Which of these is pushing "craft" beer the most. all is not an answer.

Websites like Beer Advocate.

 

In no particular order:

word of mouth
social media
beer web sites
beer blogs

I don't recall coming across any craft beer news from tv commercials (except for Sam Adams) or regular newspapers. I don't know what yelp is, so I can't speak for that.

 

Almost every new place I've been in the past year have been because of my brother or BA. Two weekends ago my wife & I were hitting a bunch of bars, breweries and restaurants in Burlington and Montpelier thanks to info from my bro who skis up there every year. Finally had a Lawson's Sip of Sunshine, got a couple cases of Heady Topper and spent about $500 on beer thanks to him. Last weekend I was reading about some beer or another and did a search on places where I can get it. One of the places was rated at 100 by BA, was a 90 minute drive, had a great selection and posted their inventory on the web. I hopped in the car and went and dropped $135 in the place. So there's another good place to visit thanks to BA.

Needless to say, I have a pretty sweet inventory myself at the moment.

 

Craft beer enthusiasts are the driving factor to the growth of craft, IMO.

 

A paradigm shift in American consumerism...we are tired of being handed the same old junk by people who don't give a damn about their products...I call it "The Walmart Fallout Effect"...

 

Local newspaper and social media for sure. Seems like everyday a new brewery is opening around Pittsburgh and the local paper reports on it well. Social media is huge tough I have a brewery that is close to my house not the best but good in the brew gentlemen but it is in what is called a rough area but their marketing on social media has been able to get a good flow of people every day they are open

 

Word of mouth.

Cannot tell you how many people I know that used to just drink Bud Light, but now are branching out because they have been told to try this or that.

Quality of beer and variety.

The nice thing now is there is so much good stuff to recommend to people. There are always options to fit into what a person wants or likes.

 

I went with word of mouth. By that I mean, I'm drinking a craft beer and I share it with a friend. Number 2 might be social media, because people will see that on their various feeds. I don't think beer websites is number 2 because it would require people to actively seek it out.

It seems to me that awareness increases first in a very informal and unintentional way.

 

Social media and beer websites so that's "other" for me.

 

The opening of so many new breweries and beer-centric restaurants.

 

It's hard to answer. I want to say the hipster community. I hear more about strange beer names just floating around in my life but from no particular avenue. I think lots of people (i.e. hipsters - the connotation is not negative or positive, just neutral) like to seek out "crafty" beers with unique names. If I go to a brew pub usually some guy in a ski cap and dark rimmed glasses says "you gotta try 'mama's humpback whale pale ale!" or something to that effect. I probably also see them on store shelves and in ads in the paper. I never see a craft ad on TV unless you're considering Dos Equis a craft (I hope you're not). Not sure how to answer, bro.

 

I voted other since I think it is a combination of social aspects (people to people & electronic). Pretty much the list that @markdrinksbeer posted.

Cheers!

 

I picked other because fests,word of mouth and my own yearning to try new brews is what has me constantly expanding my horizons. Sites like this one help out too !!

 

"Fancy" beer bars and restaurants. Everybody is cashing in, if they are smart. No one wants to just drink Bud anymore. You need it on tap for the crowd because people WILL drink it, but if that's all you have you're seen as kinda backwards. Like if you just made regular hamburgers and not some crazy bourbon infused sauce or something.

 

I think it's a combination of word of mouth and increasing availability more than most other factors.

As better beer becomes more ubiquitous at bars, restaurants, grocery stores etc., more people are likely to try it. As more people try it, more people talk to friends, family, colleagues etc. about the beers they've tried and it continues to spread. On several occasions, I've walked into my office lunch room to hear random people I work with (who I had no idea knew anything about good beer) talking about given beers they've tried, beer styles, and other beer-related topics. I think personal experience and word of mouth get the ball rolling, and then people start checking out sites like this one, social media etc. to learn more.

Also, one category that was omitted is beer-related TV shows (Brew Dogs etc.).

 

I'll go a different direction with this one. I think it's because of quality of product. I believe a lot of beer drinkers just didn't know how good beer could be and have switched after trying a craft beer. Think about it; if your only experience with beef was a McDonald's hamburger, you would be amazed when you had your first steak.

 

I don't even know what a hipster is from reading about them!

So many people use the term to apply to so many different people, the only thing I can figure out is that it either means "someone who is not like me or my buddies" or "someone I wish I could be like, but since I can't it's their fault not mine." (Or maybe it's some combination of both?)

At least with Unicorns we know they are supposed to be like a white horse and have a horn so there I'll know it when I see a real one. :-)