Faux Craft

The only part of the crafty beers that I may have a problem with is the shelf space they take up in addition to the standard bmc stuff which would further limit the growth of the better craft beer brands....I guess I would like to know....does the crafty beer take up more shelf space? or is it a repacement for a percentage of the regular bmc products that were already taking up the same amount of shelf space or taps? If anyone can answer that, I would like to know.

 

Seriously, if less beer geeeks gave their bmc buddies an over the top hop bomb or barleywine and gave them something approachablee maybe the big corporations wouldn't sell so many of these faux craft brews.

 

The likes of Blue Moon and Shocktop were among my wife's gateway beers. A few years later and we're traveling across the country to attend the FW Invitational and regularly tracking down the likes of HT and Surly Abrasive. So yeah, notsomuch butthurt here.

 

I don't buy faux craft period. I am still angry that the good European breweries seem to be getting bought out by inbev and other consumer giants!

 

I've typically been in the "crafty beer as gateway to something more" camp. I do, however, get frustrated when people who are drinking the crafties dont even know they are doing it.

Speaking for myself, I find Blue Moon and Shock Top to be pretty nasty. At a party, I will usually take them over Fizzy Yellow Beer just because people know me and expect it, even if I'd prefer a Miller Lite. You may hate them, but you cant deny they have some flavor. And they are being marketed aggressively.

Craft beer continues to expand as beer sales overall are stagnant. That is the reason for the aggressive consolidation. Corporations need to grow, and in a stagnant market, they have no choice but to pursue a bigger slice of a pie that isn't growing, while entering the only segment that is growing. When BMC bring their formidable marketing resources to bear on making drinking something with color, body and flavor mainstream, I do believe that they will be the victims of some unintended consequences.

 

I drink beer if I like the taste. If macro brewers make beer that tastes good, then I will drink it. Some Faux craft isn't bad. It's just not as good as craft - generally speaking of course.

That being said, while a few of my buddies are going to have a "Naturday" in which all they drink is natty light, I'm going to have a "Nevadurday" with only Sierra Nevada!

To each his own!

 

it bothers me because people that only drink the macro stuff think that stuff like batch 19 and black crown and third shift are "craft beers". Other than that I don't care. I have personally tried all of them and IMO they're horrible.

 

?? Maybe I was misunderstood, but these beers remain popular amongst even the craft crowd despite the name being right there. There was a lot of love for Batch 19 in a recent thread.

 

maybe im just a simpelton, but when it comes to beer, i only know two kinds:

1. beer that i like
2. beer that i dont like

 

I really dont know. Im a guy who will try anything at least once and that includes whatever new beer the macros put out that looks interesting to me. I wish the macros would put more effort into their faux crafts because they usually arent that good.

 

In a Swedish setting I'm not opposed to the major brewers producing "faux craft" beers since they have been making some really tasty beers. The se
cond largest macro brewer in Sweden has produced several lager beers with American hops and 30+ IBUs. Their main competitor Carlsberg has produced a similar beer with 30 plus IBUs, Cascade hops and caramel malts. Both brewers have made some really tasty beers.

I haven't tried Blue Moon or Shock Top but I don't think I'd be too interested in trying either. I simply do not enjoy wheat beers, and I don't think beer with spices is an improvement. Low IBU wheat beers is simply not a style of beer that I enjoy. On the other hand I do think that a major all-malt brewery such as Spendrups or Carlsberg Sweden can produce tasty beers, or tasty lager beers to be specific.

Now some Swedish craft beer drinkers have said that the taste of these beers is insufficient/boring, even though they are 30+ IBUs and dry hopped for some of the beers. But then again these people will probably only appreciate an American microbrewed IPA or DIPA.

I can't speak for American craft beer drinkers (I'm a Swedish craft beer drinker who enjoys American craft beer at great expense) but I do think that a major brewer can produce a beer which can be enjoyed by both the uninitiated and veterans of craft beer, as long as the IBUs are high enough and the hop profile is juicy enough.

Craft beer isn't magic, or something that only a tiny home brew set up can produce. Craft beer, if we consider taste alone, is something that big brewers can also make, if they want to, and if they can make the margins work for them. I look forward to the day when mass-production breweries compete with small breweries for taste and our cash.

 

I have to confess i bought a Guiness variety pack this morning. and the week before Bud's Brewmasters project. The Guinness 12 pack was 8.99 and then Bud case was 9.99. What is the downside of better beer and lower prices?

 

The divide between craft and macro runs deeper than the taste of the beer and the space on the shelf. The craft beer community of brewers and beer lovers embody independent spirit, passion and goodwill (in my experience). The product is a labor of love and creativity. It is art, and requires appreciation (in whatever way you like).
I will never feel the same about a macro crafty beer, because it is just wearing a disguise. The difference is about values, and to me, it's a big difference.

 

I asked a guy one time "hey do you like blue moon?"

All he said was "No, Its made by coors."

 

I would say it's a good thing if it leads more Macro beer drinkers down the road toward real craft beer; which it possibly could.

 

Is Newcastle a macro?

 

Important point and totally valid. Drinking a real craft brew makes you a part of something special. It's like rooting for the underdog or standing up to a bully