What is the next step for craft beer?

No I haven't and sorry, I have no desire to do so. I thought the few Meads I tried were already expensive as hell for what my palate thought of them.

 

Anarchy.

 

Was pure sarcasm =)

 

I'm not a beer historian, and perhaps Bohemian Pilsener was a bad example.

I'm just kinda curious as to how it worked, was everything just labeled "Beer"?
Surely there were some style definitions, even if they were more broad in scope than they are today.

 

Dude, you ARE evil. Well done.

 

In my limited understanding, the cultural concept of style arises from geographic limitations on technology and availability of ingredients, with travel and trade giving rise to context and comparison, without which beer is beer.

 

My money says either the herd will be thinned by lack of economic turnaround in the next 2-5 years (as yemenmocha stated) or Snoop Lion will put his money toward a barrel aged version of Red Stripe....can't decide which is more likely.

 

I disagree here. I still think there's a lot, lot more room for growth. There may not be huge "national" craft brewers coming in those years but there are large portions of the country that have very few "brewpub" style establishments that would do well.

 

I don't get this thread at all... you claim that some breweries are doing creative things and pushing boundaries... then you say craft beer is stagnant.

as a BA, I'm in it for good beer... whether it's "new" or just a good example of a style I love already. Am I bored of beer? No. There are plenty of great beers and I look forward to new ones that I've never tried and to old favorites.

What more do you want?

Unfortunately, the "momentum" may dip at some point... we may be maxing out on the "hype"... but is that a bad thing? Are we going to lose the people who only want these new and exclusive beers that are hard to get? I'm ok with that.

 

but it's happening... you said it in your initial post that some breweries are... is it not fast enough for you? Should all breweries be doing this and stop making good beer that they know how to make?

if all breweries acted the same, then how would that make things different?

we are at a point where more boundaries are being pushed than EVER in beer... new ingredients, new breweries, collaborations, new styles etc.... BJCP can't even keep up with styles and how to classify beers right now...

what's so stagnant? is it not fast enough? I just don't get the logic at all

 

I do not believe anyone is saying there is any sense of contentment. The "what more do you want" question followed comments regarding continual production of classic styles and well as progression towards the less explored. There was no mention of resting on anyones laurels.

There is constant refinement, expansion and evolution of styles. Progression is a conerstone of the American craft movement and I do not see that dropping of currently or any time soon.

 

exactly... I mean, we have breweries doing our classic American craft (hell, Europeans are copying our styles now)... we are experimenting with yeasts... experimenting more with barrels... we are looking to ancient cultures and trying to bring back beers that haven't been made in ages... we are creating new styles... new beers... new breweries... new collaborations...

what is stagnant at this point?

 

I could use a buttload more Helles, Dunkels, and German Pilsners. Hellesbock, Maibock, and Dunkelweizen wouldnt hurt either.

 

progress to me is keeping it up... we are seeing the most growth and the most experimental period we've witnessed in brewing...

I don't think at all that extremes are the only part of progress right now... I stated a mess of different things...

I don't get what you're saying man... I really don't... it does seem both vague and contradictory as you suspect and I just don't get what you're saying...

if you are saying that some breweries are being stagnant... then I think that's okay... I think it's best to have a balance in beers that are just being done right... we need those consistent staples... not just to have some old favorites to go back to, but also to bring in new craft beer drinkers... that helps the growth

 

With "craft" beer representing less than 6% of the overall beer consumed in the US we are a LONG LONG LONG way from stagnation as an industry. Now maybe your palate is stagnant, but nothing could be further from the truth for the "craft industry."

In terms of what the future holds... don't expect sours/wild/barrel aged beers to all of a sudden dominate the craft industry. Those beers are, and will continue to be, on the fringes of the overall craft industry in the US. Like it or not, the standard craft varieties of amber, pale ale, IPA, hefe, etc. will continue to be the mainstays of this segment of the industry for a long time to come.

The overall goal for the "craft industry" should be to convert more of the fizzy yellow drinkers over to beers with actual flavor. You'll never get a Coors Light devotee to make the switch to Duchess du Bourgogne, or the like, without a gentle introduction with a gateway beer.

 

No everything wasn't labeled beer, but there wasn't anyone writing style guidelines. Terms like Mild Ale and Pale Ale were pretty vague.

 

Any new trends or directions will be driven by the market. Money talks. Bullshit walks.