NE IPA producer, and we still don't have any 'pastry stout' makers.)

 

I attended HomewbrewCon (National Homebrewers Conference) in Portand in June 2018. I was happy to drink many high quality lagers during that visit:

• My wife and I popped into Von Ebert on a waking tour/whim and we both enjoyed the Pilsner(s) they had on tap. Heretofore I have never heard of this brewery (they opened in May 2018 I think).
• We visited Occidental Brewing based upon the recommendation of a fellow homebrewer and we really enjoyed the lagers there.
• I had the pleasure of drinking a bottle of Heater Allen Pilsner at Belmont Station (craft beer bar).
• The highlight for me was our visit to pFreim brewery (Hood River, OR) to drink their various lagers (and Kolsch) on site.

There are others I could add to the list but you get the gist.

In the Philly area I could list a dozen+ high quality lager breweries.

Will the rest of the country be as receptive to the craft brewed lager beer styles as the Philly area or PNW? I suppose time will tell?

I must confess that the decisions by both Sierra Nevada (Summerfest) and Firestone Walker (Pivo Pils) has me wondering about the future acceptance of craft brewed lagers nationwide.

Cheers!

 

Perhaps it's not economical for the regional breweries to produce these styles and have them sitting for extended periods in warehouses. I, for one, don't buy their lagers, instead opting for local, fresh versions. The cost difference is notable, but should I want a cheap, all-day slinger of a lager, I won't go craft anyway (or I'll opt for SN's Pale Ale.) My hope (and I assume your hope, based on our discussions), is that other local breweries will pick up on this, even if offering up a single lager option at any given time. Given my market's quick adoption of lagers, but slow adoption of NE IPAs, I'm optimistic that this will be the case.

I didn't get the pleasure of visiting Portland, but did visit Seattle and some surrounding towns in Washington. I made sure to pick up a can of pFriem's Pilsner from the store for review prior to my departing though. Wonderful brew, and no doubt a fridge staple, along with many others I tried up there. Of course, with local bias, if I only had $20 to spend on lagers, I'm buying them fresh from the local Alma Mader, and not SN, Founder's, Jack's Abby, Seattle area, etc. etc..

Actually, speaking of all day slinger lagers, I will sometimes pick up Life Coach from Kansas Territory Brewing. It's an AAL, but aimed at offering a craft-substitute for macro options. Pricing is on par between the two options as well, along with being offered in varying package sizes, including a 24 or 30 pack (don't recall specifics.)