Here's a thought I had the other day, and wanted to get a feel for what most craft beer enthusiasts felt... The word "philosophy" is used pretty often, especially by some brewers themselves, to describe the thought process that goes into making beer the way that they do. This is pretty obvious in some cases, like DFH's "off-centered ales for off-centered people" motto, which I think is probably the most optimistic way to describe some of their more adventurous ideas (whether you enjoyed them or not). However, even the best breweries range widely in philosophies. For example, one extreme is Hill Farmstead, whose philosophy could be summed up in any number of ways and traced back to a number of thinkers not necessarily limited to the ones whose works have HF beers named after them. On the other end of the spectrum is a whole crowd of breweries including Founders, whose "brewed for us" ethos, which starts and ends with "making beer we like/want to drink." Don't forget that we haven't taken into account any of the international breweries with traditions that span centuries, and the role breweries serve in those communities, with all of those attached philosophical/sociological implications. Do these different philosophies make a difference in the quality and character of the beer? Does every brewery subscribe to their own philosophy whether or not they articulate it? If so, are some better or worse than others? Does the extent to which the philosophy is reflected in the beer take precedence in the conversation, or is the philosophy good in and of itself?
I suspect there might be some looking too far into it and slipping from the general use of 'philosophy' into the academic subject. But anyway I think many breweries might have a cute phrase or something that describes a little part about how they see themselves as an ideal, but unfortunately many of their actions speak volumes to the contrary. A brewery with some noble slogan that should appeal to those seeking a flavorful drinking experience is pretty much disingenuous when you later remind yourself that they don't bottle date their products, for example. Plus some of the commonly used ones are cute when you first read them, but after that I just start to roll my eyes every time I see it - i.e. "we drink our share and sell the rest" I've seen since the 90's at least (or the various permutations of that phrase).
yeah that's a really important point to raise... plus it's not like it's necessarily a good business decision to not bottle date beer, since those who don't care about freshness wouldn't steer clear of a beer for having a date, but those who do often avoid those without dates.
