What is craft beer to you?

(g) A brewed, fermented alcoholic beverage (to paraphrase the legal definition) "...of an infusion or decoction, or combination of both, in potable brewing water, of malted barley with hops... and with or without other malted cereals, and with or without the addition of unmalted or prepared cereals (and) other carbohydrates..."

 

I don't see craft beer as a hobby. It's just something i enjoy drinking. I enjoy drinking it in breweries, in bars and at home.

 

I see drinking Beer as recreation, posting and writing reviews is the hobby.
Visiting brewery taprooms is my best choice, now I can see the scores.

Cheers.

 

I see it as many things (most of the above options apply) but mostly it's the best tasting way to spend time with friends and talking about whatever. Sometimes, with certain beers, it's the beer that is the subject of the conversation.

 

I enjoy all of the listed options and could not pick just one. Cheers!

 

Beer is beer. Craft beer is brewed by "small" (under 6mill barrels / year) independent breweries.
I guess the question you're really asking is what our favorite part of the hobby is.
My favorite part is tasting the difference between various breweries - they can brew the same recipe and come out with very different beers. |Watching for new, exciting breweries and beers to come up, and waiting for old favorites to come back around (Waiting for Harpoon's Flannel Friday - I get a couple cases of that every year it's available. And mourning old favorites that are no longer brewed |(either the brewery itself not around, or they retired that beer.)
And yes, beer fests, releases, tastings...

 

To me it's the difference between enjoying a cup of mokajava roasted coffee at a coffee house that actually roasts their beans and getting non-descript gas station coffee. Both do the trick caffeine-wise but which one was interesting, which one had a little more flavor, which one made you want to go back to that coffee shop and spend $X to get it again. I started my "craft" journey in coffee and I just ported over my love of nuance and artisanship as a barista to home brewing and tasting beers from all of those (breweries and homebrewers)who make it better than me(everyone). I wouldn't call it a "way of life" but I definitely would call it a journey.

 

Pre-COVID, I would've told you craft beer was all about visiting bottle shops and trying new beer.

Post-COVID, I find it's about visiting breweries and chatting with people about beer. I didn't realize how large of a role visiting breweries played in my interest in craft beer. It's one night out of the house every couple weeks focusing on something I'm intimately interested in.

 

Well put. Coffee was my first beverage which I got 'snobby' about. Coffee beer lured me into the world of craft beer, where I enjoy most every style now. Both macro and craft do the same 'job', but one is a little more thoughtful in flavor and enjoyment. Same with coffee, locally roasted in small batches vs plastic jugs of pre-ground coffee.

And despite my coffee preferences, I'm sipping Pilot gas station coffee right now. Not my first choice, nor is a Coor's Light, but I won't turn one down if offered.

 

The world of beer is so much more than what is lately happening. The Ales of County Kent opened my eyes, and a Kronenbourg above Lake Geneva (at Gex at The Bellevue) with the group of Brazilians simply changed my life in many ways. Please don't get me started. Beer is an awesome social lubricant, along with all of the Burgundy and endless memories.

 

I find craft interesting and good. But also the macros are doing a good job. Tasting at home is my thing. And occasionally reading up.

 

I chose visiting brewery taprooms because it's the first one on the list. However, 3-4 other choices are equally interesting to me and I would have liked to choose them too. Can a Mod change the poll by your request to allow multiple choices and we all can start over?

 

All of the options with the exception of home brewing apply to me. To sum it up in one sentence: craft beer means experiencing, enjoying and learning about new things, as with all my other hobbies and interests.

 

Each one. It is my social setting for now.

 

I feel too constrained by the responses to participate in the poll.

Craft beer is something I enjoy drinking (duh) and learning more about. Learning can be tasting different beers, discovering new [or old] breweries, finding details of ingredients and/or brewing processes, hearing or reading about beer/brewing history, etc. I prefer do my drinking and learning socially, but it's not required.

 

For me it’s a hobby and mostly about the exploration of beers that are out there and sharing with like minded beer friends and family members. If it were about getting drunk I could do that with AALs at a fraction of the time spent and money. Oh and at least with AALs you know what your getting for what you pay but trying new craft beers is a big gamble, probably 20% of new craft beers I try might actually be less enjoyable than my favorite AALs but it’s the excitement of the exploration of tastes that drawls me in.

 

I chose home tastings because that's where I enjoy the vast majority of my beer. Still, it was hard to choose just one because craft beer is several of these things to me at a given time.

It started off merely as my preference to drink for alcohol. Gradually, it started to become an exploration; I started to be more analytical about what I was tasting and learning about beer from its history to different styles. It heightened my appreciation for the art and science working hand-in-hand to create it. I was also drawn to the community that's formed around it; it's very tight-knit, friendly and collaborative. It eventually led to a job in a liquor store as an associate who knew a fair amount about beer. Now I'm running a beer department, got into homebrewing within the last 10 months and setting my sights on working in the industry directly.

It went from a casual interest to a passion and a career path.

 

An enjoyable part of life!