Goose Island...Craft Beer??

I agree they make some great beers, I've had many of them and would normally seek them out again. However, I believe in supporting small business as I think corporations have too much power nowadays and are bad for our country on the whole. In short (and mostly to avoid the political rumblings) I don't feel the need to seek out Goose Island beers anymore. There are other people out there doing some really cool things and I would rather see them succeed than a parent corp get bigger.

Interesting side note, thoughts on Widmer brothers and AB having minority stake? Do people feel the same way about Widmer as they do GI?

 

So they actually refer to it as a "brewpub?" Silly.

And for what it's worth, I have no idea who owns/runs that particular establishment now. Based on your descriptor of the tap handles, you have to wonder.

 

Yes I totally agree this word craft is stupid, many so called craft brewers have brewed allot of shit beer and no 1 called them out on it, except maybe in their own reviews. You either make good beer or you don't if you don't you be out of business, sooner or later.

 

Great beer but not craft. Craft doesn't mean good, it just means small and independent (Which GI is not). I don't like the term in general but if we can all agree to use the BA definition and not make up whatever we feel like, at least it serves a useful purpose.

 

Well they do make Blue moon and many of us love it.

 

No, it's the Brewer's Association's definition.
http://www.brewersassociation.org/pages/business-tools/craft-brewing-statistics/craft-brewer-defined
Yes, people can and will disagree.

I like to thread the needle by saying that they are not a craft brewery, but the beers they produce are craft beers. I think it's an important distinction to make.

 

Watch out boys, this kitten got claws!

 

Classifying a brewery as being craft or not is a bit tricky since their does not appear to be an unambiguous definition of a craft brewery.

For example, bulletrain76 states: “Craft doesn't mean good, it just means small and independent”.

For me the word “craft” corresponds to the number 1 definition provided by Merriam-Webster’s dictionary:

“Craft: skill in planning, making, or executing”

So, to me “skill in making” implies that a quality product is being produced.

Unfortunately the word “quality” also has ambiguity involved with it. It could very well be argued that the BMC breweries make “quality” beer in that their beers are extremely consistent from batch to batch. They are also excellent at creating light tasting beers with little to no off-flavors.

Well, for me a “quality” beer is a tasty beer. I think Goose Island makes tasty beers. Consequently I am of the opinion that Goose Island is a craft brewery and they make craft beers.

Cheers!

P.S. “It depends on what the meaning of the word “is” is.”

 

What is their assessment of GI?

 

Not only because "they can," but because that's what people want, especially in a closed, diverse market like an airport. That's not to say that AB owning GI didn't influence, but still.

 

lol i was just kidding when I said it, read the posts after it. It was in response to the guy taking me too seriously.

 

I'll go with...yes, it's craft.

 

Yeh -- I know, that's why I flipped the winky.

 

ahh so the sarcasm has come full circle lol what have i started

 

Full circle, or fully realized!

 

If you put into the context of music, both Wilco and Flaming Lips are on the Warner Bros (macro) roster, although both started out on indie (craft) labels - and fuck me if The Soft Bulletin and Yankee Hotel Foxtrot are not amazing BMC records.

 

And this is what causes a lot of the confusion. The BA could have gone with a number of different words to use for their definition, but instead of choosing one based on size, they chose a word that implied a certain quality. Let's face it, that's why they used "craft" instead of something like "Small Brewer." On top of that, the definition they use is only to describe what a craft brewer is, but not craft beer. So people are all over the place on whether or not quality or size matters and whether or not we are talking about the beer or the brewer.

On that note, I recently started looking at it the way you do. Not a "craft brewer" but they make "craft beer" which sort of doesn't make sense, but sort of does.

 

How about we all agree that it's a stupid term and just stop using it? I think we'd be better off. Leave the tax-manipulation to the BA and let consumers just drink beer that they like without getting caught up in BBCs stupid games.

 

For me, craft beer is anything other than what my father drinks. For example; Miller, Bud etc. I think I would consider GI more of a "fancy" craft brewery, but definately a craft brewery. Every brewery will find a niche with what they make the best of. GI is doing what they do and making a really good profit at it. And Im more than willing to continue my support