"Macro brewer putting beer snobs to shame"

Well, I actually don't know about the US. I live in France and see how it is. Same in Belgium, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Denmark, etc. It seemed to me that it was the same in the UK (lots of Guinness, Stella, etc.). And this is also what I meant with "the bigger the brewery become, the more advertisement they make, and the more they sell". This seems to me quite different in Germany where people use to drink locally more than anywhere else. By the way, I can't see what's the link between beer and Corona ?

 

Macro means that it is a large industrial brewer to me. Carlsberg fits that.

 

There comes a point when they aren't in it for the beer any more. That's when the people who care for craft leave.

 

You know I am still waiting for one, just one, example of a brewery that makes great beer being shut down because they were denied shelf space in the supermarket by BMC's tactics.

Just one example would make me believe the statement you and others continue to make is not 100% completely ridiculous.

Just one, name one brewery who has been shut down. One brewery who makes great beer and is in dire financial straits and closing right now because of big bad ABInBev.

To my mind craft beer is one of the fastest growing segments of our economy, and BMC is going downhill. Fast. This doesn't prove I am right, but it sure seems to poke a hole in the argument you make.

 

What he said was: "Light beers didn't come to dominate the Global beer market because it sucks and everyone hates them."

And, no, he's not criticizing you because you like beer you "can actually taste"; he's criticizing your tendency to set up macros and light lagers as straw men. If you don't respect beers such as Weihenstephan Original or Augustiner -- or even Schlenkerla -- Helles, because you "can't actually taste" them, then I have a hard time having any respect for your palate.

 

To each his own I suppose. To be honest I am not in any kind of hurry for the big breweries to go out of business, and for every idiot that currently enjoys their evening with a 24 pack of natty light and some meth to start buying my beers, leaving less for me (selfish I know, but don't care.) Something that many people don't realize is that craft beer is very comparable to artisanal wine; a ton of people drink wine, but few of them go out of there way to buy those hundred dollar bottles, and even fewer will take the time and dedication to properly cellar their wine. The beer that we love demands quite a bit of knowledge, respect, and dedication, and it is just not for everyone. So, let them keep their light lagers, and hide the good stuff for us.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by ``straw men''. As for the beers you mentioned, I love Weihenstephaner and Augustiner (never had Schlenkerla). When talking about ``light beers'' made my North American brewers, I don't mean Helles lagers, wheat beers, etc. I mean beers brewed with adjuncts.

 

If advertising had the power you attribute to it, you'd be drinking Bud Light!

 

I think this guy sounds like a jerk. I don't think one person on here would say that brewing on a huge scale is easy. Just like any career it takes time and practice to learn. This guy needs to get off his high horse because I'm sure they did not have any problem finding someone to replace him. I guess since we are not as smart as he is we can't have an opinion on macro's. Well I can tell you I spent a few years researching macros and my conclusion was they suck and I will never go back.

 

The writer makes some very valid points. And, sadly the market does speak with the volume of sales the Swill shillers make. But thankfully we're in the midst of a revolution in beer making in this country, which has helped nurture a resurgence in other countries as well. Revolutions take time. The macros now recognize this and are trying to adjust to this evolving marketplace, ie, Blue Moon, Shock Top, etc... And many of us BA's are helping our fellow "beer" drinkers discover the love of real beers. The tides are turning...in time we wwill win the war.

 

Pathetic article and full of red herrings.

People aren't questioning their cleanliness, or consistency, that they seek the finest rice available.

They ruined the beer scene since Prohibition because they promoted beer that doesn't taste like beer - so it was appealing to the masses who didn't really like the taste of normal, traditional, flavorful beer. It really is a sort of "reduced flavor beer" and yes they're good at making reduced flavor beer. But so what?

Plus the advertising points made above by other BA's apply perfectly here.


BMC can lecture the little guys about how to best make a profit, how to market a product, and how to bully distributors and retailers properly to hurt the competition - but otherwise they really should just STFU.

 

The article pretty much ignores marketing as a factor. I'm glad several of the posts above point that out. Marketing is at least as big a factor as consistency when it comes to the success of the macros. Not to mention price.

And consistency in a product isn't everything. Consistency doesn't simply equate with quality just because this guy says so. Guess what other major company is known for consistency? McDonald's. So I guess because McDonald's can consistently make a Big Mac exactly the same anywhere in the world means that Big Macs are a quality, top notch product? I don't think so. I will go as far as saying that Macros are the fast food of the beer market. They're cheap, consistent, widely available, and each variety differs only slightly. Craft Beer has more in common with a well made wine or spirit than it does with Bud Light.

In my mind, the article makes good points about production. They learned how to mass produce a product. I say so what? Henry Ford invented the assembly line, should we get on our knees and thank him every time we buy a mass-produced product? The writer seems to imply that something is of high quality simply because it is mass-produced.

OK so here it is. Consistent product? Check. Mass produced and cheap to make? Check. Cheap for the consumer? Check. Dominate the airwaves, billboards, print media and stadiums with flashy advertising? Check. Have stacks and stacks of it available in stores? Check. When I was 17, I thought stuff like this was cool. Now that I'm 40, I've learned to be more selective when I buy things.

 

"The devotion of the large breweries to product quality is the ONLY reason that you can get a consistent craft beer today."

Although the large breweries may have pioneered the process of identifying and preventing bacteria spoilage, it's somewhat fatuous for namelessbrewer to imply that today, craft brewers would still be blindly producing infected beer and absorbing huge losses from dumping their product.

 

Rice? BAs might be surprised that before the imposition of RHG on the whole of Germany, the use of rice in brewing in that country was widespread and very popular.There has simply been a move away from strong and challenging beers to easy drinking ones, this has happened globally.

 

right! Weihenstephaner might not exist! they don't know what they're doing!

 

Interesting take on the issue. I tend to agree (at least in a general sort of way) with a lot the author says, even if some things are slightly misrepresented or overstated. However, I think most of us can agree with the fact that to make the style of beers that BMC make, on the massive scale, all around the world, and have them taste exactly alike requires a high level of skill, science, and know-how. One of the first things we learn as dedicated homebrewers is that to brew a beer like Bud Light is one of the harder things to do, as there is nothing to hide behind, and the flavors (such as they are) are so delicate. I would certainly NEVER call the brewers at these large companies unskilled.

The reason I don't buy the products has much more to do w/the marketing and business practices of the big boys, plus the fact that I just don't (with the rare, RARE exception) enjoy AAL's in any way. That's not to say that it's a shittily-made product by people who don't know what they're doing or have a passion for it (though to some, I'm sure, it's 'just a job').

 

If craft brewers made consistent products like the BMC's do, we wouldn't have all the "Does this batch of XYZ beer taste as good as last year's?", and this forum wouldn't be half as (fun? annoying? interesting? pointless?) as it is at times.

 

I guess it takes skill to make beer that is consistently bad (as long as it's consistent, they are skilled brewers!) I have never been a regular drinker of macro beers, but before I was into the craft scene, and someone offered me a macro, the beer would excite my gag reflex when it warmed up a bit (I could never chug beer.) Why do commercials preach that beer should be consumed at freezing cold temps if they weren't trying to mask the off flavors which present themselves at warmer temps? Why do excellent craft lagers warm up just fine? I'm full of questions. Call me a bitch, snob, whatever. Also, the bit about production quantity? Quality > Quantity.

 

Nope, not blindly.... Now many U.S. "craft" brewers and bottle shops simply put beer that becomes infected or spoiled out there onto the shelves regardless. If selling infected or spoiled beer were regulated on a federal level in the U.S. (as it is, for example, in Germany), then a large number of the beloved breweries on here would have already been -- at least temporarily -- shut down.

 

It's all about what I said at the beginning-a matter of personal taste.Just because you (and I with regard to macro lagers) won't touch them with a bargepole doesn't make them bad.They are different strokes for different folks.To each his own in that regard. I know bad beer when I see (or taste ) it - flavours gone to pot , off tastes and vinegary. Or bandaid taste or fustiness which shouldn't be there.