Is anyone else getting really tired of the use of the words "Craft beer"??

[jbob7171]

On a slightly off topic but similar point, who gets annoyed when a restaurant puts blue moon under imports?

It seems all BMC is considered domestic and the more expensive stuff is "imports", regardless of where it's from.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[Qhrumphf]

On a slightly off topic but similar point, who gets annoyed when a restaurant puts blue moon under imports?

It seems all BMC is considered domestic and the more expensive stuff is "imports", regardless of where it's from.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

You mean Blue Moon isn't from Belgium? I thought it was a real Belgian Witbier. :sarcasm:

 

[Minky]

Dude, I know you agreed with me! I wasn't directly commenting back on the lose sleep comment, hence why I started a new line of sentencing - I was making a point that some OTHERS read too far into it and I probably should've worded the original post differently.

Never knew having a discussion on a homebrewing forum about today's mis-use of the term craft beer would be such a problem.


Rev.

Ohhhhhhh! So, I didn't read too far into your original post, but I did read too far into your response to me. I guess you could say I got a little touchy because I thought you were getting a little touchy. Sorry, man.

Just like email, it can be very easy to misunderstand the intent of someone's post. I have found it extremely easy to get nailed in these forums especially when I'll provide a quick response to someone's brewing question and, not having the time to write a complete chapter, leave out some little detail or not use the precise terminology.

 

[Rev2010]

I guess you could say I got a little touchy because I thought you were getting a little touchy. Sorry, man.

It's all cool man! I'm sorry too, looking back perhaps I should've simply noted that secondary comment wasn't directed at you so there wasn't any confusion. All the best!


Rev.

 

[smccarter]

Awesome post bro... keep contributing


Rev.

the post was a bit too critical. Couldn't delete, so I edited that way.

I'm certain you only considered that I posted three dots, and that there was no other reason for the post than that I wanted to post three dots. I stand humbled by your genious.

 

[Rev2010]

I stand humbled by your genious.

Says the guy that misspells genius LMAO!!


Rev.

 

[Minky]

Says the guy that misspells genius LMAO!!


Rev.

Oh noooooo...... you DIT'nt!!

 

[MaxStout]

/Grabs popcorn...

 

[kh54s10]

Does the term "craft brew" bother me?? NO.

 

[Bensiff]

Sounds lie a ***** from beer advocate a decade ago and most all things those guys sit around pissing and moaning about make them sound like children. Who cares, it's nothing more than a term to distinguish micros from macros. I bet it doesn't matter what term is used, people will waste time complaining.

 

[catdaddy66]

I don't mind it but have always wondered what became of the term "micro brew" when describing regional beers and breweries...


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[ArcaneXor]

I don't mind the term as much as how the BA defines it, and that is a craft brewery is a brewery that is not owned by the big guys and makes less beer than however much beer Boston Beer is producing. Oh, and it can't make adjunct brews for their bets-selling beer. So arbitrary.

 

[jbb3]

I like the term as it implies a product of a skilled craftsman.

I don't mind it but have always wondered what became of the term "micro brew" when describing regional beers and breweries...

Nowadays, I think microbrewery is more a term to define the volume a brewery produces. I have seen others terms used but can't recall the terms or the volumes they represent at the moment...

 

[Schmoogdaddy]

What I think deserves to be called a craft beer:

Something Martha Stewart boiled in a copper kettle on a tripod over an open fire with home-grown barley and hops.

What I think the non-beer enthusiast calls craft beer:

Anything that is not a pale lager produced by the big three.

 

[yeahfairly]

I think the Brewers Association feels the term is used adequately even though I see it as them selling out to the MAN. The original intent was subverted when the governing board allowed the requirements to be watered down so loosely that large scale brewers could claim to be craft brewers as long as they keep corn, rice and other fillers below a certain percentage of the grain bill. They have to keep production below 6 million barrels a year and a non qualifying brewery can't own more than a 24.99% stake in the company. Basically the term has morphed into a marketing ploy for a large percentage of the producers involved.

Am I a "Craft Brewer"??? Heck No.... But I am a Friggin Professional when it comes to Drinking Beer!

Craft Brewer Defined by the Brewers Association.

An American craft brewer is small, independent and traditional.

Annual production of 6 million barrels of beer or less (approximately 3 percent of U.S. annual sales). Beer production is attributed to the rules of alternating proprietorships.

Independent

Less than 25 percent of the craft brewery is owned or controlled (or equivalent economic interest) by an alcoholic beverage industry member that is not itself a craft brewer.

Traditional

A brewer that has a majority of its total beverage alcohol volume in beers whose flavor derives from traditional or innovative brewing ingredients and their fermentation. Flavored malt beverages (FMBs) are not considered beers.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The following are some concepts related to craft beer and craft brewers:
•Craft brewers are small brewers.
•The hallmark of craft beer and craft brewers is innovation. Craft brewers interpret historic styles with unique twists and develop new styles that have no precedent.
•Craft beer is generally made with traditional ingredients like malted barley; interesting and sometimes non-traditional ingredients are often added for distinctiveness.
•Craft brewers tend to be very involved in their communities through philanthropy, product donations, volunteerism and sponsorship of events.
•Craft brewers have distinctive, individualistic approaches to connecting with their customers.
•Craft brewers maintain integrity by what they brew and their general independence, free from a substantial interest by a non-craft brewer.

 

[MaxStout]

The brewery volume limitation in the definition has always baffled me. If a small brewery makes good beer, and grows into a large brewery that still makes the same good beer, then I, as the consumer, couldn't care less about the production volume. When I pop open a bottle, will I get the same good beer? If so, then it's still a craft beer to me.

I am far more interested in whether they continue to make a true-to-form craft beer, than how many gazillion barrels of it they produce.

 

[ktblunden]

The brewery volume limitation in the definition has always baffled me. If a small brewery makes good beer, and grows into a large brewery that still makes the same good beer, then I, as the consumer, couldn't care less about the production volume. When I pop open a bottle, will I get the same good beer? If so, then it's still a craft beer to me.

I am far more interested in whether they continue to make a true-to-form craft beer, than how many gazillion barrels of it they produce.

The volume limit doesn't work that way. If Sierra Nevada suddenly increased their output to 12 million barrels the requirements would be changed to keep them in while simultaneously keeping out any macros that happened to fall within the new limit.

 

[GHBWNY]

...craft brewers have to keep production below 6 million barrels a year.

Hey, that was easy. I'm a craft brewer!

 

[MaxStout]

The volume limit doesn't work that way. If Sierra Nevada suddenly increased their output to 12 million barrels the requirements would be changed to keep them in while simultaneously keeping out any macros that happened to fall within the new limit.

I understand the application of the limit in excluding the macro brewers, and that the limit is sometimes changed.

But that wasn't my point. My point was that any volume limit within the definition has absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the end product as the consumer sees it. The fact that the trade group may move the goal posts to accommodate expansion by Boston Beer, SN, et al., is irrelevant. It's just a way to put a marketing handle on a type of product.

I realize that using production volume as a distinguishing factor is the only objective measuring stick they have. But that does not change the fact that this measuring stick is a rather crude instrument. They can find no other way of creating a bright line.

We may not be able to define "craft beer," but I think most of us know it when we taste it.

 

[pumahunter]

We may not be able to define "craft beer," but I think most of us know it when we taste it.

Bingo...

 

[fsr_racer]

Just bandwagon marketing. One group came up with the idea to set themselves apart from the masses and it took off, so the masses followed suit. Think of the "gluten free" craze... I didn't even know what it was until I started noticing the stamp on everything throughout the store. I still don't know what it is, but I now have to buy "gluten free" just to be safe. Do you make pizza, or do you make "hand tossed" pizza. Are you organic or are you "100% USDA Approved Organic"? Are you eating wheat bread or "whole wheat bread"? The difference between the chunk chicken and "premium chunk chicken" at my local Kroger? The "premium" has 0.5gm less fat per serving, but twice the sodium.

Basically, we are all just sheep and aren't supposed to read labels or look behind marketing strategies.

 

[rodwha]

I need some word to describe when I call a restaurant something other than BMC. Craft is as good as another I suppose.

I even lump in Sam Adams. I'm mostly intent on avoiding anything InBev, and don't want a Coors, but I'll take a Blue Moon if it's my only non plain lager choice.

 

[worlddivides]

There are tons of huge, huge megacorporation beers that I love. But none of them are American. Some day Sam Adams might be as big as one of the BMC brands, but as long as they keep outputting at the same level of quality, I'll keep drinking Sam Adams. One of my all-time favorite beers in the world is Kirin Ichiban Shibori. Kirin has a marketshare in Japan comparable to Budweiser or Coors, but I hate Budweiser and Coors and love Kirin. Probably my #1 favorite lager out there. In fact, I prefer Kirin Ichiban Shibori to any "craft beer" lager or any German or Czech import lager I've ever had.

I guess I've never understood why someone would refuse to buy a good beer made by Inbev, just because Inbev owns the company. Not all of the beers they own are "BMC."

 

[rodwha]

I greatly disagree with the underhanded business practices they hold dear. It has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I haven't read anything remotely similar done by the Miller/Coors, and so I'd buy their product.