NPR: As Craft Beer Starts Gushing, Its Essence Gets Watered Down

Discussion in 'Beer News' started by Jnashed, May 9, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Jnashed

    Jnashed Initiate (0) Feb 14, 2014 Virginia

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/20...-starts-gushing-its-essence-gets-watered-down

    I like looking at the guy in the pictures beer selection he is choosing from. Some BCBS on the shelf in the fridge even.
     
    tacosandbeer likes this.
  2. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    As happens to many new trends. Once others jump on the bandwagon, the wheels don't turn the same way.
     
  3. BeerNDoggerel

    BeerNDoggerel Initiate (0) Mar 13, 2011 Illinois

    It amazes me how patronizing and simplistic this coverage is. The craft beer revolution is not a new phenomenon. It has been going on now for two decades and has blossomed into a quite complex system of styles and micro-cultures, which are constantly evolving. Its consumers must be right in the midst of public radio's core demographics.

    Yet, the coverage remains infrequent and superficial. It is past time to be grateful for any coverage craft beer receives. It's time for that coverage to mature and to recognize everything that craft beer has become. Come on NPR, take it up a notch or ten, and cover craft beer as it deserves to be covered.
     
  4. DrinkSlurm

    DrinkSlurm Initiate (0) Oct 3, 2007 New York

    That pic is definitely DeCiccos in Brewster!
    Lame article though...
     
  5. DWheeler379

    DWheeler379 Zealot (747) Jun 15, 2012 Colorado

    Agree - pretty simplistic analysis. They don't do beer or sports well in general at NPR, which is ok. There are more important things in life (barely). They should invite me as an expert, haha. I can give better insight than Bison Organic.

    The photo is clearly from NYC.
     
    victory4me likes this.
  6. TheodorHerzl

    TheodorHerzl Initiate (0) Mar 30, 2007 Indiana

    The dude from Bison comes off like a real ass in the article. You won't convince me he wouldn't love to be a 100,000 barrel a year operation if he could.
     
  7. russpowell

    russpowell Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,256) May 24, 2005 Arkansas
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    This articles strikes me as being written by someone who drinks wine & doesn't like all these "details" about beer & the fact some old paradigms have been shattered. Now they might actually put a little thought into what beer is in the here & now
     
    5thOhio likes this.
  8. russpowell

    russpowell Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,256) May 24, 2005 Arkansas
    Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    Amen, been a long time since I've seen this subject covered so superficially.
     
  9. rrock44

    rrock44 Pooh-Bah (1,793) Oct 27, 2009 Washington
    Pooh-Bah Society

    I gotta admit, I am jealous of the beer selection shown in that picture. I could only wish my beer fridge at the local grocer look like that.
     
  10. BeerNDoggerel

    BeerNDoggerel Initiate (0) Mar 13, 2011 Illinois

    I don't mind that their sports coverage is sporadic (although I'd contend it's pretend darn good when they choose to do it).

    My problem is that they go all "amateur hour" when they cover craft beer, even though it's a significant, long-standing, complex industry in which many people in their core demographics partake.
     
  11. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,677) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    Some guys like Natty Greene brew for the masses, and some breweries like NoDa end up smelling like a rose, selling more than they can make (demand). What will 5 years portend and provide as evidence? Natty Greene intends to steer BMC their way and NoDa makes great beer and we will see how it works. A simplification of the modern brewing scene is OK for a fluff piece, but it doesn't truly describe what's happening with this burgeoning brewing period. Beer is fun but it is business.
     
    surfcaster and DWheeler379 like this.
  12. Spikester

    Spikester Pooh-Bah (2,027) Jul 14, 2007 Oregon
    Pooh-Bah

    I have noticed a whole section of cooler space devoted to fake hard ciders from the big boys. Also all those stupid Lime a Rita things!
     
  13. Boca-X

    Boca-X Initiate (0) Jan 21, 2014 Missouri

    Craft beer" is just a word, a definition. Educated consumers will still find/buy what is truly craft beer? Honestly I could careless, as a BA I will buy whatever I think tastes good regardless if it comes from a local brewery that only kegs 100 barrels a year or a BMC that somehow found out a way to make a great barrel age stout.

    The politics of definitions,quantities and who gets lobbing money is like all politics...shady at best.

    Personally I'm more concerned about the quality of the beer I'm drinking than the terminology that is used to place it in a category with a label attached to it?

    In the end I'm a BA, craft beer falls under that umbrella but not exclusively.
     
    Briesch, Smakawhat, Fender616 and 2 others like this.
  14. dennis3951

    dennis3951 Initiate (0) Mar 6, 2008 New Jersey

    I have to agree. Changing the definition of "craft" to be able to count Yuengling does water down the essence of craft.
     
    Fender616 likes this.
  15. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado

    Indeed. Nobody else in the country has coolers like that! [Sarcasm intended].
     
  16. otispdriftwood

    otispdriftwood Initiate (0) Dec 9, 2011 Colorado


    Agreed. The ascent of Craft beer, according to the masses and the media, is similar to the overnight celebrity sensation that's actually been around, undiscovered, for years.
     
  17. Roguer

    Roguer Grand High Pooh-Bah (7,757) Mar 25, 2013 Connecticut
    Super Mod Pooh-Bah Society Trader

    I think too many people are taking the article personally. I actually found it to be pretty spot on, in at least one respect: the word "craft" isn't particularly useful. Leinenkugel is not craft; Yuengling is. Goose Island is not craft, and is therefore the same as Blue Moon. That's ridiculous, isn't it?

    In the BA community, we tend to drink what tastes good, regardless of label. That's why you still see people raving about BCBS, yet you see less love for Boston Lager. One of those is technically craft, and the other is not. Is anyone here going to seriously make the argument that the "craft" label is relevant when choosing which of those two beers to drink?

    If the Big Boys of BMC keep buying up craft breweries, and keep expanding their own "crafty" lineups, while in the meantime the most successful of craft brewers continue to expand and open new breweries, at some point the line between craft and non-craft begins to become meaningless. At that point, all we're left with is what we should have been focusing on all along: what tastes good?

    Cheers!
     
  18. 5thOhio

    5thOhio Initiate (0) May 13, 2007 South Carolina

    Wow! That's quite a feat. How do they do that exactly?
     
    russpowell likes this.
  19. weltywm

    weltywm Zealot (590) Jul 27, 2012 Pennsylvania

    I think you are spot on here, except for one thing. The issue with some of the "Big Boys of BMC" is that they are using their money and political influence to try to harm the business of small breweries. If my memory serves me correctly, this was just a major issue in Florida with regard to a new law about how beer can be sold. So, in that very specific political sense, it might matter whether a beer is craft or not. Although even then, the word "craft" isn't very helpful. In that case, we should just know who is making our beer and whether we want to support them or not. After just reading an interview with Pete Coors, I'm pretty sure I'd never buy a beer from one of his companies, whether it tasted good or not.
     
    creepinjeeper and Roguer like this.
  20. rgordon

    rgordon Pooh-Bah (2,677) Apr 26, 2012 North Carolina
    Pooh-Bah Society

    An ironic word device to depict absurd demand for limited product. Their stock is very high for now.
     
    LagersAndAles likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.